S7, Ep 49: Rain, Hatches and Cicadas: A Central PA Fishing Update with George Costa

In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash is joined by George Costa from TCO Fly Shop for the latest Central PA Fishing Report. The duo dives into the recent weather patterns, discussing the significant rainfall that has led to high water conditions in the region. With nearly seven inches of rain recorded in May, George shares insights on the current state of hatches, including the tail end of the drakes and the ongoing sulphur activity.

As the cicada season approaches, George emphasizes the excitement surrounding this unique event, which happens once every 17 years. He advises anglers to prepare with cicada patterns, suggesting that anything resembling black foam will be effective. George discusses the different sizes of cicadas and the importance of carrying a variety of patterns to accommodate both larger and smaller fish.

The conversation also highlights upcoming events at TCO Fly Shop, including a fishing tournament benefiting Clearwater Conservancy, encouraging listeners to participate. George wraps up by inviting questions from the audience, reminding everyone of the shop's hours and encouraging anglers to get out on the water.

This episode is packed with valuable tips and insights for anglers eager to make the most of the cicada hatch and enjoy the fishing opportunities in Central PA.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. We're
back with another Central PAFishing report with George Costa,
TCO Fly Shop. George, how are you?
I am amazing as always.Marvin, how are you?
I'm delightful and just tryingto stay out of trouble.
Yeah.
So, you know, it's kind offunny. We were talking. There's a

(00:21):
lot on the dance card. You hadkind of funky rain and you've got
cicadas.
Yes. So it's been very wet Mayhere in Central pa. We've had a lot
of water. I think we were justtalking about it this morning with
one of the other guys at theother shops here. We got six and
a half, almost seven inches ofrain in May. So we got a ton of water
that's about 5 or 6 inchesmore than we normally get. So the

(00:43):
water has been high and it'sbeen cool. So a lot of our hatches
are kind of like slowed downand on the. We're on the tail end
of the drakes now, whichusually wrapped up a few days ago.
But we've still got drakes onpens and they're still kind of going.
All the hatches have beenreally good so far and nothing's

(01:04):
really been super heavy. Butwe've had really long hatches. The
sulfurs are still goingstrong. We'll get a few more weeks
of them. So the water has beenhigh, it's been off color. We do
have a little more rain comingthis weekend. We're supposed to get
maybe another half an inch. Soexpect the levels to kind of come
up and get a little off colorand a little high again. It's been
tough waiting. Everything thisweek has kind of come back into shape.

(01:26):
So this week we got a goodblast of warm weather and all the
cicadas that have been kind ofsitting in the trees, sitting in
the bushes for the past two,three weeks are starting to move
around. So we're just on thecusp of getting the cicadas really
heavy. They're going to startbuzzing around, they're going to
start flying, they're going tostart falling in the water. The next
month should shape up to bereally, really good with them. So

(01:48):
if you're coming to Central PAright now and you don't have some
cicada patterns on you, youare making a poor decision. They're
going to be good in certainpockets. Don't expect to see them
everywhere. Best course ofaction is to just get to a spot and
listen if you hear themsinging in the trees, then you know
you're in the right spot.They're not going to be everywhere,

(02:09):
but they will be on most ofour local streams. So just kind of
search around, you'll hearthem. We're still kind of waiting
to see where they're going toshow up. I think the next few days
is going to be the good tellas far as where to see them and where
they're going to be heaviest.But it should be bedlam for the next
month. It's going to be areally cool event. You know, once
every 17 years we get this uphere and the fishing is going to

(02:31):
be stupid. So if you're notplanning on traveling up to Central
PA for this, you probablyshould find a day or two to come
up here because it should be amazing.
Yeah. And do you have afavorite bug you like to fish the
cicada hatch with?
Anything that's going to be apiece of black foam and is going
to sit on top is going towork. I really don't think these
fish are going to get superspecific on patterns. We've got some

(02:54):
MFC patterns in a couple ofumpqua patterns, you know, about
a size 6 or an 8. There arethree different sizes of these bugs.
There's three subspeciescoming off, so you're going to have
about a size 6 and a size 8cicada out there. Floating patterns
are definitely going to be themost fun. But as the hatch progresses,
a sunken cicada pattern formore selective fish. You know, in

(03:14):
two, three weeks, these guysare going to have seen it all. The
fish are going to have seen itall by then. And a sunken cicada
pattern will definitely be agood choice as the fish get more
and more selective as on themas the month progresses. So any sort
of black, foamy orange thingis going to work good. You know,
some smaller sizes and flieslike maybe a size 8 or 10. Not a

(03:36):
bad idea, especially whenyou're fishing for waters with let's
say smaller trout. You know, alot of those smaller fish are not
going to get their mouthsaround the big size 6 cicada, but
they might be able to grab thehook on a 10. So carry a variety
of sizes, sixes, eights, maybea couple of smaller tensions, couple
of sunken patterns. You know,any sort of black foam with a little
bit of orange on it is goingto be. Is going to be good. It's

(03:57):
going to work.
There you go. Anything specialgoing on in the shop you want to
share with folks?
Oh, my shop's been prettybusy. Right now we've got our offense
in tournament here in centralPennsylvania slated for next weekend.
We've still got some openingsfor teams. So anybody that wants
to come and do that sixthannual tournament, the benefits go
to Clearwater Conservancy,which is great. We've got team openings

(04:18):
left. It should be anothergreat event with lots and lots of
prizes and lots and lots offun. Check out our website for we
got a bunch of other eventsright now and all our other shops.
So check out TCL flyfishing.com for all our events and
happenings. Other than that,man, it's just been good fishing.
And we know hopefully thewater doesn't get too high. Month
of June is. Should be reallygood up here.

(04:38):
Yeah, there you go. And youknow, folks, we love questions. We
haven't gotten a question thelast couple times. It makes George
sad and we don't like that.
Brenner, where are you?
So you have Renner. You gottalike, you just like dropped off the
face of the planet. In allfairness, he's in medical school.
But you know, send us yourquestions, I'll hook you up with
some swag. It's the only wayto get enter in the drawing of the

(05:00):
shop at the end of the season.And George, before I let you go,
you want to let folks knowshop hours and all that kind of good
stuff.
Absolutely. Here in StateCollege, we're open 9 to 6 Monday
through Saturday, 9 to 3 onSundays. All our other stores are
open similar hours. Get us onthe web@tcofly fishing.com and we'll
see you out on the water.
There you go, folks. And as Ialways say, this time of year you
owe it to yourself to get outthere and catch a few. Tight lines,

(05:22):
everybody. Tight lines.
George, take it easy, Mark.