Cicada Charm

Fishing for large trout with large dry flies is exhilarating sport and today the trout happened to be hungry for cicadas. Cicadas are large terrestrial insects, almost the size of a thumb. Imitations are generally tied with ample deer hair and they land on the water with a plop, grabbing the attention of the trout. Trout which are otherwise circumspect in these rivers seem to lose their inhibitions when cicadas grace the stage. 

I fished a well known Southland river and the weather was good - clear skies with a gentle breeze. Perfect weather for cicadas to do their thing (make noise and procreate I guess) and for gusts of wind to blow any unwary cicada into the river and the waiting mouths of the trout.

I landed two brown trout, heavily spotted, pale specimens, and each weighed 5½ lbs. I lost a slightly larger trout which was on the hook for about ten minutes and had my arm aching. I also pricked two other trout, but these two had turned and followed the fly downstream for a way before taking it, and the fly was pulled from their mouths when I struck. You'd think trout would hit these big morsels with aggression but they don't. All you see is a snout quietly poke out the water very calmly and disappear back under the water with hardly any surface disturbance at all. It was hard to resist the temptation to strike too early.

Trout One

Trout One in detail

Trout Two

Trout Two in detail

This was a stellar, red letter day, marking an appreciable uptick in my fortunes. I was elated! It's great to finally get on the plus side of 5 lbs too.