FISH THE MUD IN EARLY SEASON

As the water slowly warms in our southern lakes and rivers in June, anglers starting to zero in on pre-spawn smallmouth and post spawn walleye.

Look for the walleye to relate to mud flats at the mouth of bays or near necked down areas.

This is a very consistent pattern in many of our lakes and rivers at this time of year as walleye recover from the spawn and take advantage of the food supply that these mud flats offer. These include a variety of insect larvae, including those of mayfly that are becoming more active as the days lengthen and the water temperatures slowly rise. There are hundreds of difference species of Mayfly that inhabit the streams, rivers and lakes of North America and their understanding is extremely important to the angler who likes to catch trout and walleye, as well as less popular species like whitefish and goldeye.

Many mayfly have a one year life cycle, commencing as a fertilized egg then passing through an underwater larval or nymphal stage before hatching into an immature adult winged insect commonly called a dun by anglers. As these duns emerge they struggle to fly, then seek shelter on shoreline as nearby as possible where they undergo further transformation into mature adults.

When conditions are right, the male and female will mate with the male falling exhausted to water or shoreline upon completion. The female meantime rests on vegetation nearby while the fertilized eggs ripen. She then deposits her eggs in the water, after which she falls spent on the water or nearby vegetation and dies. This whole process of hatching and mating and dying can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days and different species of mayflies hatch at different times of the year. It means fish make these insects a food source almost constantly through the year. And because the growth of nymphal stage of these insects is prompted by warmer water temperatures, fish find active nymphs on these shallow mud flats at this time of year. It means an easy meal as the walleye recover from the spawn and anglers who key in on this pattern will be successful. There are different mayfly nymph classifications based on how the species have adapted to their individual environments. There are some that burrow into the bottom, hiding in little miniature holes, venturing out in low light conditions to feed, look around or shed another casing, something the mayfly does a number of times as it gets bigger. Others like the swimming nymphs propel themselves around by tail and body movement, the best know of the bunch, the blue winged olive.

Then there are the clinger nymphs , which have to deal with fast water, clinging on to rocky substrate by the use of suction pad style gills Finally the crawler nymphs which are kind of in between the swimming and clinger nymphs, the most famous of which would be the western pale morning dun.

In most cases you don't have to match the hatch, a jig and minnow combination dragged through the mud will work when the nymphs and larvae are still near the bottom. Later when the water warms, and the mature nymphs move toward the surface, you will find many suspended fish. At this time it pays to be observant and watch for surface feeding activity. At this time, a cast or trolled lure like a suspending crankbait will get the job done.

This information is only the tip of the iceberg. For an in-depth study I recommend a book I reviewed in 1997 titled "Mayflies" written by Robert Cormier of Winnipeg and Malcom Knopp. This hardcover gem is available at fine bookstores and some tackle shops, usually ones that have fly fishing equipment available.

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