I know the fishing will be good for those of you in Ark, MO, Ill, KY, etc, but all I can think is, “Gawd, those poor bastiches who have to live through that noise.” I am sorry for you in advance. Hope to never again visit the Midwest during a hatch…I honestly thought I was gonna go insane last time…then I realized I was already here.
I love California, not least because we don’t have those hellish little buzzbombs.
The last time this brood came around, it coincided with a 17 year brood.
I went backpacking that summer in the Ozark hills. They drove me batty.
At one point, I heard ‘voices’…it was like a loud whisper within the cicadas.
It was so eerie, that I stuck close to my buddies and the camp fire.
Wow that is all it takes to bother you folks? I kind of like their noise as it is a sure sign of summer. On second thought please do continue to hate their noise. Leaves more room on the water and in the camp grounds for me. Also eliminates the one noise I cannot tolerate while on the water. Other people. I will take the cicadas sound any day over that of another person on the water, fly fisher or not.
If the distribution of that brood is anything like Brood X from a few years back, based on what I experienced you will be lucky if you encounter them at all. I eagerly anticipated and waited for the much hyped Brood X arrival by purchasing more than a few hard bass plugs for my casting and spinning rigs while searching for decent fly patterns.
And I waited…
Then one day when I was returning a rental car to Enterprise eight miles away, I saw them all over the place and all over the cars. I was ecstatic as I always had a warm spot for big bugs that can’t hurt you since I spent more than a few afternoons as a kid, chasing girls on the playground with the big green annual variety that appear every year.
So I snatched up two of those Brood X cicadas from the hood of a rental car with the idea of copying them at the tying bench when I got home. What I expected was to have two crazed cicadas buzzing and flying around in my car as I drove the eight miles back home but instead, they just sat there on the passenger seat where I put them. I don’t know if they were enjoying the ride, listening to the music, getting slightly car sick or were just terrified but they didn’t budge. It was pretty funny and no, they weren’t wearing a seat belt but maybe I should have had them in a car seat.
When I got home it got even curiouser. I sat those two cicadas on my fly bench and they stayed there and didn’t move as if they were an artist’s model. While they posed I came up with a foam imitation that sported some orange and black Crystal Flash as the wing and once I was satisfied I was done with my models, I tossed them into the air and off they went. I was shaking my head in amazement and laughing at the same time!
But in the end, maybe they were just having fun with me like some sneaky fly shop owner touting the latest and greatest because they had the last laugh, or buzz if you will since they were the last two Brood X Cicadas I saw or heard that year. I never encountered them again ANYWHERE I fished that year although I know folks 100 miles this way or 30 miles that way had a blast.
These days I just ignore the cicada brood announcements and try and catch some of big green ones that create the cacophony of bug noise that is summer. They may not have the elite status of super duper fish catchers like the 13 or 17 year variety do…
In Minnesota we experience the Cicada (thanks to “Global Warming”), when they emerge from their underground dwelling, every 17 years when they mate and then die. The “chirping” that goes on all night long, is so loud, that even with the windows closed and the air conditioning on, a person cannot get a good nights rest!
The chirping starts sometime in late August or early September, and continues nightly until the first deep freeze, sometime in late September or early October.
The Cicada chirp is similar to an angry squirrel stuck in our tree barking at our dogs who are sitting vigilantly under the tree waiting for the squirrel to try and make a quick dash to safety.
We are due for another batch of Cicada’s this year. This time around, I am going to either buy some ear plugs or put some background music on to get a good nights rest.
In Minnesota we are able to have Magnolia Trees, because of “Global Warming”, and are witnessing an increase in many different species of birds, fish, and other critters that until recently were not part of our state"s ecological system. ~Parnelli
Cicadas never kept me awake - now spring peepers are a whole nutter story! There is a dip in the road in Upstate New York (Lake Placid area) that has a swamp on both sides! You don’t want to drive by this dip with your windows open - the sound is deafening! For some reason I got used to the peepers in the U.P. of Mich. At first I had to keep the windows closed - then towards the end of their “activity” I ALMOST missed their peeping! Go figure! Yes - I am also seeing new critters here in Pa. that I don’t recall seeing as a kid, especially on the Susquehanna River this far north - Seagulls/Cormorants/ and Snowy Egrets!! Cormorants are flying rats and are displacing our Great Blue Herons and Night Herons!! Not good!
