Brood XIX- Simple Cicadas for Dumb Fish

[Rkayser 0]

Quick. Dirty. Ugly. Effective.

In 2011, I was fortunate enough to be in Missouri with enough time to fish during the periodic cicada hatch. And oh, what a hatch it was. The fishing was good enough that I retired a fly on it's 100th wild trout of the day (one of many good days), and began looking forward to the next hatch in 2024. 

Which brings us to this year.

The first three were modifications of the retiree that sits on a bookshelf. A #6 bass hook with Orange dubbing, black foam (hook gap width), orange bucktail & root beer krystal flash wings with some rubber legs. I believe I was very rusty, and these were very ugly. But this was about effectiveness, not looks. Second fly of this batch was the best overall, but I preferred the wings on 3.

 

 

Round two was prettier, but didn't seem to cast as well. Same hook, but black foam underbody ribbed with orange floss, orange rubber legs, doubled foam head. Pre-cut foam bodies were split with a razor blade to get thin enough. The biggest issue with these was the wings- they didn't have the same action as the flies with bucktail support, and lacked the structure in the water. Everything superglued in place- I don't like a good fly getting destroyed just when the fishing gets good. Much preferred the orange sighter on these.

 

Verdict? The first round seemed to fish better, but the second round was plenty effective- landed upright with enough noise to draw in fish, didn't spin, and had a decent hookup ratio. Having the hook only tied in towards the head meant bluegill could get the hook, instead of only choking on foam. Well over 100 fish caught, over a dozen doubles, and not enough time to drink all the beer. Not bad for pond hopping. No trout this year, thanks to that nasty little thing called a job getting in the way.

Research & Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[niveker 0]

Title made me laugh. 

Nice post, nice fish, looks like a boatload of fun. 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Well done...

[Mark Knapp 0]

Yep, well done.

[jcozzz 0]

Nice , i did OK on bass but i catch a lot of bass every year.I was obsessed with the cicadas.I tied for specific fish,giant carp,in a few specific BOWs.Even being in the middle of the swarm i had to have the right wind conditions and a hot day when the cicadas were super active.I managed to land 6 carp over 20lbs and lost more during the 20 minute battles.I had to position myself out on big rocks in a deep quarry to cast parallel .A feeding lane developed as a south wind pushed the airborn cicadas from the shoreline brush and trees.Most fun i ever had flyfishing.My flies fooled them even with lots of live cicadas thrashing in the water,