Chasing the Cicadas

wgmiller said:
*said no one ever 😀
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Don't let the fact that PA decided to stock ever water with hatchery rainbows confuse you with a real rainbow. trout. We don't get a lot of repro on rainbows as we do with browns so most people who haven't fished out west have no idea what a rainbow (and the multiple varieties) are actually supposed to look like. I have always thought they fight harder than any other trout lb for lb. BTW the distain for overpopulating Brook trout where they don't belong is equaled.
 
I fish the water with beetles & crickets year round because I believe wholeheartedly they are an opportunistic meal a trout can't resist even if beetles & crickets aren't floating down a stream. I also fish bee imitations with great sucess and rarely have seen a bee floating downstream.

For those reasons, I'd be very interested in hearing reports from anyone fishing the water with a cicada pattern long after they are done or at places where they didn't emerge...
 
I got out yesterday and finally got to see what the fuss is about. I was out of town for the "primetime" and my efforts prior to that were not successful due to very high water and the fact that the fish just were not on them yet.

Someone said it's overrated and I have to strongly disagree. It was about as exciting as fishing can get. Explosive takes (and some epic misses) on a big old foam bug. Every fish was mid-teens or better. All prospecting - didn't really see many rising fish at all and I only saw 2 actual cicadas in 4 hours. It's a whole lot of fun.
 
Shawn_H said:
I got out yesterday and finally got to see what the fuss is about. I was out of town for the "primetime" and my efforts prior to that were not successful due to very high water and the fact that the fish just were not on them yet.

Someone said it's overrated and I have to strongly disagree. It was about as exciting as fishing can get. Explosive takes (and some epic misses) on a big old foam bug. Every fish was mid-teens or better. All prospecting - didn't really see many rising fish at all and I only saw 2 actual cicadas in 4 hours. It's a whole lot of fun.
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I said it was overrated. After experiencing awesome fishing using cicadas, I'll recant that statement.
 
Broodstock said:
That's a pretty big tiger trout!

I was also out yesterday. I mostly fished cicadas, and then when I missed a fish on top, I ran a pair of nymphs through and usually got them to eat. I would say that it is still pretty good fishing, when you find moving water holding fish, and good temps. I saw a decent amount of splashy rises, and through mostly blind casting put 20+ fish in the net. I think we have another week or so for those who did not get out in "prime time" to experience this.
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yes, I think a week too, but it will be location specific. Fished again today. Fish are still on them but as I wrote earlier, they are getting pickier.
 
jifigz said:
I said it was overrated. After experiencing awesome fishing using cicadas, I'll recant that statement.
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I was wondering if your thoughts had changed.

I've caught fish at the same and even higher rates before. I've done it on dry flies. I've never fished another hatch, though, where I was shaking off sixteen and seventeen inchers so I could get my fly back out there for something bigger to eat.

I've tried to keep a fishing journal several times and have never been able to commit to it. I know future me would appreciate it if I did. For this hatch, I am going to compile notes of my experience and observations. I want to have something to look at in sixteen years, ten and a half months.

I don't know where life may take me by that time but, in June 2042, I'll be in central PA. I've got four kids who will be in their early thirties then. It's going to be a real shame when I have to miss a wedding or birth of a grandchild. Oh well.
 
ROVERT said:
I've caught fish at the same and even higher rates before. I've done it on dry flies. I've never fished another hatch, though, where I was shaking off sixteen and seventeen inchers so I could get my fly back out there for something bigger to eat.
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That's how was for me on Friday haha, looking back at it, it's pretty funny to think about compared to a normal year.

Hoping for another shot to go up provided water temps/flows are OK. Maybe Thursday but with work its looking more like Sunday or Monday...
 
How's central PA doing with these storms? We've had some seriously heavy rainfall here on the Lancaster/Dauphin border. It looks like the gauges are just starting to bump in CPA, so I know they got something already. I'm seeing forecasts of another 2.5" possible.
 
I had my best fishing day ever today on the Little J. First time ever catching multiple 20+” trout. I caught over 20 fish today. I fished on Saturday as well but only landed 6. The Little J was very crowded and several raft fishermen as well. Today I only encountered two other fishermen. It was interesting that the larger the fish, the deeper the hook. They simply inhaled the fly. I had to retire two flies because they were completely shredded. Most likely my last opportunity because I am scheduled for hernia repair surgery later this week. I will be in my 80’s when the next brood appears.
 
JMP said:
I had my best fishing day ever today on the Little J. First time ever catching multiple 20+” trout. I caught over 20 fish today. I fished on Saturday as well but only landed 6. The Little J was very crowded and several raft fishermen as well. Today I only encountered two other fishermen. It was interesting that the larger the fish, the deeper the hook. They simply inhaled the fly. I had to retire two flies because they were completely shredded. Most likely my last opportunity because I am scheduled for hernia repair surgery later this week. I will be in my 80’s when the next brood appears.
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tell them you have a fever and they have to reschedule 😉
 
My best cicada fish...this one hit 20"! It is actually my first legitimate 20" brown in PA - even as a PA native it just never happened until now.

I noticed the bugs are a lot quieter this past weekend. Probably depends on the area but at least where I was, it appears to be winding down - but the fish are still very much on them. In easier access areas they were getting picky. But if you can get far from access points or even just find sneaky pockets that other people overlooked, they are still blasting those flies like freight trains. Had some wind kick up a few hours ahead of the storms Saturday and started seeing a lot of cicadas on the water. It really helped turn the bite on for the day. Waiting out the storm in the woods was not as fun...lol.

After 3 weekends in a row of running from MD to PA and back, I am done - I can't imagine getting more out of this hatch than I already have!

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I had the jon boat at Sayers today. Crappie fishing was only okay, but the cicadas were almost gone. Only a few buzzing around in the trees in select places. So long, cicadas! I'll catch you when I am 56.

Another observation: They seem to heavily prefer oak trees, and the majority of the damage was done to oak. I didn't notice any damage to maple, walnut, etc. Pretty cool little detail.
 
Sunday, I caught about 6-7 on Penns on cicada dries with I don't know how many misses/lost, maybe as many. Monday, fishing different water (and Sunday, there wasn't much pressure) I caught NONE and saw very few flying around. I didn't hear much buzzing. I'd say on this section that I fished, the cicadas are done. Neat seeing all the holes in the ground where they emerged. I remember that last time they emerged and I fished the Little J. mostly.
Syl
 
jifigz said:
I had the jon boat at Sayers today. Crappie fishing was only okay, but the cicadas were almost gone. Only a few buzzing around in the trees in select places. So long, cicadas! I'll catch you when I am 56.

Another observation: They seem to heavily prefer oak trees, and the majority of the damage was done to oak. I didn't notice any damage to maple, walnut, etc. Pretty cool little detail.
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yeah I got a report of very few cicadas there Sunday.
 
Got one last day in. Water levels stayed the same from yesterday and the rain didn't really screw things up lat night. I went with a couple of smaller patterns than last week and it really paid off. It was basically cloudy all day with a little bit of sun. Cicadas are almost all gone. I could hear some, but none in the trees buzzing around and none on the water. I missed one on my third cast and then slowed my hook set after that. Between the smaller pattern and the slower set, my hook ups were much much higher. Trout would randomly come up out of the water. Some likely bank locations worked, but not as many as just some random fish coming up out the middle of run or pool.

Got about dozen in four hours and then a big storm rolled through about 2:30ish. I was gonna stay, but looked like the rain wanted to stay longer. I packed it up.

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