Pinecone Cicada

There is no denying it is a ‘cicada year’ here in the south east. Red Eyes, Green Grocers, Double Drummers — all announce their presence with a deafening chorus on warm days. While cod anglers are having a stellar season fishing big surface flies, these cicadas are unfortunately too large for most trout.

Thankfully there are numerous smaller cicada species. Outshone by their noisy larger cousins, they are often overlooked, their more subdued calls blending in with the general insect noises of the bush. Preferring low scrub and open grasslands rather than taller eucalypts, these inch-long cicadas are a perfect trout snack.

Most are named after characteristics. And so we have Twangers, Buzzers, Squeakers and Squawkers, or Ambertails, Yellowbellies and Double Spotted. While there are species across the entire continent, many prefer slightly cooler climates. The map of their distribution overlays almost perfectly with that of trout.

Foam patterns are my first choice for cicadas. While large fur and feather patterns like Stimulators tick many of the boxes, they lack the bulk to create a decent plop on the surface like a natural cicada crash-landing on the water. Stacked deer hair patterns are good, but suffer from the slow absorption of water, requiring regular floatant applications.

I find foam provides the required bulk while still light enough to cast easily and float all day, even after getting chewed by a few fish. The Pinecone Cicada is from the vice of Clark Pierce, from Fly Fish Food in Utah. His clever use of foam strips creates a great silhouette on the water. You can cut your own strips or they are commercially available as Chicone’s Fettuccine Foam.

To begin, lay a base of thread down the shank. Select 7 strips of 2mm foam and secure them at the rear of the shank. Tie them in as you would deer hair, a loose wrap first before pulling tight while holding the strips firm to keep them on top of the shank. If tying on larger hooks use 8 for a little extra bulk.

Add some peacock dubbing to your thread and wrap around the base of the foam once or twice, then build up a section of body just in front of the foam. Repeat this process with two more bunches of foam as you build the body forward along two thirds of the shank. Once completed, take your thread forward a few turns and secure it with a quick half hitch to keep it out of the way.

Next, trim the body roughly to shape. You’re aiming for a teardrop shape with the thickest section level with the end of the hook, a little like a giant Goddard Caddis. Then with a small brush add a small amount of Super Glue into some of the larger gaps between the foam. Hold the foam together gently, pinching the rear into a point, to form a cicada shaped body. Add a little more glue to any stray bits of foam and hold them into place. Neaten the body with a final trim if needed. Avoid using too much glue or your body will end up quite hard.

For the wings, tie in a small amount of Angel Hair either side of the body as underwings, trim level with the rear of the body. Then add a small amount of EP Slinky Fibres either side so they lay back over the Angel Hair. Trim the EP Fibres approximately 10mm past the end of the body To form the head, cut a strip of foam approximately 5mm wide and tie it in firmly with the strip laying forward over the hook eye. Add more dubbing to your thread and build up the front of the fly. Then bring the foam strip back over the dubbing and tie down just in front of the wings. Trim off the excess foam, leaving a little laying back over the body.

To create the illusion of eyes, you can place an X wrap of thread over the foam. From the tie down point pass your thread diagonally across the foam and once around the hook eye, then back across the foam to the tie down point forming an X. While not vital to the pattern it does give a nice effect.

Add in two Sili Legs either side of the head. Once tied in, hold all the strips together below the hook and trim. This helps keep them all even. Double the width of the hook gape is a good guide for length.

To finish add a small amount of dubbing to your thread and wrap over the leg and foam head tie down point. This not only neatens it up but adds a highlight of colour. Finally, secure your thread with a whip finish and you’re done.

As a variation you can add a small section of brightly coloured foam on top of the head as a sighter, to help keep track of the fly in rougher water.

Next time you are watching videos of big New Zealand trout sipping down cicada patterns and wishing you were there, take a moment to have a Google search to find your local cicada species and listen to a recording of their calls. Once you know what they sound like, their calls are easy to pick when you are out fishing, and you’ll find yourself selecting a cicada pattern more often than you would expect.