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Fishflies making a return to areas near Lake St. Clair

Posted at 5:22 PM, Jun 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-17 17:22:33-04

It's that time of year when folks living near Lake St. Clair have to deal with some unwanted guests. We are talking about fishflies.

Monica Damore of Harrison Township said, "Kind of have to deal with them because they are coming if you want them or not."

That's the attitude most folks take when they see these pesky things.

Every June, fishflies, also known as Mayflies, rise up from the lake and land on whatever they can find like homes, trees, poles, etc.

"Fortunately they don't bite, they don't really do anything," she said.

Frank White has lived off of Lake St. Clair for more than 40 years. He says fishflies are important for the ecosystem - their presence are indicators of clean freshwater.

White added, "If we didn't have fishflies the lake would be polluted more."

But they can be a nuisance when you drive.

Damore said, "When they are all over the ground because when you do go to stop sometimes you can actually slide."

"Like a slushy day in the snow for a couple nights a week. We used have to run from our car to the apartment at the time because they were so bad," said Andrew Howard, who lives in Grosse Pointe Shores.

"Stay away from lights. Don't wear light colored shirts and clothes like that they attract to light colored clothing," Howard added. "Pick them off you. Flick them off you. Move your shirt around like that and they will fly away."

Fishflies will be around for the next couple of weeks.