Miller Time

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:53 am

No, not the sage of Tennessee, but the moth form of the Army Cutworm.

Out here in Idaho we have a real bumper crop of Millers this year. They are everywhere! Is this a problem to you guys elsewhere in the country, or is it a localized thing?

According to my Google research Millers travel at night guided by moonlight. They are migrating to the mountains to feed on wildflower nectar. Unfortunately they get detoured by people's porch lights or interior lights and flock to our houses. We have three nightlights on our property and they must be calling the invaders to our house. We have hundreds, or maybe thousands around this year. Maybe the bumper crop is due to global warming, eh?

RAM · Post by **RAM** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:32 am

Only a few Millers here, and most are too old to migrate. Rarely attracted to anything except cold beer and fishing reels. Getting so old that even fishing is too much trouble. They go to bed so early they rarely see the moon, much less feel attracted to it. Obviously a Rocky Mountain thing Phil. Do trout go bonkers when these things proliferate?
Cheers! Bad Bob

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:10 pm

Do trout go bonkers when these things proliferate?

Not that I'm aware of Bob, I don't think they often fall into the water. The birds sure do love them and spend lots of time crashing into buildings and windows while chasing them.

If you've never seen the Mormon Cricket migration, that's the one you should see. The trout love them. There are so many crickets that roads get slick and the fish get hard to catch because they're so full of crickets.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:59 am

Three of four years ago we had the 17-year cicada outbreak. I was astounded at how many of these buggers there were, and like Phil said about the crickets, the roads were slick with them. Fishing was simply awful as they gorged themselves on cicadas. One of the members of the Buckeye United Fly Fishing Club took the bodies of dead cicadas and somehow (epoxy?) attached them to hooks. Apparently they made a decent bass bug...

I'm amazed during these times we ever catch any fish at all.

-- Dr. Todd