Bamboozle
Well-known member
I hate picky fish...
Cicadas - did it happen ?
- Thread starter AndyP
- Start date
falcon
Well-known member
One of my area streams has cicadias. The fish were on them. Some very small fish were hanging on for dear life. Everything eats them .... bears, birds, copperhead snakes ... almost everything. Big protein hit.
AndyP
Active member
Thank you all for the information. I will try to rememeber to bring this subject up again NEXT year when it's supposed to happen 😄
Bamboozle
Well-known member
Instead, ask the question around the end of February in conjunction with asking if it is OK to trout fish at that time of year...
There are extra points awarded for posting a photo of a supposed catch and asking if it is stocked or wild. 😉
Last edited:
Fly-Swatter
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Spoiler: It is! 😆
Acristickid
Well-known member
Don’t get excited when cicadas start to hatch ( I mean you can if you want to in anticipation) because it IMO takes a few weeks for them to start hitting the water and for fish to get on them.
There is no it will happen here or go here. You have to find them. You might have to drive around your waters to find them. The cicadas certainly do not need my endorsement.
There is no it will happen here or go here. You have to find them. You might have to drive around your waters to find them. The cicadas certainly do not need my endorsement.
salmo
Well-known member
I’m just hoping to make it until the next emmergence. I’ll only be 91. I hope I can remember where I left my waders.
CLSports
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The carp fishing was stellar.
Glad you found em.
dryflyguy
Well-known member
Dont know if you're just being sarcastic - but I had great fishing during that cicada emergence several years ago.
The key was simply finding where they were.
A good friend of mine wanted to fish them too.
And we decided that the best approach to locating where they were, was for for us to split up at first.
He checked certain streams, and I went to others.
That way, we covered twice as much ground, as compared to both of us fishing together.
We did this for the first week of the emergence.
And found out where the fish were actually eating
them
Then enjoyed some great fishing for the next several weeks together
I am not kidding at all. They were extremely thick at my parents' place (WW Jam Waters) and were floating down the Juniata River in hordes. The fish didn't care in the least.
PennKev
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Ditto.
dryflyguy
Well-known member
I dont know how available they would have been to fish on a large stream like the Juniata, other than perhaps one the edges.
Just like terrestrial fishing usually isn't great on large stream too.
I found on them on about 6 south central streams.
The largest of which was Yellow Creek.
Fish were eating them there for sure.
And athough the FFing only stretch was crowded, we fished in relative solitude on sections up and downstream of there
The cicadas were floating all over the water everywhere. The cicadas were in the middle of the river. The last and only time I ever saw fish eating them, I was on a boat in the middle of Lake Raystown nowhere near the shore. Cicadas were all over the water and fish were eating them.
I also checked out trout streams and found zero fish interested in the abundant cicadas. It was not only me in this pursuit, but other local trout anglers. We all found zero success and interest in Mifflin County when the cicadas were here a few years ago.
PENZZZ
Member
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We had them a couple years ago here in SCPA and northwestern MD.
As I reported, the fishing was spotty as the bugs can be very thick on a section of stream and absent a mile away (This was also my experience in 2004 and 1987). They were heavy on the upper Potomac River but the fish ignored them - at least that was my experience. Some small trout streams fished fantastic for me and one stocked trout I harvested had, if I recall correctly, 11 cicadas in his stomach.
In 2004 I fished them on the Juniata River and the fish ignored them, but a local public lake had great fishing for me (the rock bass loved 'em). Strange.
I tied way more cicada flies than I needed, so am holding on to them for next year in central PA.
As I reported, the fishing was spotty as the bugs can be very thick on a section of stream and absent a mile away (This was also my experience in 2004 and 1987). They were heavy on the upper Potomac River but the fish ignored them - at least that was my experience. Some small trout streams fished fantastic for me and one stocked trout I harvested had, if I recall correctly, 11 cicadas in his stomach.
In 2004 I fished them on the Juniata River and the fish ignored them, but a local public lake had great fishing for me (the rock bass loved 'em). Strange.
I tied way more cicada flies than I needed, so am holding on to them for next year in central PA.
I had some excellent fishing then. You have to go out and find the bugs and the streams.
By reading your response, I'm convinced that most people do not read previous responses on a thread. Especially because I keep repeating the info italicized below.
I found trout streams with cicadas thick along them, and I fished a bass river smothered in them. The fish didn't care. I wasn't the only fly fisherman who had that experience. We fished streams where there were cicadas.
With that said, I don't care. It's just fishing. Fish don't have to react to the cicadas in the same way everywhere or every day. That's how fishing goes.
Acristickid
Well-known member
^ ?
Many FF’s I know had amazing cicada fishing , myself included. It was among the best fishing I ever had. I’ve fished most of the best waters in US- Green Drake on Henry’s Fork for giant rainbows which otherwise wouldn’t show themselves, the harvest of beets on Bighorn where combines drove the hoppers in the water. Insane. You didn’t go to the right place.
Many FF’s I know had amazing cicada fishing , myself included. It was among the best fishing I ever had. I’ve fished most of the best waters in US- Green Drake on Henry’s Fork for giant rainbows which otherwise wouldn’t show themselves, the harvest of beets on Bighorn where combines drove the hoppers in the water. Insane. You didn’t go to the right place.
