Sunday, June 26, 2016

DOWN HOME FLYFISHING: The 17 Year Itch Cicada

While driving up to Michigan the other day I received a message from Dave Zielinski of Down Home Flyfishing to get to his waters NOW for some crazy good fishing.  I had to pass this time around but when the cicada pop off again, I'm making a road trip for sure.

Dave was kind enough to send along a fly tutorial for his 17 Year Itch Cicada and a few images just to show you that it works.


Dave wrote...  "It's been epic fishing lately.  It's waning, but man, was it good.  Good like twenty-nine carp in one afternoon.   The way they eat a cicada is intense and in real life slo-motion!  We have been fishing Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and some of eastern Ohio too.

They circulate a pool or eddy on the river, with their backs sometimes out of the water.  The way their eyes are positioned, makes it tough for them to look up and eat.  So when they find a bug, they swim downstream of it, line up with it floating down, raise their heads, open wide and "find" it.  You have to train yourself to wait...wait...wait....SET!

The video tutorial for my "17 Year Itch Cicada" is not a realistic type of pattern but that really doesn't matter.  Black. Orange. 1-1/2" long body.  We fished this fly exclusively and had no refusals.  The fly holds up well, but pay attention to the super glue steps.  To fish it, do not use a silicone floatant on the foam.  That will make it ride way to high.  You want it in the film."








Visit the Down Home Flyfishing website for more goodness and follow along on Instagram too. Oh yeah, DZ's Flickr account is a fun flip through as well.

No comments: