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Was on the lower part of Guntersville last night and the May Flies where on every tree hanging over the water!! The bream were right there sucking in every cricket we threw at them. Not a single crappie or bass, but the bream were relentless. So the question I have for everyone is: Do the crappie ever get in under the trees and feed off of the may flies or do they just stay to the docks and do all that at night?
While small Crappie may take insects, Crappie feed primarily on shad and small fish. The few times I found Crappie on an insect or mayfly hatch when I lived Missouri, the Crappie were feeding on the small fish attracted by the hatch. Just my two cents based on my observations.
We found 3 Mayfly hatches on Wheeler yesterday but could not get the bream to bite, but did catch several catfish.
This doesn't fully answer your question, but it is a good footnote. I have done extensive research and written many stories in the past about Lake Guntersville. I have learned form several experts in different fields when I was doing some different topics that the willowfly hatch has a lot to say about the health of the river system. Many probably remember when the hatches used to be so intense the entire sky would be filled with the little brown bombers, who by the way, shed their wings at dusk and dawn and get so bottom heavy they fall to the water during these times. We used to fly fish and catch pretty much everything swimming, crappie, too. That last hour before dark is usually the best, but right at dawn is awesome as well. So, you seeing this indicates that area you were at is very healthy, especially the water quality. Great news my friend! Thanks for the post, I haven't been out lately.
Another note. Several of you probably remember the old dude and lady in straw hats that used to fish right under the dam on the lake side over to the side at the drop. They caught that whopper catfish that one time and got a lot of pub. Anyway, I talked to them once and their trick was to get the dead willowflies off the backs of the ice machines near the lake, lol, and make them into balls and put them on their hooks and drop them down. They were real sticky and held together that way pretty good. They usually always caught more than anyone else when they turned the turbines on.
Smallmouth love them as we'll.
Last week I fished Neely Henry on the Coosa and there had been the largest hatch I have ever seen up there. There were patches of them floating on the water that was as large as my house. I caught 38 crappie and kept 15 for a couple of meals. While cleaning those fish I noticed that on about half of them the stomach was packed full of the willow flies. We fished the CrappieMasters Classic a few years ago on Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida and the tournament was won by a guy who found hatching insects and long line trolled very shallow through them. It makes you stop and think that sometimes we need to pay more attention to what is happening around us and try some things that would normally be (out of the box).
Great posts. I agree, I've found crappie loaded with the willowflies and they also chase the small fish chasing them. It's just a wild frenzy when they are shedding their wings at dusk and dawn. The best way I've found to catch them during the flurry is with my flyrod. I bought a card of the old sticky willowfly flies we used to use as kids and they work great. Anything close kills them, from the old muddler minnow to brown streamers, you name it. And, you don't have to have a fancy setup. We used 5 dollar fly reels and put them on our zebco rods as kids. You don't have to cast far, pretty much just get it in the water. Some of the greatest fun you'll ever have. Not hard to fly fish either. Just keep that elbow at 90 degrees the best you can at the arm and you'll get it out there.