Killer hatch... almost literally (merged)

[FarmerDave]

JackM wrote:
... plus the lawyers, can't forget them.

Seems every time I do, I get sued.;-)

You don't think the possibility of legal action in the event of an accident didn't enter into the decision to close the bridge rather than just shut off the lights?

Read it again, it wasn't an insult ... for a change.;-)

 

[wgmiller]

Some interesting radar shots of a mayfly hatch:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/you-think-columbia-s-mayfly-invasion-is-bad-check-out/article_44eb7416-1436-11e5-910d-3b418d8290f0.html

 

[greenghost]

All of this is very interesting... but has anyone ever caught fish using hex imitations?

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Yes. Last summer I used a large white wulff tied out of foam to imitate the "white fly" hatch. I caught channel catfish at night on the Susky as they swam upside down to suck the flies in. Also a few smallies.

 

[pcray1231]

White flies aren't hexes. They are Ephoron Leukon.

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/820/Mayfly-Ephoron-White-Flies

But to answer the question. YES. Although at the time I called them green drakes, only to later figure out they were indeed hexes. I've done well on the Allegheny and Kiski for bass/walleye/sauger/white bass/catfish. (though farther upstream, closer to Kinzua, they chase trout on the hatch). Note that these were with a spinning rod and a casting bubble. Walleye on dry flies is an interesting twist! We also used big nymph imitations on a spinning rod, though, during the day.

I've also had significant luck (fly fishing) for trout on some of the Allegheny tributaries, with the understanding that they were hexes, though I used GD dun patterns.

(For a while I was confused on why only central PA green drakes were white bodied as spinners and hatched around Memorial Day, when everywhere else they were various shades of brown and hatched from late June through late July. Everyone called them green drakes. But as I became a fly fisherman and informed that there are, umm, different types of mayflies, I realized they were a different bug. My "informants" in that area of the state still call them GD's)

 

[McSneek]

Maurice wrote:
Yes it is ALL about the lights. Just turn them out during hatches for crying out loud...This whole thing is so stupid. Shut down the bridge when a light switch would stop them from congregating there. They are not shutting down the Rout 30 bridge 1/4 mile up river...

...So Turn out the lights when the hatch is on.

Its simple really.

They musty have heard you Mo. Saw on WGAL's website they are going to turn off the lights at 9:00pm.

 

[JackM]

Wait... what? Sunset is at 8:50 pm. With Summer twilight, why would they turn them on at all? Or, is that the joke?

 

[FarmerDave]

pcray1231 wrote:

I've also had significant luck (fly fishing) for trout on some of the Allegheny tributaries, with the understanding that they were hexes, though I used GD dun patterns.

Wow, good thing for you that nobody told the fish.;-)

Now, real men fish the Allegheny during the corydalus cornutus hatch.

 

[pcray1231]

Wow, good thing for you that nobody told the fish.

True. But if I still thought they were GD's, I wouldn't have been there at the right time.

Now, real men fish the Allegheny during the corydalus cornutus hatch.

Hafta admit, I had to look it up. Back in my bait fishing days I used the larval form quite often....

 

[troutbert]

pcray1231 wrote:

But to answer the question. YES. Although at the time I called them green drakes, only to later figure out they were indeed hexes. I've done well on the Allegheny and Kiski for bass/walleye/sauger/white bass/catfish. (though farther upstream, closer to Kinzua, they chase trout on the hatch).

How heavy are the Hex hatches in western PA rivers?

 

[JackM]

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/05/31/mayflies-invade-pittsburghs-north-shore/

 

[pcray1231]

Note, Jack's link is probably green drakes, which are also present. Basing that on the date.... But as for hexes.

This is Kittanning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBL69W7G3gc

Downtown Yinzburgh

http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010608mayflies0608p2.asp

Another Pittsburgh one, these ones identified as bilineata.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/326392

 

[troutbert]

pcray1231 wrote:
This is Kittanning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBL69W7G3gc

Turn off the lights! Just kidding.

