Cicada Madness: Timing, Fishing Techniques, and Patterns for Cracking the Code of Epic Cicada Emergences

Cicadas are large, loud insects that spend their nymphal stages underground until they crawl out, climb a tree trunk, and emerge as winged insects. The adult insects emerge on a 1-year (annual) and 13- or 17-year (periodical) cadence. Yearly emergences are consistent and plentiful in certain places East to West and become a dependable “hatch.” Species from carp and smallmouth bass on eastern rivers to trout on fabled waters such as Utah’s Green River or Pennsylvania’s Spring Creek grow fat ...