Does your lake group have a July 4 fireworks display? Fireworks never look better than over water. But as Noelle and I sat on the pier bench yesterday at dusk, watching the fireworks over Birch Lake, something much more interesting happened. In the water where multicolored starbursts reflected, mayflies were surfacing, rising from the lake bottom, fluttering briefly, their wings, creating clearly visible ripples.
I'd focus on one at a time; more often than not a fish came up to take it. I tried guess the kind of fish from the size and sound of the swirl and the power of the gulp. I judged most of the takers to be bluegills, though our lake is sorely deficient in that species. The bigger surges likely came from smallmouth bass.
I don't know about you, but I get bored when a fireworks display runs on too long. Not so with watching fish feed during a mayfly hatch. Tonight there will be no fireworks, but there may still be mayflies, and with any luck I'll be there with my flyrod.
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