That's a heck of a hatch. Flyfishers in that region should check it out. See if the smallmouth bass are going nuts.

 

[pcray1231]

The pro bass fishermen are on it:

http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?ID=3371&usg=AFQjCNGjYO3EHBuoRmco9wZxjqqrxCcS5A

Untold numbers of mayflies were hatching in various spots all over – especially up the Allegheny – and the smallmouths were keyed on that hatch.

It's not clear whether the fish were eating the rising larvae or the baitfish attracted to the larvae, but it's notable that Hackney said he saw considerably more bait than he did at the 2005 Pittsburgh Classic.

Anywhere you found a little rock and overhanging limbs, there was a mayfly hatch. You could catch fish whenever you found that, but in order to catch keepers, there had to be a hard bottom."

But yes, the hatch is well known by river fishermen. The smallmouth do go nuts. As for trout, well you gotta get up north quite a ways before you find trout. They do fish the hatch below Kinzua in the river tailwater itself. As for the tribs, there are far more bugs on the big rivers, and trout waters in mid summer tends to be a small water pursuit. But yes, there are a few streams where there are wild trout and fishable hex hatches. But mostly in marginal areas, fish go into the big river, then by summer are hanging off the mouths of cold feeders. There's a group that targets these hatches at those locations.

It's notable that it seems like farther upriver, the hatch comes earlier. As I'm learning more I think it's just different species of hexes. Limbata farther north, bilineata farther south.

 

[pcray1231]

If you want to get into real detail regarding their habitat, timing, hatch behavior, etc., read the following:

http://www.nativefishlab.net/library/textpdf/18832.pdf

 

[Maurice]

McSneek wrote:

Maurice wrote:
Yes it is ALL about the lights. Just turn them out during hatches for crying out loud...This whole thing is so stupid. Shut down the bridge when a light switch would stop them from congregating there. They are not shutting down the Rout 30 bridge 1/4 mile up river...

...So Turn out the lights when the hatch is on.

Its simple really.

They musty have heard you Mo. Saw on WGAL's website they are going to turn off the lights at 9:00pm.

Last night on the news a horticulturist was interviewed. And said they are attracted by the lights...so now there are two people in SCPA who are experts on mayflys...And neither wears a fire hat.

I think the Three Mile Island meltdown had farther reaching effects than originally speculated.

 

[FarmerDave]

pcray1231 wrote:

Wow, good thing for you that nobody told the fish.

True. But if I still thought they were GD's, I wouldn't have been there at the right time.

Now, real men fish the Allegheny during the corydalus cornutus hatch.

Hafta admit, I had to look it up. Back in my bait fishing days I used the larval form quite often....

Don't feel bad, I had to look up the Latin name.

If I had named it I would have went with something like Humungus Pincherus

 

[FarmerDave]

troutbert wrote:

pcray1231 wrote:
This is Kittanning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBL69W7G3gc

Turn off the lights! Just kidding.

That's a heck of a hatch. Flyfishers in that region should check it out. See if the smallmouth bass are going nuts.

Yea, someone should write a book about those hatches.;-)

My brother used to live on that river. It has some impressive hatches. I remember one night, the front of his house was covered in sulfurs with some slate drakes mixed in.

 

[FarmerDave]

Maurice wrote:

McSneek wrote:

Maurice wrote:
Yes it is ALL about the lights. Just turn them out during hatches for crying out loud...This whole thing is so stupid. Shut down the bridge when a light switch would stop them from congregating there. They are not shutting down the Rout 30 bridge 1/4 mile up river...

...So Turn out the lights when the hatch is on.

Its simple really.

They musty have heard you Mo. Saw on WGAL's website they are going to turn off the lights at 9:00pm.

Last night on the news a horticulturist was interviewed. And said they are attracted by the lights...so now there are two people in SCPA who are experts on mayflys...And neither wears a fire hat.

I wonder if a bug zapper would trip a breaker in'nat.