The Drake

Cicada Cray

THE CICADAS ARE COMING, billions and billions of them, and the trout, bass, and carp (and dogs, and some humans) will totally crush whatever you’re throwing so you better get your 1X ready and—man, stop staring into your fly box—gimme that thing. Don’t even worry about the pattern, these fish will be so jacked-up, just tie on a gurgler or a big stimulator or a wine cork attached to a hook. Cast out there and give the fly a little twitch-twitch and then hold on, dude, that big-ass trout will be headed right for it.

IN TRUTH, I have no idea what I’m talking about here. I’ve lived on the East Coast all of my life. Periodical cicadas emerge every couple of years here (and even leak into the Midwest), on 13- and 17-year cycles (the “great locust years,” as Thomas Jefferson described them). The angling Internet always gets its undies bunched in anticipation whenever

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