Cicadas For Lunch

[Aaron J Scott]

I got up to Barclay about 8:00 this morning and was surprised how different things look at the bend. Much of the gravel bar is gone. Fortunately, there's still fish in there. I nymphed for a while, landed a few, then noticed a cicada sputtering by. They weren't really loud down there on the river, but they're there. I landed one at Barclay on a cicada pattern, but pretty soon the boats started rolling in. I hopped in the car and ran up to the 64 access. Nymphed up through the middle section, landing a few, then switched over to a cicada pattern once I got to the slower water. In certain spots, the fish were mowing it down--really keyed in on it. They were a lot noisier around the river there. I was using a really simple pattern that I had tied last week--basically, a big foam beetle with an orange deerhair wing--but I bet anything remotely resembling a cicada would've worked, so long as you have that nice "kerplop" on the cast. Landed a couple browns on it, too, which were the first browns I'd caught on the Niangua. I landed probably a dozen fish on the cicada in a pretty short time, and had just as many misses. There are few things more fun than hopper fishing, which is more or less what it's like fishing cicadas.

[FishinCricket]

Hey, I thought I recognized that face! I was the lanky hillbilly that came crashing through the brush on the island below the bridge as you were releasing a trout.. I stepped above you and hooked one then moved on...

Uhm, nice to meet you! lol

Mind if I piggy back a report onto yours?

[FishinCricket]

My apologies if I should have waited for permission:

Put the boat in at the last access.. The river is still flowing a bit fast and the boat ramp is covered in moss, which proved to be an issue with both unloading and reloading the boat..

Anyway, made my way down to the island and below, back up and then all the way up to the spring hole and back down to the ramp..

They were rising and I was able to get a few to come up to a hopper:

I caught my first smallie on a topwater fly (a beetle from the Fly Swap! Which one of you fellers do I thank? I can't remember who made it..) :

More of these:

All on various baits (from teeny craw to jig to x-rap, castmaster for a while, white spinner, back to teeny craw.. Etc) though it appears from the photos as though the teeny craw held them best..

Oh, caught three of these next to a root wad or two along the way, this guy was a fatty:

Caught allot of fish today, saw allot of floaters (over 100 boats before i quit counting), had a blast!!

[Aaron J Scott]

Haha sweet dude! I always wonder about the guys I see on the river. Yeah, I was the other lanky hillbilly getting over-excited about the cicada bite and getting my leader caught up in the brush. Good to have finally "met" you. The one that I had just released was probably the nicest of the day, probably 15" or 16", aside from the chunky sucker I hooked into while nymphing.

[FishinCricket]

Yeah, I saw you releasing him, I was "crashing through the brush" to attempt to offer to take a photo for you, it looked like a nice one!

[DaddyO]

"I caught my first smallie on a topwater fly (a beetle from the Fly Swap! Which one of you fellers do I thank? I can't remember who made it."

Cricket,

I think that the Big Beetle looking fly is the one that Jeremy Hunt submitted.

[FishinCricket]

"I caught my first smallie on a topwater fly (a beetle from the Fly Swap! Which one of you fellers do I thank? I can't remember who made it."

Cricket,

I think that the Big Beetle looking fly is the one that Jeremy Hunt submitted.

Ah, thank you! (you for informing me and Jeremy for tying it!)