Mocha: "Wow, great fishing! The ants are equally disturbing and mesmerizing. I wouldn’t like them at my site but I’m sure they are doing important work.Now, that lamprey…. Not a fan. Would those be considered an invasive species? Could u try that for bait?
Sounds like a really great trip despite the weather.
Looked up photos of ants with wings…. Can’t really see the body clearly of your ants, but kinda looks like a termite or carpenter ant.
There is a a bug person on this site, maybe they will see your trip report and settle the mystery."
I said ants in my report but I do really think they are breeding adult termites, referred to as swarmers or alates. They were everywhere, hundreds at a time and lots of smaller non-winged ones along with them. Many were dead in the water for long stretches of Loon Lake, so it was something of a regional phenomenon. It was disturbing, that’s a fair term.
The lamprey is native and found in many northern MN lakes. Just not common to have one end up in the canoe!
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