Keep yer eyes open - seen any bugs?

There's things about that you'd probably not want to get involved with close up...they bite! On the other hand, it might be worth gettin' close for a picture. I found this just outside my office today!

what kind of bug is that?

That things got some wicked pinchers. Is that a Dobson Fly? I thought they were big.

Nevermind, I just read your pic caption. 5", that thing is huge!! We catch Helgramites in the creeks here for smallie bait. Smallies love em. I know they turn into Dobson Flies but I dont think I have ever seen one. Now, I hope I never do!!

Yep, that's a male Dobson fly, adult version of the helgramite, great bass food. The female doesn't have the pinchers but sounds like a buzz bomb coming across the water.

Ranchero50 said:

Yep, that's a male Dobson fly, adult version of the helgramite, great bass food. The female doesn't have the pinchers but sounds like a buzz bomb coming across the water.

Click to expand...

I disagree....the female still has mandibles and they're quite dangerous! While the male does look very threatening it doesn't pinch very hard - the female on the other hand will bite extremely hard. Dobsonflies are pretty neat and tend to scare folks pretty bad.

I was hoping other people had pics of bugs they've seen this summer as well - if you do, post it! I'd be curious to see what's around other parts of the country.

Your right, I should have said 'the monster pinchers'. I've had quite a few of them board the boat at night and we were safety glasses when running due to them and dragonflies, much less swarms of gnats.

Jamie

So do these things actually live on the water. I wonder how come I have never seen one before? We go to the creek and seign for Helgramites and its pretty easy to catch some so there is obviously Dobson Flies here too. Maybe the OH Dobson Fly is very elusive!!

BassBlaster said:

So do these things actually live on the water. I wonder how come I have never seen one before? We go to the creek and seign for Helgramites and its pretty easy to catch some so there is obviously Dobson Flies here too. Maybe the OH Dobson Fly is very elusive!!

Click to expand...

MY ONLY RUN IN WITH A HELLGRAMITE WE CAUGHT ONE A WHERE GOING TO USE IT FISHING SO WE PUT IT INTO A STYROFOAM CUP,WELL THE LIL BUGGER ATE THROUGH THE CUP AND ENDED UP LOCK ONTO MY BUDDY I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY BUT HE WASNT LAUGHING AT ALL :LOL2:

BOB350RX said:

BassBlaster said:

So do these things actually live on the water. I wonder how come I have never seen one before? We go to the creek and seign for Helgramites and its pretty easy to catch some so there is obviously Dobson Flies here too. Maybe the OH Dobson Fly is very elusive!!

Click to expand...

MY ONLY RUN IN WITH A HELLGRAMITE WE CAUGHT ONE A WHERE GOING TO USE IT FISHING SO WE PUT IT INTO A STYROFOAM CUP,WELL THE LIL BUGGER ATE THROUGH THE CUP AND ENDED UP LOCK ONTO MY BUDDY I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY BUT HE WASNT LAUGHING AT ALL :LOL2:

Click to expand...

Dobsonflies are frequently mistaken for dragonflies around the water because when they fly, they look fairly similar but don't move quite as fast or erratically.

And I'd bet if you brought that up with your buddy now, he'd STILL think it isn't funny!

The Helgramites are really easy to catch. They cling to the rocks in the creeks. Seems like we have better luck catching them in the shallow ripples. We just use a home made 4' seign net. Just hold the poles and start turning over the rocks with your feet. When you knock them loose from the rocks the current carries them right into your net. Smallies hammer them even when nothing else seems to work!!

They do have a fierce pinch and when they get ahold of ya, they refuse to let go!!

My father in law builds microphones to record bug sounds...very meticulous work.

Around here we don't call them dobson flys.. Just flying helgramites... I LOVE them, for bait that is. Have caught everything in the river with them, from perch to musky but like was said earlier smallies will absolutely tear them up. I have had LOTS of bites from them and yes they will bring the blood... LOL

We ended up in the middle of a Mayfliy hatch this evening, about 1/2 mile of the river was white with bugs. There were even several dozen Dobsons buzzing around. You really don't realise how many fish are in the water until a hatch. Nothing but constant slurping and splashing as the fish were gulping the Mayflies.

Jamie

Did you get any pics? I was really hoping this thread would take off as a way to share with others around the country what types of bugs are around us locally.

You can see this guys casing next to him.
Took him about a 1/2 hour to complete his transformation,then take off.
Hard to beleive how far he came(walked) from the water,around 50'.

I can honestly say that I'm happy I've not encountered these before. :shock:

These are the mayflies, about 1" long. A few hours into the hatch the water is covered in bug peices and they are thick in the air out midstream up to around 15' off the water. Some columns will go up stream, then others downstream. Eventually they couple up and fly while having bug sex.



I took some video that I'll upload to youtube this weekend. I plan on going out again tonight, working on the front deck now.

Jamie

Zum said:

You can see this guys casing next to him.
Took him about a 1/2 hour to complete his transformation,then take off.
Hard to beleive how far he came(walked) from the water,around 50'.

Click to expand...

That is........









AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

IM GOING CAMPING THIS WEEKEND AND I ALWAY SEE SOME WICKED SPIDERS AND ALL KINDS OF CREEPY CRAWLERS :shock: , ILL GET SOME PICS THIS WEEKEND