I walked into Tom’s Bait and Tackle this morning in Narrowsburg, NY to pick out a lure for this week. I browsed the wall of spinners and spoons and even considered taking a closer look at some soft plastics or a hybrid spinner with some cool body hair tied on, but ultimately my eye fell on a lure I’ve never used before, the Cicada by Reef Runner fishing lures, proudly stamped with “Made in the U.S.A.” I picked it up and headed to the counter to check out and see what I could learn about it. The cashier, a very reliable fishing source, told me that the local guides specifically requested he stock the cicadas. He went on to say that they preferred using them in the deeper pools of the Delaware River for those deep swimming monster walleye.

Sales pitch or not, my interest had been piqued. Now I haven’t had the opportunity to try it out yet, but Let me tell you a little about the design. It’s built to look like a bug (no kidding) a cicada as can be extrapolated. The body of the bug holds most of the weight and supports the signature concave spoon-like dorsal blade. On the blade is a holographic sticker designed to catch and refract light. The line tie on is located half way up the blade which lends angle for the lure to dive deep. On the packaging, it recommends that you use a snap for the tie on. I would definitely agree this is necessary because the tie on hole is drilled through the metal blade. It would be very easy, even for a good knot, to rub and break off at the lure. Any kind of poundage on it would make it like your knot is tied onto a knife-edge. I would say to use a swivel snap-on because the way the blade is concave makes me think it has a propensity to flip over during the retrieve. Even if this doesn’t happen, a swivel always helps to keep your line from twisting during casts and retrieves etcetera.

Similar to a Wally Diver, the hooks for a Cicada are located on the top of the aft (tail) blade portion of the lure and on the bottom of the chest of the body. As the lure swims, it will tilt forward much the same as a Wally Diver and present the two hooks at the top and bottom of the lure, making for a large coverage area for the hookset. What is interesting about the hooks on the Cicada are that they are double hooks, built like treble hooks, but lacking one of the 3 hooks which would have faced forward. What this allows is less opportunity for snagging on the bottom. This is a great feature for this particular lure considering it operates most of the time in close proximity to the bottom of the lake or river.

I have a little walleye honey hole I plan to take this to where the Delaware River bends and is fed by a small stream. It gets pretty deep about 40 yards out and I think this might be a fun lure to change things up a bit. Most of the time I fish with mister twisters on jig-heads and husky jerks. My dad always seems to out fish me there but regardless, there are a lot of walleye there to test the Cicada out on. I don’t know if my dad has fished one of these before or not. Likely he has at least seen them out and about, but I know he doesn’t keep any on hand. Maybe this will be just the thing to turn the tide in our friendly competition.

Go grab one yourself. They come in different weights sizes and color of holographic. I chose a green holographic in the 3/8 oz. size. That’s just what looked good to me. Between that spot and a few deeper holes on the river, maybe I can pick up one of these deep predators. Watch your fingers, these wolf have teeth, but they taste good so go out and try a cicada. From what I hear they work all year, So before the ice builds up, get one in the water.

*If you have any luck with the lure of the week, feel free to email your pictures to events@riverreporter.com for an opportunity to share them on our website. If you have a favorite kind of lure we haven’t reviewed yet, feel free to send that lure to our office at PO box 150 Narrowsburg, NY 12764. We will add it to our weekly reviews and share the results. Check back each week on Fridays to see the new lure of the week!