Any angler who frequents major lakes in the summertime are probably familiar with willow fly hatches, or some call them May flies. The nymphs live underwater for a year, sometimes years, before they emerge from the water en masse. The adult flies typically live less than 24 hours, emerging to reproduce, lay eggs back on the water’s surface and begin the cycle all over again.
Tasty willow flies emerging and flying back to the water by the thousands, maybe millions, attract game fish of virtually every species, including crappie.
CrappieNOW Editor Richard Simms and angler Dickey Porter happened to be on Chickamauga Lake in Southeast Tennessee this summer when a willow fly hatch emerged. Porter explains how crappie anglers can take advantage of what is often a rare opportunity.
