Guess it could be worse…. You could have NOT gotten to go fishing, and needed a shovel — even though it’s 85 degrees! — to get in your car:

> “I treat engorged walleyes like cold-front fish…go for reaction bites with a Jigging Rap or spoon. Or if I’m pulling spinners, I’ll speed up from 1.0-1.2 to 1.6-1.8 mph.

> “On a lake like Mille Lacs, it’s key to know which flats have the biggest bug hatches. If I see clouds of bugs on my electronics I don’t even fish it. I’ll move to the gravel bars where they don’t hatch.”

> “One of the things during a big hatch is go really light and run a stealth rig of nothing more than a split-shot and leech. I’ll either troll really slow or sit right on top of the fish….

> “The rig is simple: 4- or 6-lb Sufix Fluorocarbon with 32-38″ between a #4 VMC Octopus Hook and the split-shot. On the business end, I use a smaller leech like a medium or large to emulate the larvae coming off the bottom.”

> “I do things differently. I don’t compete with the mud buffet. I do downsize, but look for harder bottoms because there’s fewer mayflies. Even if it’s just harder mud bottom. There’s the spongy stuff and there’s compact, clay bottom. I go for the latter — areas where there’s less competition.

> “I’m either cranking or pulling spinners. I downsize blades and crankbaits, like going from Reef Runner 800s to Deep Little Rippers which are half the size. In terms of spinners, I drop one to two sizes in blades…like from #8 to #6, or #6 to #4, or all the way down to #3.”

1. Brad Hawthorne:

Mille Lacs guide Brad Hawthorne doesn’t let a hatch scare him off the lake — he uses ’em to his advantage to harass congregated fish:

2. Jon Thelen:

Jon changes up every aspect of his approach. First thing he does is stops fishing hard-bottom spots even if they were kicking out fish for the last 3 weeks. Moves to softer bottoms because that’s where the bugs are hatching and the baitfish won’t be far behind, with walleyes bringing up the rear of that food-chain parade: