Buzzard Breath
Well-Known Member
I've never met @Pilchard in person. We'd sent each other some texts in the past and he seemed like a nice enough guy. So, when he sent me a message wanting to know if I'd been fishing a local lake and wanting to know if I want to fish the cicada hatch one evening, I was all in. I got to the lake a little early and I went ahead and took care of the boat rental. We knew it was going to be a good day when we drove by the lake and the first cicada Pilchard saw was eaten with seconds of hitting the water. That was going to be our starting point.
I'd had the most luck fishing foam divers, so I started with that. Pilchard was using a foam cicada pattern he'd picked up from @scn. We loaded our stuff in the boat and motored over to the corner we'd seen some activity. Pilchard lined me up for a good cast into the overhanging trees and I had on my first bass of the evening. A couple high-fives, a selfie, and the skunk was off. We figured it was a good sign for a great evening. Little did we know it was going to be a great evening, but that would be the only bass we caught.
We motored around the lake a little, looking for some shade, but where there was shade, there wasn't any wind to blow the cicadas in the water. No cicadas, no fish. While motoring around, Pilchard saw a fish skimming the top of the water that was "as long as my leg". After motoring around for awhile, we decided to swing back by where Pilchard saw the big fish and then fish the point where there was some wind and fish eating on top. When we got to the point, a guy was fishing for bream on the bank. The guy fishing saw the fly rods and said he was seeing big grass carp feeding on cicadas in the area and that we could stick around and fish there. We motored up a little to give him his space.
After anchoring we started to just make some blind casts and see what happens. I'm not sure if it was the first cast, but close to it, and Pilchard says "a carp just ate a bug right by my fly". Right then, it ate his fly. He set the hook and it looked like a toilet bowl flushing. Fish on! What a rodeo. We somehow got it in the boat, but the aftermath left us with only half a net. A couple more high-fives and some pics, Pilchard had his first carp on a fly. We created such a racket, the carp fishing pretty much shut down. So, we motored over to another point to give it a shot.
On the new point, we were seeing cicadas, but not many fish eating. Just every now and then, we'd see a big head and mouth come up and gulp something off the surface. It was never more than a few feet off the bank. We'd both thrown our cicada flies to it, got a couple refusals, but it wouldn't bite. I put some of my old trout fishing knowledge to work. This lake has an insect hatch in the evenings. The guy bream fishing had called them mayflies, but they look like giant midges to me. The banks will line themselves in shed husks there are so many hatching. I had brought three Plano 3650 boxes of flies, so I knew I had to have some random Adams or Stimulator in one of them. The best I could do was a size 10 or 12 rubber-legged hares ear. I tied it on as a dropper.
It took exactly one cast to decide it was going to work. My foam diver went under, I set the hook, and it was game on. I got it to the boat and we somehow got it in the blown out net. Not my first catfish on a fly, but definitely my first catfish on a tiny trout fly. My wife was wanting a fish fry this week, so into the cooler it went. In short order, I ended up catching 2 more catfish on the hares ear.
Before long, it was starting to get dark and we needed to get off the lake. We motored over to the access, relived some of the catches. Laughed about the net, and discussed returning someday. It was a fun Tuesday night. Definitely a good way to break up the week.
I'd had the most luck fishing foam divers, so I started with that. Pilchard was using a foam cicada pattern he'd picked up from @scn. We loaded our stuff in the boat and motored over to the corner we'd seen some activity. Pilchard lined me up for a good cast into the overhanging trees and I had on my first bass of the evening. A couple high-fives, a selfie, and the skunk was off. We figured it was a good sign for a great evening. Little did we know it was going to be a great evening, but that would be the only bass we caught.
We motored around the lake a little, looking for some shade, but where there was shade, there wasn't any wind to blow the cicadas in the water. No cicadas, no fish. While motoring around, Pilchard saw a fish skimming the top of the water that was "as long as my leg". After motoring around for awhile, we decided to swing back by where Pilchard saw the big fish and then fish the point where there was some wind and fish eating on top. When we got to the point, a guy was fishing for bream on the bank. The guy fishing saw the fly rods and said he was seeing big grass carp feeding on cicadas in the area and that we could stick around and fish there. We motored up a little to give him his space.
After anchoring we started to just make some blind casts and see what happens. I'm not sure if it was the first cast, but close to it, and Pilchard says "a carp just ate a bug right by my fly". Right then, it ate his fly. He set the hook and it looked like a toilet bowl flushing. Fish on! What a rodeo. We somehow got it in the boat, but the aftermath left us with only half a net. A couple more high-fives and some pics, Pilchard had his first carp on a fly. We created such a racket, the carp fishing pretty much shut down. So, we motored over to another point to give it a shot.
On the new point, we were seeing cicadas, but not many fish eating. Just every now and then, we'd see a big head and mouth come up and gulp something off the surface. It was never more than a few feet off the bank. We'd both thrown our cicada flies to it, got a couple refusals, but it wouldn't bite. I put some of my old trout fishing knowledge to work. This lake has an insect hatch in the evenings. The guy bream fishing had called them mayflies, but they look like giant midges to me. The banks will line themselves in shed husks there are so many hatching. I had brought three Plano 3650 boxes of flies, so I knew I had to have some random Adams or Stimulator in one of them. The best I could do was a size 10 or 12 rubber-legged hares ear. I tied it on as a dropper.
It took exactly one cast to decide it was going to work. My foam diver went under, I set the hook, and it was game on. I got it to the boat and we somehow got it in the blown out net. Not my first catfish on a fly, but definitely my first catfish on a tiny trout fly. My wife was wanting a fish fry this week, so into the cooler it went. In short order, I ended up catching 2 more catfish on the hares ear.
Before long, it was starting to get dark and we needed to get off the lake. We motored over to the access, relived some of the catches. Laughed about the net, and discussed returning someday. It was a fun Tuesday night. Definitely a good way to break up the week.
