Skip to main content

Bug Appetit: The 17-Year Cicada Presents Rare Opportunity for Anglers

Periodic cicadas are notable for their sheer numbers, swamping the environment with so many organisms in a biological strategy known as predator satiation.

Bug Appetit: The 17-Year Cicada Presents Rare Opportunity for Anglers

The 17-year cicada are emerging in the midwest, and reports are that the hatch is spectacular. Wikipedia cites the following about these insect versions of Haley's comet:

"Magicicada is the genus of the 13-year and 17-year periodical cicadas of eastern North America. Although they are sometimes called 'locusts,' this is a misnomer, as cicadas belong to the taxonomic order Hemiptera (true bugs), suborder Auchenorrhyncha, while locusts are grasshoppers belonging to the order Orthoptera."

While other species of cicada have shorter 2- to 3-year, or even annual emergence cycles, the periodic cicadas are notable for the sheer numbers of insects that crawl out of the ground after such an extended maturation period. Swamping the environment with so many organisms ensures that some survive the wide array of animals, birds and fish that feast on the insects, a biological strategy known as predator satiation.

Fifty-one years–and three hatch cycles–ago I remember playing with shed cicada husks as a kid in Ohio. Amazingly durable, the emergent casings were complete representations of the outer profiles of gigantic bugs that looked like alien invaders. I would collect them, then pit them in epic battles against my squadrons of green plastic army men, who routinely fell under the onslaught of creatures that, to scale, were the size of Volkswagens.

The following excellent time-lapse video of 17-year cicada emergence on Vimeo illustrates the life cycle of these amazing organisms.

The 2016 emergence, known to scientists as Brood V (last seen in 1999), is considered a medium-sized periodic cicada event. As reported recently by slate.com, "We know how cicadas detect seasons: They get important clues about where trees are in the growth cycle from the composition of the roots they feed on. But no one knows for sure how they keep track of how many years have passed. It's likely that the gene or genes responsible are the same ones involved in timing in other organisms–such as the ones that tell birds how and when to fly south for the winter and salmon how to swim to their ancestral breeding pond. "We know it's some sort of molecular clock," says Chris Simon, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut. "But researchers will have to study those kinds of timing genes in depth before they unravel this mystery."

Well-known guide and fly fisher Blane Chocklett has his own strategy for dealing with these kinds of events–his imitation cicada pattern is probably the most accurate representation of the insects I've ever seen. Almost qualifying as etymological taxidermy, this pattern is proven to catch every fish that eats cicadas–which is pretty much all of them.

Bug appetit!




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
Destinations/Species

Simms Presents - Destination: Skeena

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
News

Just Do It: Nike and Drake Plunge into Fly Fishing

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
News

Abel x Nocta Fly Reel

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

G. Loomis's “Feel Connected” Episode 2: "Rolled Up"

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
Gear

How to Tie Chicone's Magnum Mantis Fly

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

Fly Tier's Bench: How to Tie Egan's Poacher

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

Small Stream Hopper Fishing

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
Destinations/Species

The Tightest Line

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

How to Tie Craven's Mr. Jones Dry Fly

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

How to Tie Craven's Mr. Jones Dry Fly

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
How-To/Techniques

How to Fight Trout Effectively and Get them in the Net Quickly

From Patagonia: “Each time we remove a dam, life comes rushing back in. For years, we've known that dams are lethal. Now...
News

Patagonia Advocates for Dam Removal

Fly Fisherman Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Get the Fly Fisherman App apple store google play store

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Fly Fisherman stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Fly Fisherman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Fly Fisherman stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use