'Everything eats them. I mean, everything': Cicadas help anglers reel in big fish

WASHINGTON. LISA, HOW ARE YOU DOING? SALI: FIRST OF ALL, I’M DOING OK. I’M A LITETL WARY BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHEN I’M GOING TO GET ATTACKED, BUT LISTEN TO THIS. THAT IS JUST CRAZY. I MEAN, THESE THINGS HAVE ATTACKED ME. THEY HAVE FLOWN INTO MY FACE, MY HEAD. THEY HAVE CHASED ME AROUND ALL DAY. THE OTHER NIGHT, ONE FOLLOWED ME TO BED. FIRST I HEARD IT. THEN I SAWT. I I GOT IN MY CLOTHES SO FAST HE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT I WAS ON FIRE. THIS IS LAL ABOUT TO END, BUT NOT SOON ENOUGH. >> IT IS CICASAD GONE WILD, BUT THEY ARE TEENAGERS. THEY ARE 17 YEARS OLD. IT IS THEIR DAY IN THE SUN. THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CRAZY ROMANCE IN THE TREES. LI SA: THE BUG GUY, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ENTOMOLOGIST DR. MIKE RAUPP, SAYS RIGHT NOW THE CICADAS ARE FLYINGVE ERYWHERE. >> ALL THE FEMALES HAVE BEEN IMPREGNATED. THEY ARE MOVING TO TREES TO LAY THEIR EGGS. THEY WILBEL FLYING THROUGH THE PLACES WHERE THEY FOUND THEIR MATES, TO SMALL TREES AND OTHER VEGETATION WHERE THEY WILL THEN LAY THEIR EGGS. LISA: SOME PEOPLE SAY ALL THE ACTIVITY AND NOISE DOESN’' BOTHER THEM. >> GOT A LITTLE BABY AND SOMETIMES THEY WILL FLY INTO THE STROLLER AND GET ON HER, BUT SHE DOES NOT SEEM TO MIND. LISA: THIS WOMAN SA SYSHE TRAVELLED 50 MILES TO EXPERIENCE THIS PART OF NATURE. >> THE SOUND IS STRANGE BUT SORT OF INVITING FOR ME. IT’S LIKE -- I’M FROM PENNSYLVANIA. IT IS REALLY RARE FOR ME. I’M ENJOYING IT. LISA: BUT OTHERS ARE NOT. THEY’RE DONE. >> THEY JUST KIND OF KNOCK INTO YOU. THEY DON’T SEEM TO GET OUT OF YOUR WAY IF YOU ARE TRYING TO STEP ON THEM. THE MOST ANNOYING THING IS I THKIN WHEN THE SOUND GETS REAL LOUD AND YOU CANNOT EVEN WALK OUTSIDE. IT IS TIME FOR TM HETO GO BACK IN THE GROUND. >> THEY FLY IN YOUR FACE. I WAS WORKING AND ONE THROUGH -- FLEW INTMYO CHEEK AND I HAD MY MASK LIKE THIS AND IT GOT CAUGHT IN MY MASK. LISA: DID YOU TAKE OFF RUNNING? >> I DID A LITTLE JIG. LI:SA OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, YOU WILL NOTICE THEM DYING OUT, AND DRIVEWAYS AND SIDEWALKS WILL RESEMBLE A BATTLEGROD.UN >> THIS IS ALL GOING TO BEGIN TO SETTLE DOWN THE LATER TWO MONTHS OF JUNE. BY THE FOURTH OF JULY, SADLY OR MAYBE HAPPILY, THE CICADAS WILL BE GONE FOR ANOTHER 17 YEARS. LISA: IF YOU THOUGHT IT SEEMED LIKE THERE ARE A LOT MORE CICADAS THIS TIME AROUND, YOU ARE RIT.GH RAUPP SAYS THE POPULATION IN MARYLAND IS HIGHER THAN IN 2004 --ND A GET -- GUESS WHY? HE SAYS BECAUSE THE HABITAT FOR CICADAS IN MARYLAND IMPROVED. ANWHD ILE YOU ARE IN THE STORY, FLEW INTO MY HEAD.

Related story above: Entomologist explains when cicadas will finally leaveIf you fly fish, then this year's cicada season is something you've been waiting for. Many cicadas are ending up in the water -- and the fish are biting. The Gunpowder River in Maryland is a great place for a day of fishing, but before going, you need to get the right fly.While Jeff Brennan has been busy tying the cicada flies, Great Feathers owner Michael Watriss has had a hard time keeping them in stock."It has been a lot of work, good work, and I'm happy to have it, but a lot of work," Brennan said."It's a spectacle. It's bizarre. These flies are kind of gross. People that don't like bugs are going to be freaked out, but at the same time, you don't have to be a good fisherman to use a cicada pattern and catch fish," Watriss said.Theo Legardeur, the owner of Backwater Angler, explains how the flies work."Everything eats them. I mean, everything -- carp, bass, small-mouth trout, chubs, muskie," Legardeur said. "It looks close enough to trick the fish, and the cicadas are bad flyers, so they end up in the water and they become food to the fish that way."And the cicada flies are attracting the fish."These cicadas are present on the river. They have been for about six weeks. But the fish eat as much as they can and then they just take a break. It's like moving to the couch after you've had a slice of pizza. They're waiting to get everything digested and then they'll start feeding again," Legardeur said."The fish will be set through the fall into the next spring, putting on a lot of weight right now, and now they're going to have to work it off all winter."

Related story above: Entomologist explains when cicadas will finally leave

If you fly fish, then this year's cicada season is something you've been waiting for. Many cicadas are ending up in the water -- and the fish are biting.

The Gunpowder River in Maryland is a great place for a day of fishing, but before going, you need to get the right fly.

While Jeff Brennan has been busy tying the cicada flies, Great Feathers owner Michael Watriss has had a hard time keeping them in stock.

"It has been a lot of work, good work, and I'm happy to have it, but a lot of work," Brennan said.

"It's a spectacle. It's bizarre. These flies are kind of gross. People that don't like bugs are going to be freaked out, but at the same time, you don't have to be a good fisherman to use a cicada pattern and catch fish," Watriss said.

Theo Legardeur, the owner of Backwater Angler, explains how the flies work.

"Everything eats them. I mean, everything -- carp, bass, small-mouth trout, chubs, muskie," Legardeur said. "It looks close enough to trick the fish, and the cicadas are bad flyers, so they end up in the water and they become food to the fish that way."

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And the cicada flies are attracting the fish.

"These cicadas are present on the river. They have been for about six weeks. But the fish eat as much as they can and then they just take a break. It's like moving to the couch after you've had a slice of pizza. They're waiting to get everything digested and then they'll start feeding again," Legardeur said.

"The fish will be set through the fall into the next spring, putting on a lot of weight right now, and now they're going to have to work it off all winter."

'Everything eats them. I mean, everything': Cicadas help ﻿anglers reel in big fish

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'Everything eats them. I mean, everything': Cicadas help anglers reel in big fish