Florida's untalked about hatch that pan fish love

[banks 0]

If you have ever been in Florida when these hatch you know that there are swarms of thousands of these bugs and i believe that they hatch twice a year and the pan fish gobble them up as soon as they hit the water. This bug is the notorious LOVE BUG the love bug got its name because when the mate they get attached to each other and that's the way they fly around. So i decided to make Zach's articulated LOVE BUG i made it articulated so the rear love bug dangles behind the front one as they do naturally.

Any feedback or comments would be appreciated. One picture has swiss straw wings , others just foam didnt decide which I like the best

[tidewaterfly 0]

When I read your title, I was thinking about large mayflies I had seen in FL. Hex I believe they are. I would have never guessed.

 

I've seen a similar bug here in MD, but don't believe it's the same bug. Never witnessed that type of hatch with them either. Took a look on Google Images too! Man, not sure I would want to see them like that! I've seen a lot of bugs on a windshield too. When the Cicadas are out they get a lot of notice but never anything like that!

 

Learned something new here! I could see the panfish going wild over them.

 

Your flies are pretty cool! Let us know how they work for you!

[redietz 0]

"Love bugs" are a species of bibio -- which are considered important insects for fishing in the UK and are, as you point out, pretty much untalked about in this country. You've got the the essence of the conjoined ones down pretty well, and hit all the high points of the traditional ties -- black with dangly legs wand a touch of red. (Look up Hawthorne fly, Oak Fly, Downlooker, etc.) I don't know why they're ignored here.

[chuck e 0]

Looks good to me. As i am living in south western Florida, i am going to have some ready this year. Thanks fore sharing. Chuck

[banks 0]

When I read your title, I was thinking about large mayflies I had seen in FL. Hex I believe they are. I would have never guessed.

 

I've seen a similar bug here in MD, but don't believe it's the same bug. Never witnessed that type of hatch with them either. Took a look on Google Images too! Man, not sure I would want to see them like that! I've seen a lot of bugs on a windshield too. When the Cicadas are out they get a lot of notice but never anything like that!

 

Learned something new here! I could see the panfish going wild over them.

 

Your flies are pretty cool! Let us know how they work for you!

Yes there a mess on cars they will take the paint off if you dont get them off , and they love white they swarm white houses , white trucks, , and some days there that bad you could end up eating a few

[JSzymczyk 0]

yeah they are a huge mess.. when I lived down there sometimes I'd have to stop every five miles or so and clean the face shield of my motorcycle helmet... not to mention my clothes were just trashed. I never noticed anything special about fishing during their emergence though.

 

As tidewater pointed out, the Hex hatch on the panhandle lakes I used to fish was an entirely different story. The BIG bluegills would be as selective as any holier-than-thou trout anywhere. In fact most of the locals STOPPED fishing for bluegills during the Hex hatch because they thought they couldn't catch them.... If there is ONE thing I miss about living down there, it is catching 11, 12, 13 inch bluegills one after another until it got completely too dark to see, then paddling the canoe back watching alligator eyes shine in the headlamp...

[mikechell 0]

I've live here in Central Florida since 1992. I have NEVER seen a fish of any kind eat a love bug.

I was pretty excited about all those bugs when I first saw them. I thought they'd be the "hatch" you speak of. But it didn't pan out.

I have watched tons of dead and dying love bugs float past me without a single ripple investigating them. I've tied flies to look like them and never gotten a hit.

 

I have to believe they are not "tasty" to the fish and the only hits one might get are fish that haven't experienced one, yet.

[saltydancindave 0]

All you need is some small black round foam tied onto a hook like a foam ant with or without the hackle after they tear it off. A little orange egg yarn helps as an indicator for old eyes.

[FlaFly 0]

I've had a long experience with love bugs too, but they are not aquatic in their larval stage, and can't see them as rivaling the midges in the estimation of bluegills. I've been at some of our highly eutrophic lakes when the midges were emerging.... clouds of them! You couldn't keep them out of your eyes.

But I guess if a loving couple of LBs fell into the water, they'd be too tempting to pass up.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I can't speak about love bugs (except to confirm that they're as big a nuisance as stated) being a staple for fish - but if they're anything like the "lubber" then as Mike noted good luck with getting a bite with them....

 

 

When I first came to Florida back in 1971 I found these enormous grasshoppers along every freshwater canal and tried to use a few of them for bait - with absolutely zero results.... It wasn't until a few years later that I learned they were called lubbers and that they tasted so bad that not even a bird would eat one (at least after that first taste....). Who knew? All the local anglers did know -being new to the state, and completely on my own, I didn't have a clue... Before tying up any love bug imitations you might want to verify with an old timer (if there is such an individual in a state where everyone is moving....) that the fish do in fact eat them....

[agn54 0]

Nothing like driving through a swarm of those things and spending the next several hours scraping them off only to get more on there. I have never heard of them being associated with fish. Being exotics that migrated here, I'm not sure if anything preys on them, but dang I wish something would. In any case you have some cool looking flies and if it looks enough like any form of food, a bluegill will probably hit it

[banks 0]

I've live here in Central Florida since 1992. I have NEVER seen a fish of any kind eat a love bug.

I was pretty excited about all those bugs when I first saw them. I thought they'd be the "hatch" you speak of. But it didn't pan out.

I have watched tons of dead and dying love bugs float past me without a single ripple investigating them. I've tied flies to look like them and never gotten a hit.

 

I have to believe they are not "tasty" to the fish and the only hits one might get are fish that haven't experienced one, yet.

WOW Mike thats kinda strange tell you why every morning I clean 4 pools and when the love bugs are bad I screen up hundreds of them every mourning then I walk to the lake 10feet away and shake them into the lake and i sit and watch a feeding frenzy of pan fish till everyone of them is gone , I do this at 4 pools and 4 different lakes every morning you wouldnt think panfish would eat hundreds of them if they didnt like them , but tell you what im gonna do when they swarm next time ill post a video for you

[jacktjl 0]

I like it Banks and look forward to the video.

[mikechell 0]

Oh, I believe you. I've never seen a fish eat a dragon fly, either. But I did watch the recent posted video of the trout taking damsel flies that were hovering above the surface.

I don't doubt that 'gills will eat them in your situation, but I might doubt the reason. If the pool water "leeches" some of the taste, maybe? If the fish are normally fed, then they'll eat things "wild" 'gills won't?

I am sure Bream will eat things I've never seen them eat ... I can only relate my own observations.