Fish and Film - Post Cicada Blues

Fishing is a story . . .

Seventeen years ago, the most remarkable thing happened in my fishing life. The periodical cicada emergence happened in plague numbers, in an area densely populated with wild trout that swim in cold waters — in my home waters.

Those trout had never seen a bug that large, but once they realized the caloric opportunity, there was no looking back. So for the next six weeks, the largest trout in the system ate with reckless abandon — they ate like they were having fun, and they hunted cicadas until the end.

Even after the big bugs had died off, when no evidence of their existence remained, legendary trout were in the game for a few more weeks.

Seventeen years ago, I worked at night and fished almost every weekday. I had no kids and no extra responsibilities. Life was simple. And once I realized the moment at hand, I fished even harder, every day, with every possible moment.

It was the best fishing of my life.

That time was so special that I daresay Troutbitten wouldn’t exist without the cicada event. To this day, I carry the lessons I learned from those trout so many years ago. I know my waters more intimately. I know what’s in there, and I know what isn’t.

Last time, I spent multiple days on the stream with my friend, Steve Sawyer. We fished upstream together, covering two to three miles of water in a day, cherry picking the prime spots and calling our shots. It was the most predictable fishing I’ve ever had. And Steve and I promised one another that we’d repeat the madness, seventeen years later.

Seventeen years seemed like an impossible time frame. And then, all of the sudden, here we were again . . .

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Thanks to YETI for supporting the Troutbitten Project.

Some photos from Austin Dando and Steve Sawyer

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Companion Article
https://troutbitten.com/2025/08/06/fi...

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TIMELINE

0:00 Seventeen Years Ago
1:22 What I Learned
3:42 Here We Were Again
5:43 It's Been a Month
7:40 The 2025 Cicada
10:30 One on a Nymph
11:33 I'll Miss This
11:58 The Full Reset
12:51 Fishing the Dry Ant
14:28 Light Dry Dropper
15:30 Standard Dry Dropper
16:28 Dry Fly
16:42 Stripping and Casting Tip
18:54 Standard Dry Dropper
20:50 Dry Fly
23:48 Standard Dry Dropper
24:56 Dry Fly
27:04 That's About It . . .

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Fish hard, friends.
Dom

Fish hard, friends.
Dom