One of the most anticipated times on the fly fisherman's calendar here in NZ,with the first cicadas of the season usually starting to chirp in mid to late November.January and February are the two best months to hit the back-country fishing cicada patterns, chasing fish that were fussy and harder to catch earlier in the season, they can now be lured to feed off the surface with big dries.There are 42 different species of cicada here in NZ and they can be found throughout the country ,from our native forests and tussock lined river valleys to the sand dunes on the coastline.

The female lays her eggs in the bark and leaves of trees,once the larvae have hatched they drop to the ground and burrow in to the soil.During which time they may live for between 2 and 12 years,until conditions are right for them to hatch. They will then make their way towards the surface ,moult their skeleton skins to emerge as young adults.Some species have amazing coloration's, and are fairly large in size, ranging between 2cm up to 4cm in length,so a good size mouthful for any trout! Below is Wynne with a nice fish taken on a small tan colored tussock cicada pattern mid January.

A nice back-country rainbow that fell for a cicada pattern mid summer,some days the sound of them in the river valleys can be deafening.

Below are a few different colour combos of cicada I have tied recently for the coming season,most are tied with foam for durability and floatation,mainly in sizes #8-#14. Tan coloured ones I find work well in tussock lined river valleys and the Black and Green more so in the Back-country rivers and streams lined with native bush.

These larger flies tend to hit the water fairly hard as does the real thing, creating a disturbance on the surface which usually gets the trout's attention,over the past couple of weeks several clients have come up short on their final cast with the fly landing a meter or so behind or to the side of the fish but still close enough to trigger the trout to turn and inspect the fly with most swimming over and eating it..A great time to be on the water with some exciting fishing to be had,nothing better than watching a big fish peel off the bottom and nail your fly!

Fly fishing New Zealand at it's best ...contact Paul now to start planning your New Zealand fly fishing adventure !