Cicadas

[Drath 0]

The 13 year periodical cicadas are supposed to be emerging any day now in my area. Brood XIX AKA The Great Southern Brood is supposed to be a big one. From what I hear they’ve been spotted all over the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and a few other states for a while. A few more warm nights should do the trick. Fishing should be outstanding for a few weeks. Here are some pics of my cicadas. I can’t wait to get ‘em on the water. I pretty much just made up the pattern as I went along. I’m fairly happy with the way they turned out. I hope the fish like ‘em.

 

-D

Hook: #8 4XL Streamer

Body: Variegated chenille (orange, olive, brown) and black craft foam

Hind legs: Silicone

Front legs: Hen hackle (the cheap stuff)

Underwing: A closed cell foam that computer monitors/laptops come wrapped in with two coats of spray on poly to stiffen ‘em up. Orange Sharpie for color.

Overwing: Elk hair

Eyes: 40LB monofilament line melted and painted red

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Those look great, the fish should hammer them. Be sure to give us an update.

 

Kirk

[gpd4 0]

I'd love to take a few of those off your hands...very well done.

[Robert M 0]

I always find the black colored cicada's odd because we don't usually have any that color in my part of the world. They are almost always shades of greens to olive with a white belly. Those have a nice profile and should kill the fish!

[popperfly 0]

Nice looking fly....they already hit us hard here in middle Tennessee, all over our trees.

[PWB 0]

Better make some more of those cause I got a feeling the bass are gonna love em!!!!! They look great!!!!!

[gpd4 0]

Can you take more pictures of those from different angles? I'd really like to see a profile and the bottom of it...

 

I see excellent evening fishing in your future...

[Drath 0]

Thanks to all. I’m gonna try to fish a smallmouth/trout stream this weekend. I’ll let you know how these flys produce. I say “try to fish” because there is a 70% chance of thunderstorms this weekend and the stream I want to hit is a 3 hour drive. Not a trip I want to make if it’s gonna rain all weekend. To make things even worse, I’m planning to camp. Grrrrr!!!

 

Robert, our annual Cicadas AKA Dog Day Cicadas have a quite a bit more olive/green to them but those are not the bug I'm trying to replicate. Attached is a picture of the “hatch” I’m trying to match. These guys spend 13 years underground only to come out for a few weeks to mate, sing, and die. They have a lot more orange, black, and brown to them.

 

Popper, did you try to fish any cicada patterns? If so, how did that work out for ya?

 

Gpd4, ask and you shall receive. Attached is a picture of the belly. As you can see it’s similar to a gurgler minus the tail.

 

-D

[ditz2 0]

I tied up one very similar to this and another one of my own design yesterday before heading to the creek. I saw several cicadas on the water struggling to get free of the water surface but did not see one of these get sucked in by a fish so I never tied one of my patterns on. If the fish wouldn't hit a real one I doubted that they would hit my fakes.

[Drath 0]

Hey ditz2, how long have the Cicadas been out in your neck of the woods? I hear it takes a few days for the fish to get turned on. But once they do… it’s on big time!

-D

[bam85 0]

Those look good. Here are some deer hair versions I've been working on.

[Drath 0]

I didn’t get a chance to fish that smallie stream this past weekend. Way too much rain. With any luck I may try to go after some strip pit Large Mouths next weekend. We’ll see.

[ditz2 0]

I have been away for a while with a family death. Sorry it took so long to get back to you.

 

The big bugs had been singing for about a week but they were not in full bloom yet. I got home last night and there were a lot of them flying around and they were in full song. It has cooled off today and things have quieted down alot. I fear that I will be needing to leave again shortly as the late inlaw's spouse is not doing well either. My wife is still there caring for her daddy but he appears to be failing fast. I hear we had a big storm go thru a couple of days ago so the creeks are probably up. Between that and daddy in-law it may be a week or so before I get back on the water.

[Nortrad 0]

Here's some that I am still tweaking. Tested them last Sunday. Some drawbacks: the foam packing material for the wings absorbs water, just a little, it's not that thick, and, it did not hold the permanent marker color after a few drifts. Also, the glass bead eyes didn't bond to the foam and dropped off. I used Zap a Gap. I'm still re-engineering, the profile is not right. They fooled two rainbows and got some swirling, quick circles from a couple of fish. Used it as an indicator for a nice dropper that nabbed a big rainbow. They will improve for the next trip in two weeks. Thanks to all who share their patterns.

[Robert M 0]

Here's some that I am still tweaking. Tested them last Sunday. Some drawbacks: the foam packing material for the wings absorbs water, just a little, it's not that thick, and, it did not hold the permanent marker color after a few drifts. Also, the glass bead eyes didn't bond to the foam and dropped off. I used Zap a Gap. I'm still re-engineering, the profile is not right. They fooled two rainbows and got some swirling, quick circles from a couple of fish. Used it as an indicator for a nice dropper that nabbed a big rainbow. They will improve for the next trip in two weeks. Thanks to all who share their patterns.

 

Try mylar wrapping paper for the wings or used dryer sheets and try clipped off stick pins (leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch metal stub) for the eyes glue in with super glue and add a top coat of (epoxy, shoe goop, flexement, goop, Aleene's fabric fusion pick one)

 

Nice looking flies