In the coming weeks, many areas of central Pennsylvania will experience a most interesting natural spectacle — the emergence of the periodical cicada.

These large, noisy bugs are sometimes incorrectly referred to as “17-year locusts.” While most periodical cicadas have a 17-year life cycle, some have a 13-year life cycle. They are not that closely related to locusts, which are actually big grasshoppers. Periodical cicadas are large insects, about one inch to an inch and a quarter long, and when they emerge, they do so in fantastic numbers almost like the descriptions of the plagues of locusts in the Bible. They are also somewhat sinister looking with plump, black bodies with orange or red stripes, bright red eyes and large wings with orange veining. Cicadas are essentially harmless, however, as they don’t bite, sting, spread disease or ravage crops.

Periodical cicadas are only found in the eastern half of North America. While each new generation occurs only once every 17 or 13 years, periodical cicadas will hatch somewhere throughout their range almost every year. That’s because specific populations of periodical cicadas, known as “broods” are on their own cycles. Scientists have designated each brood with a number expressed in Roman numerals, the same way Super Bowls are labelled.

The cicadas we will see in our area this year will be from Brood XIV (that’s 14 for the numerically challenged). Brood XIV was first recorded by the Pilgrams of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1634. This was the first emergence of periodical cicadas to be encountered by European settlers in North America. Cicadas from Brood XIV will also be hatching this spring in parts of Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia. Brood XIV is one of the densest cicada emergencies in some areas, including central Pennsylvania.

Some folks might recall a significant cicada hatch back in 2021 in parts of Bedford County, Huntingdon County and some other spots in south central Pennsylvania. That was Brood X (10). While most of the separate cicada broods don’t generally overlap, there is thought to be some slight overlap among Brood XIV and Brood X in Pennsylvania. For the most part, however, those areas that had bugs in 2021 probably won’t have them or very few of them this spring.

Cicadas hatch when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees at 8 inches under the surface. Here in our region, that will likely be sometime around the second or third week of May. After having been attached to a tree root about two feet underground living on tree sap for the last 17 years, the cicada nymphs burrow their way to the surface during late evening or night and crawl up a tree trunk. Once there, they molt into the winged adult cicada. About five days after they begin to emerge, the males will start to sing to attract mates. At the peak of their emergence the noise of literally billions of the big bugs is nothing short of incredible.

Male cicadas will mate multiple times as long as females are available over their lifespan of about six weeks. Most females mate once, lay their eggs on tree branches and then die. The eggs hatch about 6 to 10 weeks later. The juvenile cicadas are tiny, only about 2 millimeters long, and then drop to the ground and burrow underneath to begin feeding on grass roots. They eventually make their way deeper where they attach themselves to a tree root to feed and to wait 17 years for their turn to hatch and reproduce. The adult cicadas gradually begin to die off and are usually gone by late June or early July. A most bizarre lifecycle to say the least.

When the adult cicadas start to die off in significant numbers, many of them fall from trees and bushes into streams, rivers and lakes, and fish living in those waterways will readily accept the invitation to come to that banquet. This spring will be at least my fourth encounter with the cicadas of Brood XIV, so I can offer a few tips on fishing this strange event.

First, find places with the heaviest concentrations of bugs. Cicadas are so big and weird that the fish will sometimes ignore them, not realizing them as potential food. Once they start seeing a lot of bugs, the fish seem to figure out cicadas are a bunch of easy groceries. Do some exploring as soon as any cicadas hatch to find where and how many bugs there are on your potential fishing spots. The first few days there will be some bugs, and then the numbers explode to mind-boggling proportions.

Trout talk

When it comes to trout, don’t expect to catch big trout from streams that don’t have big trout otherwise. Bigger trout, let’s say 18 to 20 inches or better, will definitely come to cicadas in the middle of the afternoon when the bugs tend to be most active but not on streams that have few if any streams that size. Penns Creek, Spring Creek and the Little Juniata River, for example, are waters that can and do produce bigger trout, and they all should see an appearance from Brood XIV in the coming weeks.

Fly anglers should tie or buy some cicada imitations now and practice casting them. Casting a cicada fly that’s essentially a bass bug the size of your thumb is not like laying out a size 14 Elk-Hair Caddis. A shorter and heavier leader designed for bass will make casting much easier and cicada eaters aren’t prone to be leader shy.

And probably my best tip for cicada time is forget the trout and go for carp. Once carp discover the bounty of the cicada hatch, they will readily come to the surface to gorge on them. Hooking a 5- or 6-pound carp on a fly rod is a handful, and if you can find some 10- or 12-pounders of bigger, they will be an absolute train wreck.

For a comprehensive look at cicada fly patterns and cicada fishing for trout and carp, get a copy of the book “Cicada Madness” by Dave Zielinski. The author is from Western Pennsylvania, and I met him a few weeks ago at a presentation he gave on cicada fishing. He and a group of friends have followed the cicada hatches throughout the East and Midwest for more than 30 years.