Chasing the Cicadas

DaveKile said:
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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THAT'S A REALLY NICE RAINBOW!!!
 
I think it would be interesting to see a study on growth rates the year following a cicada emergence in Central PA.

I would have to think, growth rates for that year would be higher than in previous and following years. Especially considering the more stable nature of the limestone streams verse freestone. Would any of them see faster than average growth rates? It would take a deliberate study but would be interesting.
 
tomgamber said:
No, that is one ugly rainbow. You need to turn in your rods if you can't see the difference.
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9z51bu.jpg
 
sixfootfenwick said:
I think it would be interesting to see a study on growth rates the year following a cicada emergence in Central PA.

I would have to think, growth rates for that year would be higher than in previous and following years. Especially considering the more stable nature of the limestone streams verse freestone. Would any of them see faster than average growth rates? It would take a deliberate study but would be interesting.
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Assuming the increased angler pressure, in some cases possibly in warm water due to mid 90s heatwave, didnt cause increased mortality.

The fish I caught were all very well fed, could be intetesting to look at.
 
sixfootfenwick said:
I think it would be interesting to see a study on growth rates the year following a cicada emergence in Central PA.

I would have to think, growth rates for that year would be higher than in previous and following years. Especially considering the more stable nature of the limestone streams verse freestone. Would any of them see faster than average growth rates? It would take a deliberate study but would be interesting.
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Agreed, that would be cool to see the results of
 
sixfootfenwick said:
I think it would be interesting to see a study on growth rates the year following a cicada emergence in Central PA.

I would have to think, growth rates for that year would be higher than in previous and following years. Especially considering the more stable nature of the limestone streams verse freestone. Would any of them see faster than average growth rates? It would take a deliberate study but would be interesting.
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I too would be interested in reading a study on the impacts of periodical cicadas on trout biomass.

This is all conjecture, but here are a few of my thoughts and insights:
  1. It's baked in - sort of how the stock market guys price in the impacts of current events. The ecosystem has relative short and long term impacts, but 17 years is short in the big picture so impacts would not be easy to measure or to isolate from other variables.
  2. The massive influx of available protein and nutrients in the ecosystem over a short time in very hyperlocal areas would have a ripple effect - the predation on the Cicadas offers higher protein to the predators (fish, birds, etc) so they have higher short term growth, and their normal prey items are eaten less, so they become more abundant. After the massive influx of protein is gone, the increased populations of the other prey items show up as small but measurable in the following years, tapering off over time.
  3. The bottom up effect - all the nutrients of the dead cicadas helps spur plant growth. There are complex effects on the trees, both positive and negative impacts.
There are existing studies like this one: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7426 and here is one that talks about the impacts on stream ecosystem metabolism: https://www.caryinstitute.org/sites...ger_08_Ecosystems_Cicada_Detritus_Streams.pdf
 
lycoflyfisher said:
Assuming the increased angler pressure, in some cases possibly in warm water due to mid 90s heatwave, didnt cause increased mortality.

The fish I caught were all very well fed, could be intetesting to look at.
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This could lead to even further growth rates for those trout that survive. Huge caloric intake from the cicadas plus less competition from any trout that died due to fishing pressure.
 
Just like in humans, I have to wonder at what point ingested calories are expended because they can't be assimilated in the gut. A trout's digestive system/metabolic process is likely different than humans, so they may be able to hang onto ingested items until they can be digested. One would have to logically think that such huge sources of protein would provide a bump in their growth rate for the given year.
 
Broodstock said:
I too would be interested in reading a study on the impacts of periodical cicadas on trout biomass.

This is all conjecture, but here are a few of my thoughts and insights:
  1. It's baked in - sort of how the stock market guys price in the impacts of current events. The ecosystem has relative short and long term impacts, but 17 years is short in the big picture so impacts would not be easy to measure or to isolate from other variables.
  2. The massive influx of available protein and nutrients in the ecosystem over a short time in very hyperlocal areas would have a ripple effect - the predation on the Cicadas offers higher protein to the predators (fish, birds, etc) so they have higher short term growth, and their normal prey items are eaten less, so they become more abundant. After the massive influx of protein is gone, the increased populations of the other prey items show up as small but measurable in the following years, tapering off over time.
  3. The bottom up effect - all the nutrients of the dead cicadas helps spur plant growth. There are complex effects on the trees, both positive and negative impacts.
There are existing studies like this one: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7426 and here is one that talks about the impacts on stream ecosystem metabolism: https://www.caryinstitute.org/sites...ger_08_Ecosystems_Cicada_Detritus_Streams.pdf
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Well thought out post, thank you.
 
800meters said:
This could lead to even further growth rates for those trout that survive. Huge caloric intake from the cicadas plus less competition from any trout that died due to fishing pressure.
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Interesting aspect your post made me think of, you would especially be right if they hit that magic number faster where they become piscivore. Leading to more larger specimens than average 3 years(?) after the emergence.

Data would need to be collected over a period of multiple cicada emergence to prove it, which would take 100 years or so of collecting it.

We won't ever likely see a study but it would be possibly fascinating.
 
sixfootfenwick said:
Interesting aspect your post made me think of, you would especially be right if they hit that magic number faster where they become piscivore. Leading to more larger specimens than average 3 years(?) after the emergence.

Data would need to be collected over a period of multiple cicada emergence to prove it, which would take 100 years or so of collecting it.

We won't ever likely see a study but it would be possibly fascinating.
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We have computer models that could be built to simulate these kind of complex multivariable problems. The number of people who are interested in the data is likely very small 🙂
 
I am concerned about people fishing in streams that are too warm.
One large stream that I planned to fish last week, hit 70 degrees at 10 AM.
But I know of a few others who still fished it
 
Sylvaneous said:
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
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I also fished Penns Sunday and Monday
Did pretty well Sunday.
And not as well Monday. But tried a different section downstream a bit
 
dudemanspecial said:
As of noon yesterday, they were still on them like crazy. Had a banger of a morning.

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yup. although after this morning, I think I am getting bored fishing cicadas. But, I've been fishing 4-5 days a week except that stretch where the streams were blown out. Maybe I'm just itching to start SMB fishing. The rivers are approaching FF shape and they will start taking flies on top
 
Fished yesterday in central PA. Did OK on cicadas, but missed a couple studs. Big difference from last week, didn’t get any fish in pools just fast bites. Just lazy hooksets on a few. From everyone I talked to, it seemed
like a tough day. Big difference from last week.

After 1pm action shut down in general, but picked up at 4 on smaller bugs. The higher water was beneficial for cicadas in my opinion.

Been a great season and the cicadas have been awesome but I think come Sunday it’ll be warm water season.
 
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nymphingmaniac said:
yup. although after this morning, I think I am getting bored fishing cicadas. But, I've been fishing 4-5 days a week except that stretch where the streams were blown out. Maybe I'm just itching to start SMB fishing. The rivers are approaching FF shape and they will start taking flies on top
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Sheesh, and here I couldn’t buy a bite on the cicada today.

Fished Penns from 8am-6pm and stubbornly threw a cicada pattern most of the day. Absolutely nothing, not even a reaction strike. For whatever it’s worth, the fish really were not looking up at all today, so a tough day for a reaction strike. Managed to land a couple nice ones on some big cranefly imitations toward the end of the day but that was the only dry fly action for me today.

The cicada blitz is all done, at least for me, for another 17 years. It was a fun time for sure.
 
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