For all you guys in the northern VA area who remember the cicada hatch of 2004, get ready... They're back! A different species is hatching this year and the hatch is scheduled to start in a couple weeks. They probably won't be as heavy as in 2004, but fishing for smallmouth on the upper Potomac River or other rivers where the hatch will occur should be top notch using topwater baits that imitate these tasty treats. Check out the web page called Cicada Mania for more info... I've included a map to show where the hatch will be strongest so you get an idea what lakes and rivers will be seeing the cicadas. Enjoy the fun!

eBay has some great hard to find cicada imitating lures... I caught some huge smallies in '04 when they were gorging on the cicadas. Top water fun!

Thanks.

I wonder when they will return to central Virginia?

Cool!  I love those little guys, I don't know why.  I didn't know another brood was hatching.  My daughter will be excited, we had a ball catching them.  

May 04 was absolutely insane at my house!  You couldn't even walk through the yard at dusk.  Every step there would be a "crunch" and I would have a few of them climbing up my legs by the time I got back to the house.  I can imagine the fish would love them.  Even the squirrels were eating them.

A black large bass size flyrod popping bug on ultra light spinning gear matches the hatch.

Diawa makes some great imitations of cicadas and so does Arbogast. I have used both and cleaned up the last hatch we had. Caught many nice largemouths but it was the smallies that I really hammered.

west virginia is going to get TORE up with cicadas.

thanks cj, I didn't know about the hatch this year. Do you have any links to cicada lures that work well for smallmouth? I figure any topwater will work as long as the smallmouth are already looking up for food, but it can't hurt to have something that looks like the real thing also.

Will this work?

I got it as a gift and was wondering when i would be able to use it!

Would any of the local tackle shops carry the cicada baits? I'd prefer not having to pay shipping for ebay  

I caught many on the Arbogast Cicada. I bought a few from Cabela's. I suspect local shops may have some as they are not that rare. Hula poppers seemed to work well also...

I always see those cicada topwaters at walmart. I think rebel makes them.

Yeah, I think Rebel does make some Cicada imitations also. I am sure anything that looks like a Cicada would work... Probably even a popper, but I like to try to match the hatch as best as I can.