How to Tie Hoov's Cicada Fly

Follow along with Levi as he shows us how to tie Hoov's Cicada! Improve your fly-tying skills and know-how here!

Did you find this video helpful? We've got hundreds more just like it. Subscribe to Trident's YouTube Channel and enhance your fly-tying skills. New videos are posted frequently in a variety of different patterns.

---

Designed by the great entomologist and fly angler Greg Hoover, Hoov's Cicada is a fly that matches adult cicadas of any species, and if you're in an area that's seeing the Periodical Cicada emergence, don't leave home without this fly. It floats like a cork, its Krystal Flash wing can be seen even in low light conditions, and it lands with an enticing "plop." Whether you're after bass, trout, carp, or monster panfish, this fly will get the job done.

We've put together a kit that contains all the materials you need to tie this exact fly pattern.

Click the button below to shop the selection.

Hook: Gamakatsu B10S Stinger Hooks (Size 4)

Thread: UNI Waxed 3/0 (Black)

Body: 3mm Hareline Fly Foam (Black) and Hareline Dubbin (Hot Orange)

Wing: Hareline Krystal Flash (Pearl and Orange)

Legs: Hareline Barred & Speckled Crazy Legs (Hot Orange)

Video Transcript

Hey guys, Levi here with Trident Fly Fishing and today we're going to be tying Hoov's Cicada. This is a pattern designed by Greg Hoover, Penn State entomologist who used to teach the fly fishing course there. Great guy. He designed this fly for imitating the periodical cicadas that hatch every 17 years, and currently they're hatching on the mid-Atlantic, East Coast and in the southern Tennessee area. This is a pattern that is essential to have in your box if you're in any of those areas where Brood X will be hatching, because these things are going to get eaten by every fish that can fit them into their mouth. This is also a pattern that you can tie to match the dog day cicadas that hatch every single year, so it's a good one to know about. I don't know of a better pattern for matching cicadas.

We're starting off with a B10S hook in the vise. This is a size 4. You could also tie it in a size 2 to match these cicadas. We're using 3/0 Flat Wax Danville thread in the color black. Go ahead and start your thread on the hook and wind it a little beyond the bend of the hook - these cicadas have a pretty large body. Snip the excess. This is a stinger hook so you have a little extra clearance. Put a thread base down and we're going to move into some foam.

I'm using Evazote foam for the body. You can also use closed cell foam - either are fine. This is 1/8 of an inch wide, which is a good size for this fly. It has a nice look to it, a good shine, so that's what I want to tie this with. Go ahead and cut yourself a section that's about a third of an inch. It's going to depend on the size of your hook, but this is about a third of an inch for this size 4. You can tie this fly larger to match the dog day cicadas, or smaller should you need to match a smaller cicada. It's a pretty versatile pattern.

First things first, get this tied in. Go ahead and loosely wrap this - start with looser wraps and you won't need to worry about breaking the foam with your thread. Start loose and then we can crank down on it after that. Build yourself a nice underbody. These cicadas are definitely chunky insects, so you want a nice bulky body. It's not like tying a mayfly where you have a slim body - this is a big old bug. This fly lands really well in the water. It has a great plop whenever it lands and it really does a good job at attracting fish. When the periodical cicadas are hatching, every single fish in the water is going to eat these. If you have this pattern in your box, you'll be able to fool them.

Now we're going to move into an orange dubbed body. If you were tying this to match the dog day cicadas, you'd use a white dubbing body. We're using Hareline dubbing in hot orange. This is good stuff - creates a really nice buggy profile. With all this foam involved, you don't have to worry so much about this fly not floating. All of these materials can be found at tridentflyfishing.com, and any order over $49 ships for free.

Apply your dubbing and wrap each wrap nice and close to one another to build that big chunky body. We're going to stop about 60% of the way up the shank. You'll notice that the foam was tied in long, and that is necessary for this bug. My body's still looking a little slimmer than I want it to, so I'm going to apply some thinner dubbing, just a bit, but spread it out so it's not super chunky. I'm going to wrap back once and forward one more time just to build up some bulk. One more application of dubbing there to clean this up and make it nice and thick. This is an easy fly to tie - not a lot of steps involved.

Now we have our body dubbed. We can fold this foam over and loosely wrap it so you don't cut through it with your thread, and just wrap it all the way to behind the eye. If any of you guys have a pattern other than Hoov's Cicada that you're getting ready for this hatch with, go ahead and toss that in the comments. Or if anyone has a story from the last time these emerged, definitely throw that in there - if this is your first periodical cicada hatch, you're in for it. It's very exciting. And again, this pattern can be adapted to a dog day cicada too. Those hatch annually - every summer, those are the ones you most often hear making that cicada noise right towards the middle to the end of summer. Largemouth bass especially eat those. Trout will too if you're in an area that's heavily concentrated with dog day cicadas.

Now we're going to move into a wing. We're using a sort of unconventional wing material. It was actually George Harvey who came up with this because in his old age he was having a hard time seeing things, and this Krystal Flash just really does a good job at reflecting light. It's hard to miss on the water and it also floats pretty well, especially if you add some floatant. Go ahead and get yourself some pearl flash - that's probably 20 strands or so. We'll double it over to create a little wider wing. We're also going to accent it with some orange because these periodical cicadas have all sorts of orange in their wing and body.

Now we're going to move into some hot orange Krystal Flash. You don't need nearly as much of this as you do the pearl - you just want to accent it. Maybe 8 to 10 strands, doubled over to end up with maybe 16. Snip that off, fold it over, and cut it in the middle. Lay it directly on top of the pearl Krystal Flash. That will give you a nice accent. I like the orange Krystal Flash to be on the bottom because the fish are looking up at this fly - they'll actually see it. If it were on top, they're much less likely to see it. Go ahead and tie that in right about the middle. You do want the wing to extend beyond the body to match the profile, so just wind that down and trim off the excess. Save it to tie your next fly. We'll trim the wing to length at the end.

Now we're going to tie some legs in. We're using barred Crazy Legs in hot orange. You need a set of legs on either side, so cut yourself one and divide it by snipping it in the middle. The legs on these aren't super big. Tie in the one nearest to you first - this is a big fly, so it won't really mess you up if you do the one closest to you first. One on that side, and one on this side.

Now we're going to move into the head of this fly, which again is Hareline dubbing in hot orange. You want to make a nice big head on this fly. This isn't a fly with a delicate presentation, and you're not going to fish it that way either. Like I said, this has a nice plop on the water that really attracts fish. Once these fish are conditioned to this bug, it's all they care about - it's a very high calorie meal for them and they're very prevalent. Wind your dubbing up, and you need to pull those legs back to get some dubbing in front of them. You want your thread to end up just in front of the wing so you can pull the foam back. Hold your legs out of the way and wrap some foam there.

Now we're going to take that foam that we let extend out of the front and pull it rearward. Tie it off right in front of those legs - you can see that creates a nice head on here and it also adds floatability. Now we obviously don't want this big piece of foam coming out of the back, so go ahead and trim that. Trim it to be about half the size of the head. That'll nicely support the wing and keep everything aligned.

This is actually a fly that doesn't get tied off right behind the hook eye - it gets tied off right here. Go ahead and whip finish right where we just tied that in. If you can whip finish by hand, excellent time to do so - makes it a lot easier than using a tool. Hit it with two whip finishes, pull that tight, and snip your thread.

Now we're going to trim our wing. You want the wing to extend about 15% beyond the body - that's how the naturals do it, the wing extends beyond the body of the cicada. Go ahead and trim that, and that is Hoov's Cicada. I want to thank you for watching, and I'll see you guys next time.