CALUMET COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For many, the sight of a particular big bug can mean only one thing.
The return of the lake flies on Lake Winnebago.
They’re a little late this year, but how bad is the emergence?
“I would say they’re about three times larger than a mosquito. They’re bigger. They don’t bite. They’re just kind of annoying,” said Adam Backus, Calumet County Parks Director.
Adam Backus says he first noticed the lake flies on Tuesday.
“A couple days late. We always kind of say Mother’s Day weekend especially, when we have campers calling. But I expected it, with the cooler weather this spring, that they’d show up a little late.”
By Wednesday morning temperatures here were in the low 50s, and a cool easterly wind kept lake fly activity at many parts of Calumet County Campground quiet. Neal Borkenhagen, his wife Barb Borkenhagen, and their dog, Sheba, are on a short vacation.
“We’ve both experienced lake flies before, so they’re not that bad really. There were a few swarms yesterday, but nothing that was terrible. Almost rather have them than the mosquitoes,” said Neal Borkenhagen, Germantown.
Inside the park headquarters, Program Assistant Sabrena Werner says the lake fly emergence comes with the territory, and they are making the best of the situation.
“We do get a lot of phone calls with people just checking in to see if they’ve arrived yet. At the office here, we actually give out free can Koozies for the people that suffer through the lake flies with us,” said Sabrena Werner, Calumet County Parks Program Assistant.
Kidding aside, park leaders say the lake flies live about a week and are an important food source for many birds, and fish, including sturgeon. Adam Backus says he expects the breeze will change, and the flies will return.
“It’s going to be the cold weather, or they pushed to the other side of the lake, and I’m sure they’ll make their way back over,” he said.
Experts say the bugs do make a mess.
They say it’s best to let the flies die, before cleaning up.
