The cicadas are coming

[Koz]

The cicadas are starting to emerge in my neck of the woods although not nearly as bad as in some areas. I saw a story about Newberry, SC where people were calling the police because of the constant sirens all night long. It was the cicadas.

 

I was out fishing in my back yard this evening and saw a few flop into the water. Oddly enough, not one predator fish went after them. Later in the evening their were bait balls everywhere and not one predator fish chasing them that I could see. I tossed spinnerbaits and minnows for an hour and not a single strike. Odd since last week the fishing was very good off my dock.

 

I haven't been out on my kayak in over a week, but my guess is that with the full moon the spawn started up in my section of the lake and the bass pulled out of the area for a while. I've got a tournament here on Saturday and I hope I can find a section of post spawn lake where the bass are getting active again.

 

Have the cicadas emerged in your area yet?

 

 

[F14A-B]

I’ve seen a very few in Indiana, but it’s coming. This one is suppose to be a doozy 🤣

[GreenPig]

My yard here in Ga. looks like I've hit it with a plug aerator with all the cicadas coming up out of the ground. They're everywhere and loud, little red eyes jokers.

[Jar11591]

Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes

[Jmilburn76]

They will definitely bring out the copperheads to feast especially at night.

[FishTax]

5 minutes ago, Jmilburn76 said:

They will definitely bring out the copperheads to feast especially at night.

You just had to post this right when I'm firing up my night fishing expeditions 😅. I hate hate hate copper heads! Guess I'll load up rat shot in the 38 and try to look at it as fun target practice

[Pat Brown]

Those big bass LOVE some fresh copperhead and cicada etouffee.  Guess I better bring a popper and a big swimming worm 👀👀👀🤣🤣🤣 

 

In all seriousness, I reckon the bass and gills gonna be going bananas on them til they stop falling in the water.  Birds condensed around tree lines are gonna be a good sign there's a lot of fish in an area feeding on them when it gets to be full swing.

 

Seems like whenever these big insect events happen it really activates the whole food chain and I catch biggins.

[Mobasser]

Missouri is expecting a large bunch coming in. They're not here yet, but will be probably next month.

[Jmilburn76]

1 hour ago, FishTax said:

You just had to post this right when I'm firing up my night fishing expeditions 😅. I hate hate hate copper heads! Guess I'll load up rat shot in the 38 and try to look at it as fun target practice

The won’t bother you, after all, you are technically in their house. Copperheads do a lot of their hunting at night especially in hotter weather though.

 

I’m not a fan of snakes either but would never just kill one, which is illegal in TN. I’d rather have snakes around than nasty rodents. 

[Koz]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Those big bass LOVE some fresh copperhead and cicada etouffee.  Guess I better bring a popper and a big swimming worm 👀👀👀🤣🤣🤣 

 

In all seriousness, I reckon the bass and gills gonna be going bananas on them til they stop falling in the water.  Birds condensed around tree lines are gonna be a good sign there's a lot of fish in an area feeding on them when it gets to be full swing.

 

Seems like whenever these big insect events happen it really activates the whole food chain and I catch biggins.

That was the odd thing last night. With the cicadas flapping on the top of the water not one stray fish gobbled them up.

 

I was hoping for a feeding frenzy.

[Pat Brown]

3 minutes ago, Koz said:

That was the odd thing last night. With the cicadas flapping on the top of the water not one stray fish gobbled them up.

 

I was hoping for a feeding frenzy.

 

I'd say it's still a little early for a lot of bodies of water because the fish are still so bed oriented right now.

 

We are well into the post spawn here so I expect a lot of action when the bugs really start dropping.

 

I do my best when they're keyed in on insects later in the day for some reason.

[Kev-mo]

Nothing here yet. We had a frost last night. When they last came in 2007 it was like early June cause we were camping with Boy Scouts. It was a blast to watch the kids experience them.

 

They kept prophesying the double hatching here but I found out the other night it's only going to be a 10 mile wide swath near Champaign. Disappointing...mostly because I don't feel like driving to experience.

 

One more fun fact. Read the other day that the Massospora fungus infects a small percentage of cicadas. The fungus basically replaces the lower third of the cicada with itself. But not to worry. It gops up the cicadas on amphetamine and psilocybin and apparently feel no pain and just want to party. 

 

nature is a trip! 

[Mobasser]

If you guys see the fish striking them, you might try a Rebel Crickhopper or similar bait. They work good when I've seen bass hitting  grasshoppers that end up in the lake. They should work for these cicadas also 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

If you guys see the fish striking them, you might try a Rebel Crickhopper or similar bait. They work good when I've seen bass hitting  grasshoppers that end up in the lake. They should work for these cicadas also 

I have a small a tournament this weekend and a small Pop-R will be part of my arsenal. Light tugs do a good job of imitating a cicada on the surface.

[cheezyridr]

i absolutely LOVE the sound of cicadas.  i know i'm in the extreme minority, but there it is, i said it  😄

[slonezp]

Nothing here. Still too cold. Had frost on the truck yesterday morning

[Bird]

I fished a lake in WV 2 years ago that was littered with cicada.

It was predominantly a smallmouth lake and about all the fish I caught were with a top water bait.

I remember I didn't do a steady retrieve like a buzz bait but replicated the action of the cicada........ Devil's horse, Whopper plopper and pop max.

All the fish were bloated with cicada so it was definitely a banquet going on.

[Koz]

6 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

i absolutely LOVE the sound of cicadas.  i know i'm in the extreme minority, but there it is, i said it  😄

Most of the cicadas in my area are a little bit off in the distance. Their sound reminds me of the hovering UFO's in 1950's B movies.

[TnRiver46]

Nothing here yet but it’s the only time when carp are almost fun to fish for 

[GreenPig]

On 4/26/2024 at 3:48 PM, cheezyridr said:

i absolutely LOVE the sound of cicadas.  i know i'm in the extreme minority, but there it is, i said it  😄

We have so many here that they don't even sound like typical cicadas. They sound like a cross between a heavy piece of equipment running and a distant firetruck siren. 

[Koz]

It’s now the Cicada Apocalypse in my neighborhood. The water is littered with thousands of dead and dying cicadas and fish of all sizes are feasting.

 

I tossed a popper out there after work tonight but there’s so much carnage for the fish to choose from I didn’t get bit once.

 

There are so many bugs on the water half the time I have to shake them off my popper when I go to cast again.

[Woody B]

They're here, but I haven't seen any in the water yet.   During "bug" events (such as the mayfly hatch) I have better luck catching decent Bass with big worms or something that looks like a dying/injured smaller fish.  (Bladed jig or spinnerbait)

 

Cicadas are big.  They may trigger bigger fish to bite topwater stuff.  

[Koz]

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

They're here, but I haven't seen any in the water yet.   During "bug" events (such as the mayfly hatch) I have better luck catching decent Bass with big worms or something that looks like a dying/injured smaller fish.  (Bladed jig or spinnerbait)

 

Cicadas are big.  They may trigger bigger fish to bite topwater stuff.  

I was thinking that as well but had no takers on a moving bait. Went out later tonight and caught a 2 pounder on my second cast on a popper and called it a night. Quit while I was ahead 😀

[TnRiver46]

They are down at our house 45 minutes south of Knoxville but haven’t seen any at home (except the one that rode home with me in the back of my truck 😬)

[F14A-B]

The only thing buzzing around me tonight are Tornadoes..