Do Your Homework NOW for CICADA MADNESS!!!

This put up is from writer Dave Zielinski, who’s a ship builder, angler, fly tier, musician, and certain a protracted listing of different titles.  A search on T.F.M. will reveal an inventory of enjoyable earlier posts to kind by way of.  He is additionally a nerd in the case of bugs that crawl out of the bottom each few years and CICADA MADNESS was launched early this yr because the the last word primer on the whole lot cicada.  Along with his ebook being on important Black Friday sale on Amazon , I figured it might be a very good time to share a number of tricks to get you excited for subsequent summer season and you’ll seemingly sneak this ebook into the cart whilst you’re on-line buying over the vacation.

The yr 2024 introduced us the co-emergence of two periodical cicadas throughout 17 States within the decrease 48.  Hopefully, you have been capable of expertise “Cicada Insanity” throughout Might and June.  For these of you that deliberate accordingly, did the work and hit the water, I hope you had an epic expertise.  Hopefully the phrases “Epic”, “Unimaginable”, “Ridiculous” and “Bizarre” match within the vocabulary as phrases to explain the fishing.

Guess what?  YOU GET TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

And, for these of you that didn’t get to expertise the 2024 emergence, listed here are a number of tricks to allow you success with the upcoming Brood XIV 17-year periodical cicadas.  This brood, referred to as the “Higher Japanese Brood” will emerge throughout elements of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. 

So that you wanna fish this coming summer season Brood XIV periodical cicada emergence? Get to planning!

STEP 1 – THE BUG IS THE DRUG
You have to study the bug.  Construct your understanding of the life cycle of the periodical cicada, when it emerges, the circumstances it must emerge and its mating cycle.  The important thing to discovering important numbers of the terrestrial depends on the mating part of the bug.  Males sing to draw appropriate mates, and each men and women fly from tree to tree to begin the method.  When large numbers of bugs start to fly, a portion of them discover their means by chance within the water.  You already know what occurs subsequent.

STEP 2 – FIGURE OUT THE WHEN AND WHERE
Cicadas won’t come to you.  It’s a must to go discover them.  Should you wait, and hope they’ll arrive to your favourite creek, you is perhaps dissatisfied.  Get the distribution map out for Brood XIV.  Scientists have compiled these for a pair centuries at this level.  A number of the historic ranges are extinct and a few fashionable maps have up to date some areas however are absent of others.  That is all the time evolving.  Take the brood map and evaluate it to Google Earth.  Search for these areas with numerous bushes close to water. 

STEP 3 – SCOUT IT OUT
Should you can, scout round earlier than the anticipated emergence.  In Southern states, this might be early to mid-Might and in northern states, the top of Might into the primary week of June.  You might be searching for indicators that a number of bugs have emerged.  Holes within the floor, circumstances on tree trunks, or a bug or two hanging round leaves.  I can assure you should you discover a number of bugs, come again in per week, and test once more.  The numbers will construct.  There are hundreds underneath your ft.  Ask locals who have been round seventeen years earlier than.  Ask bizarre questions on bugs.

STEP 4 – ASSEMBLE THE CREW 
When you’ve ready your listing of spots to test, put your crew collectively.  You’re going to want a crew that may take the ups and downs.  Lengthy drives, flying by evening, overvalued on the chase that may cope with the defeat of exhibiting as much as a lake with no bugs.  No time to sulk, get rollin’ and hit the subsequent one.  You’re going to reside with these of us for a pair weeks, so select correctly.  Oh, and it’s crucial if everybody can again up a trailer and row a ship.  “You don’t row, you don’t go.”  I am laughing but it surely’s true. 

STEP 5 – LET’S FRIGGIN GO!!!
Quite a lot of the cicada chasing we do is on unknown lakes and rivers to us.  We do our planning and mapping forward of the emergence and rank our spots.  When it’s “Go-Time” we are sometimes behind the windshield underneath the duvet of darkness to indicate up at a ship ramp with the bass event anglers.  These guys usually fish lots and see lots.  We begin asking questions on cicadas and…normally carp.  After the bizarre seems to be, we regularly get worthwhile intel.  (Like these large grassers at Hen Island.) 

Backside line:  Windshield time, being cell and agile will lead you to success.  Hope ain’t a plan. Should you aren’t prepared to go looking it out, you should have restricted success.

STEP 6 – BUGGIN’ OUT
Take numerous rods.  I prefer to chase oversize carp- commons and grassers, and nothing fights these fish like fashionable fiberglass rods.  Nothing lifts like glass.  I’ve fished the whole lot from Blue Halo Retroflex rods, Iconoglass, Fenwicks and Orvis Superfine Glass, however my current favourite is the Steffen Brothers 8’8” 7-weight SWARM.

I collaborated with Steffen Brothers on this stick forward of the 2024 Brood XIX and XIII emergence. Steffen Brothers and Shane Grey put a number of of those rods in our quiver to beat up.  Each individual that fished it cherished it.  Pair it with a 7-weight Scientific Anglers Mastery Bass Bug fly line, tie a three-section chief tapered to fifteen# Maxima and let’s go!

STEP 7 – FILL THE FLY BOX THIS WINTER
Tie some black and orange cicada patterns in sizes 8,6,4.  My apparent alternative is my very own “17-Yr-Itch Cicada” which the recipe may be present in my ebook, “CICADA MADNESS” from Stackpole Books. 

This ebook is the only useful resource on the subject of cicadas and fly fishing.  Obtainable proper now as an Amazon.com Black Friday Deal!  Benefit from the journey that’s CICADA MADNESS!
Observe Dave on Instagram and remember to take a look at his Down House Boatworks web site, too.