Cicadas

[RickyP]

I want to add some Cicadas (by Reef Runner) to my arsenal for the western basin of Lake Erie for this spring. What colors would be good? Thanks for your input.

[gpbrown]

I go by the old standard, gold in low light and sliver in bright light. I mainly use the yellow/chartruce(sp?) prism tape but have had success with the orange, red and green. I own a couple of the gun metal colored ones but can't recall catching anything on them. If your new to blades then you might want to consider some Vib-E's...best blade in my box.

[Lund_Dude]

I don't know if they are available in your area, but I like Zips. They are similar to the Cicada, but have a different action that you can feel through the rod. I never had a lot of confidence in blades until last spring, jigging the reefs at Erie. I used jig/minnows and my buddy used Zips and got me at least 2:1. I switched to Zips and we cleaned up. Since then, I have used them in many stained water situations instead of a jig with great results. We got some dandy 'eyes with them through the ice at LBDN 2 weeks ago. Zips are made by Bitzer Creek in West Bend, WI. In Wi, they are readily available at Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain.

[Neal/CO]

Do you guys ever cast your blade baits? I fish alot from shore and I use 3/8 oz Cicadas alot. You can cast them a mile and really cover alot of ground rip jigging. I have a lake by my house that they really work well in. They Catch Wipers, Walleyes and big trout! Only draw back is the are easy to snag up in rocky areas. Fortunately the lake I use them at is mostly sand and weed flats.

[gpbrown]

I have found that cicadas work better for me buy casting and let them settle to the bottom or close and either steady retrieve or yo-yo them back. I don't like to vertical them because they get hung up on the line. For vertical presentation I use the Vib-E's. Also I use fireline when using blades because they will twist mono to the point where I'm changing line each night if used much. My partner uses mono and out catches me 3:2 but he dosn't mind changing line in the boat or in the hotel room each night. Guess I'm lazy...or too cheap to comprimise. One thing for sure with blades, you can't put one on and expect success, you must log some hours, days and in my case months to get the feel.

[Kevin/CO]

What colors of cicadas are you casting at Aurora? And are you using them back in senac or in Lone Tree?

[stewart]

Gpbrown, could you describe what you mean by feel,if it is describable?

I tried a blade bait, casting, when the walleyes were in a real frenzy, and got zip. I stopped using them after that, but maybe I was just fishing it wrong? I was hopping it like a jig, and tried swimming it slow.

[gpbrown]

The "feel" I mentioned is a figure of speech, sort of. You need to learn the length of pull and fall rate. Speed of retrieve timing between pulls etc. Most of the time the fish will dictate the presentation. It's hard to describe, but in my case(a long time) you know when you start to get it. I've been using them for 5 years and still learning. It was very frustrating at first, like you, I couldn't catch a thing while I'm constantly netting fish for my partner. Also the more experience you get the less baits you loose. These things get hung more than any bait I've used which also adds to the frustration factor. I took a dozen blades out one day and nothing else. Caught a few fish and even managed to bring back a few blades when the day was over. This day really helped me towards learning these baits.

Good luck

[Neal/CO]

I have used them al over the back of the lake.

I use the silver with blue tape and the silver with chartruese tape in 3/8 oz.