We've heard about them on the evening news, we've read about them in the newspaper, and we've discussed them on the fly fishing bulletin boards, but now they're here and fisherman all over the east are wondering how fish will react to the 17-year cicada.

An adult cicada

In an effort to see just how well fish keyed in on cicadas, Fly Fisherman magazine's managing editor Jay Nichols and I decided to fish a local public lake where we knew cicadas were emerging. The lake has a healthy population of bass and panfish and since its banks are shadowed by overhanging tree limbs and bushes, we guessed a fair number of cicadas fall into the water.

Though it has been reported several times that the mating call made from these bugs is loud, I had no idea it would be as loud as it was. When we arrived at the canoe launch the waves of noise coming from the surrounding forests was deafening and as we approached a row of bushes to photograph the bugs we sometimes had to shout to hear one another.

Right away we noticed the cicadas flew in a haphazard manner, often bumping into us. This particular day was also windy, and as expected cicadas were constantly being blown from overhanging limbs into the water.

A group of cicadas on a tree branch.

Once in the canoe, it wasn't long before we began hooking panfish and bass on either a popper or a black and orange cicada imitation tied with foam and elk hair. Neither were exact replicas of the cicadas but close enough. We casted underneath and along the shoreline vegetation and slightly twitched our flies to imitate a bug that just fell in and is struggling. If we were lucky, a bass hit the fly, but more often than not it was immediately surrounded by schools of panfish trying desperately to get it in their mouth. Only the largest panfish were successful.

One particular area had dozens of cicadas on the water and every time the wind blew, a few more fell in creating a sort of cicada soup. We noticed that something was eating the cicadas close to shore. Once the canoe was closer, Jay saw the mouth of a common carp break the surface and eat a cicada. Before we knew it there were several large carp in the area, all feeding on cicadas caught in the surface. Off to the side Jay noticed a fish making its way closer to the canoe. Without hesitating he cast his black and red popper in the path of the fish. The carp confidently rose to the popper, ate it, and turned down when Jay set the hook.

The fish immediately ran for deeper water and we followed. Twenty minutes and several strong runs later, the fish was ready to come in. We beached the canoe on some nearby rocks, jumped in the water, and landed the fish. After taking some photos we eased it back into the water and took a break from the excitement.

Jay Nichols with the carp he caught on a dry fly.

We returned to the area where he hooked the carp and found several more feeding on cicadas. And though I was able to get six fish to rise to my fly, I lost every single one, including a behemoth that came off because I tied a bad knot. Needless to say I was not a happy angler at that moment. A few hours later the carp were wise to our flies and ended their feeding frenzy, but we did catch a few more panfish and bass on cicada patterns before finishing the day.

That was all the proof I needed that fish feed on cicadas and hopefully I'll have several more chances to fish cicada patterns before the phenomenon is over. If you want to know more about cicadas, check out Ethan Emery's article in the July 2004 issue of Fly Fisherman or check out the recipe for his Backing Mondo Cicada.