And then...there they were.

Back to the local beat watching and waiting for the white bass and walleyes to converge on the incredible midge hatch that has been occurring the past few nights.  I came early and picked off a few small gills that were dimpling before wading back to the hot-zone.

It started, as all great hatches do, with a few here and there.  The early hatching midges typically have the benefit of escaping snapping fish jaws only to flutter into a snapping beak.  The rises started early as well...fish leaving the safety of the deep to venture into the shallows to intercept these bugs as they struggle to mature, grow wings and take flight.

The size 12 split wing elk hair caddis that I tied up today with the wing tied half length seemed like the right choice so I tied one on and sent it out.  A few small whities and a little small mouth bass inhaled it before too long.  The number of bugs was increasing and I felt my odds were going down trying to match the hatch so I switched over to a small (sz 10) white gurgler and pasted it into the dissipating rings of rising fish.

Twitch, twitch, POW!

When the topwater bite slowed down, I went to another new fly which is now named the "White Dart".  With a size 6 Mustad 9672 as the iron and the tail tied short, the normally short-striking white bass got a mouthful.

By 10:00 it was all over.   A pile of fish were hooked and landed in the short hour and a half window that seemed, in the darkness, like a half of a day.

I reeled up and went home.

Midge

It would be neat to call this picture "Sunfish" except it's a Bluegill.

1 of many - White Bass