17 Year Old Bait

   I headed to the North Fork of the Rivanna yesterday and today to see how the red eyed bugs littering the ground and every shrub in sight would work as bait. I used 4 pound mono on an UL rod and #6 light wire aberdeen hooks. The fallfish absolutely smashed the cicadas nearly every time they hit the water, but some sunfish, and even a couple redeyes found their was to my hook. Surprisingly, we didn't catch a single smallmouth, but I think it is because they gorge themselves when the cicadas emerge in the morning and simply don't need to feed for the rest of the day. I could use fly tackle, however, most of the fish I am catching have small mouths and would reject a foam and feather concoction, where as with a live cicada, they will munch on it for a while and I can hook them. I feel that smaller patterns could work, but the fish really zero in on the loud PLOP when the cicada hits the water, and if they see it twitch a single time, a lot of fish will shy away from it! Leave a comment if you have any suggestions! Thanks for reading!