Marty
08-16-2008, 06:50 AM
The Green River Cicada
I first started tying this fly back in the mid 80’s and like my hopper this fly has gone through a number of changes as well. The story behind the development of this fly is a little embarrassing but then the cicada hatch was a new phenomenon. I was fishing with Allen Woolley on an almost hot spring day. We had walked our tubes up to the island above Little Hole with plans to kick over to the far bank. Back then the river fluctuated from 800 cfs to 4000 cfs without warning and you didn’t dare wade across for fear of getting stuck on the other side for the night. We started fishing around the island and hit a number of good fish. The water was too deep to wade across to the island so we got in our tubes to cross the small channel. The island had a foot of water running over the top of it so we had to tie our tubes to the willows. There was no visible hatch but big fish were crashing the surface all around us. I am not sure why Allen tied on a big hopper but it unlocked the key to one of the most spectacular days of fishing I have ever seen. We never left the island and fish were coming up through 5 feet of heavy water to take our flies. During the heat of the action I saw Allen bend down and pick something off the water. As fast as he picked it up he dropped it blurting out a yuck type scream. I yelled up and asked him what it was; he responded, “Not sure, but it’s big and ugly.” I moved to intercept the bug and plucked it off the surface. I had never seen anything like it so I stuck it in a vest pocket and went back to fishing. Fatigue finally set in, ending without question the best day of fishing I have ever seen. That night both Allen and I hit the vise and cranked out some 3 inch long black flies in an attempt to match the bug in my vest. The next few days produced some awesome fishing. We kind of thought the bug was a cicada but I knew nothing about them. The next spring Allen and I had the opportunity to fish with Rick Hafele the author of Anatomy of a Trout Stream. As we were making our way down the river I told him about the cicadas we had run into the year before and showed him the flies we had tied to represent them. We stopped at two holes down and as I was beaching the boat I heard the click of the cicada in the trees. I went and found a sample to show Rick. The cicada was small, only an inch long, but identical to the 3 inch version we had seen the year before. As I showed Rick the cicada I explained how the bug had probably just hatched and that it was still a baby. I told him that it was going to grow to be three inches long. Mr. Hafele was very kind as he informed me of my ignorance. He told me what I had in my hand was a mature adult and went on to explain the life cycle of the cicada. He said what we had seen the year before was the 17 year cicada and the smaller one was a dog day cicada. It was quite the learning experience and even more so humbling. I worked on a new smaller version that became a staple in my guide box. Some of my fondest memories are of those first few years of guiding the cicada hatch. The fishing was out of this world.
The Green River Cicada
Hook: Size 8 – 10 200R
Body: Black macramé yarn melted on the end
Under wing: Orange Kristal flash looped
Wing: Dyed black deer hair
Head: Foam bullet style
Legs: Variegated rubber legs
Indicator: Fire orange Mcflyfoam
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/martyoh/cicada7.jpg
I first started tying this fly back in the mid 80’s and like my hopper this fly has gone through a number of changes as well. The story behind the development of this fly is a little embarrassing but then the cicada hatch was a new phenomenon. I was fishing with Allen Woolley on an almost hot spring day. We had walked our tubes up to the island above Little Hole with plans to kick over to the far bank. Back then the river fluctuated from 800 cfs to 4000 cfs without warning and you didn’t dare wade across for fear of getting stuck on the other side for the night. We started fishing around the island and hit a number of good fish. The water was too deep to wade across to the island so we got in our tubes to cross the small channel. The island had a foot of water running over the top of it so we had to tie our tubes to the willows. There was no visible hatch but big fish were crashing the surface all around us. I am not sure why Allen tied on a big hopper but it unlocked the key to one of the most spectacular days of fishing I have ever seen. We never left the island and fish were coming up through 5 feet of heavy water to take our flies. During the heat of the action I saw Allen bend down and pick something off the water. As fast as he picked it up he dropped it blurting out a yuck type scream. I yelled up and asked him what it was; he responded, “Not sure, but it’s big and ugly.” I moved to intercept the bug and plucked it off the surface. I had never seen anything like it so I stuck it in a vest pocket and went back to fishing. Fatigue finally set in, ending without question the best day of fishing I have ever seen. That night both Allen and I hit the vise and cranked out some 3 inch long black flies in an attempt to match the bug in my vest. The next few days produced some awesome fishing. We kind of thought the bug was a cicada but I knew nothing about them. The next spring Allen and I had the opportunity to fish with Rick Hafele the author of Anatomy of a Trout Stream. As we were making our way down the river I told him about the cicadas we had run into the year before and showed him the flies we had tied to represent them. We stopped at two holes down and as I was beaching the boat I heard the click of the cicada in the trees. I went and found a sample to show Rick. The cicada was small, only an inch long, but identical to the 3 inch version we had seen the year before. As I showed Rick the cicada I explained how the bug had probably just hatched and that it was still a baby. I told him that it was going to grow to be three inches long. Mr. Hafele was very kind as he informed me of my ignorance. He told me what I had in my hand was a mature adult and went on to explain the life cycle of the cicada. He said what we had seen the year before was the 17 year cicada and the smaller one was a dog day cicada. It was quite the learning experience and even more so humbling. I worked on a new smaller version that became a staple in my guide box. Some of my fondest memories are of those first few years of guiding the cicada hatch. The fishing was out of this world.
The Green River Cicada
Hook: Size 8 – 10 200R
Body: Black macramé yarn melted on the end
Under wing: Orange Kristal flash looped
Wing: Dyed black deer hair
Head: Foam bullet style
Legs: Variegated rubber legs
Indicator: Fire orange Mcflyfoam
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/martyoh/cicada7.jpg