Penns and Cicadas

This year is the year of the 17 year cicada brood XIV. Why do I
care? Well, it just so happens one of the core areas of brood XIV is
CENTER COUNTY PA!!! http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fa.../BroodXIV.html

And guess what? They're starting to emerge right now so by the time
Penns rolls around, it should be cicada heaven. Big fish going after
big orange and black bugs to big for the tiddlers to gulp down. This
should be like the green drake hatch on steroids, lasting all day. No
sitting around for the evening spinner fall. So bring your cicada
patterns and be ready and forwarned.
Frank Reid

This year is the year of the 17 year cicada brood XIV. *Why do I
care? *Well, it just so happens one of the core areas of brood XIV is
CENTER COUNTY PA!!! *http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fa...s/Periodical/B...

By the way, anyone know where I can buy some cicada patterns? Looked
at all of the usual suspects and couldn't find much.
Frank Reid

On May 5, 1:27 pm, Frank Reid wrote:
This year is the year of the 17 year cicada brood XIV. Why do I
care? Well, it just so happens one of the core areas of brood XIV is
CENTER COUNTY PA!!! http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fa...s/Periodical/B...

By the way, anyone know where I can buy some cicada patterns? Looked
at all of the usual suspects and couldn't find much.
Frank Reid


At the big hatch in 2004, I was having fine luck with carp using a big
black popper with legs, like a #2. Make a huge splash when you cast
them, and creep them slowly rather than chug them. Even the normally-
skittish monsters were coming up to take a bite. Easiest fishing for
five and ten pound fish I've ever seen.

Frank Reid wrote:
This year is the year of the 17 year cicada brood XIV. Why do I
care? Well, it just so happens one of the core areas of brood XIV is
CENTER COUNTY PA!!! http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fa.../BroodXIV.html

And guess what? They're starting to emerge right now so by the time
Penns rolls around, it should be cicada heaven. Big fish going after
big orange and black bugs to big for the tiddlers to gulp down. This
should be like the green drake hatch on steroids, lasting all day. No
sitting around for the evening spinner fall. So bring your cicada
patterns and be ready and forwarned.
Frank Reid

and, speaking of bringing things to penns...have y'all done away with
the raffle or do i need to scurry about for my pitiful contribution?

jeff (wondering where the pig hat sits now)

and, speaking of bringing things to penns...have y'all done away with
the raffle or do i need to scurry about for my pitiful contribution?

jeff (wondering where the pig hat sits now)

Well, it's too far for me to haul the gear for my unlamented barley
stew. Don't think there's a raffle either.
Frank Reid

On Mon, 5 May 2008 09:56:25 -0700 (PDT), Frank Reid
wrote:

And guess what? They're starting to emerge right now so by the time
Penns rolls around, it should be cicada heaven. Big fish going after
big orange and black bugs to big for the tiddlers to gulp down. This
should be like the green drake hatch on steroids, lasting all day. No
sitting around for the evening spinner fall. So bring your cicada
patterns and be ready and forwarned.

No waiting. No line. So sitting on the grass looking for the first
bug to come off. NYMPH the f&%$#~$!

Dave

Frank Reid wrote:

And guess what? They're starting to emerge right now so by the time
Penns rolls around, it should be cicada heaven. Big fish going after
big orange and black bugs to big for the tiddlers to gulp down. This
should be like the green drake hatch on steroids, lasting all day. No
sitting around for the evening spinner fall. So bring your cicada
patterns and be ready and forwarned.
Frank Reid

I'm not intending to rain on your parade, but just to offer some
perspective:

A massive hatch, especially of huge bugs, has a downside. While it can
be furious action for awhile, the fish quickly get stuffed and stop
feeding. They'll eventually start up again, but it takes patience to
wait them out.

There's also the problem of getting them to pay attention to your
artificial in an abundance of naturals. (This is somewhat ironic with
respect to cicadas, because it's believed that the 17-year and 13-year
life cycle of some cicadas is meant to overwhelm predators with so many
bugs at once that they can't keep up, and that the prime numbers -- 17
and 13 -- enhance this effect by keeping the hatch "out of phase" with
the predator life cycles.)

I've seen this phenomenon with spinner falls of brown drakes (at Silver
Creek) and caddis (on the Middle Fork of the Salmon). I've seen
millions of spent bugs in the water, collecting in dense mats in the
eddies, and not a fish to be had.

If you wait until evening, well after the spinner fall, you can get good
action, but flogging the water covered with dead and dying bugs while
the fish are digesting is futile.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote


be furious action for awhile, the fish quickly get stuffed and stop
feeding. They'll eventually start up again, but it takes patience to wait
them out.



I've seen this with Green Drakes on the HFork and Salmon flies on a couple
rivers ... bugs on the water everywhere but no fish to be seen, they're
simply stuffed ... I would think ( spelled g-u-e-s-s ) that with cicadas it
might not be as likely as with aquatic insects ... there may be billions of
them around, but how many on the water ?

be furious action for awhile, the fish quickly get stuffed and stop
feeding. They'll eventually start up again, but it takes patience to wait
them out.

I've seen this with Green Drakes on the HFork * and Salmon flies on a couple
rivers ... bugs on the water everywhere but no fish to be seen, they're
simply stuffed ... I would think ( spelled g-u-e-s-s ) that with cicadas it
might not be as likely as with aquatic insects ... there may be billions of
them around, but how many on the water ?


The action I saw in Maryland in 2004 was pretty awesome. One bug
would float down the river evey 10 minutes or so and the fish in the
pools would go nuts till a big fish came up to chomp on it. By then,
its legs and wings were gone, eaten by the smaller fish. I should
make a fly that has hooks instead of legs. I could haul fish out all
day long, just like the spin fishermen. Then again, it would be
illegal in most places.
Frank Reid

"rw" wrote





life cycle of some cicadas is meant to overwhelm predators with so many
bugs at once that they can't keep up, and


It appears (we humans love to force 'reason' onto things, don't we ? ) that
bugs have two main tactics ... cicada, salmon fly, style huge hatches over a
short time period "designed" to overwhelm predator appetites and the baetis,
pmd, most caddis type moderate daily hatches spread over long periods
'designed" to avoid the dangers of bad weather that might be in effect on
any given day the two types tied to 'big' and 'little' bugs to a
degree, it being harder for a few 'big' bugs to avoid being noticed each day


As a hatch hunting fly fisher I far prefer the latter type bug survival
strategy and the types of hatches they provide ... PMDs every day for a
couple months being, to my mind. far better than Salmon Flies 4 days ( on a
given section of water ) a year

IME, most of the big name, big bug, big crowd drawing, hatches are overrated
.... unless social event is the main reason to go fishing ( not that there's
anything wrong with that ;-)