The only problem is the supply. We know when they are going to show up, we just don't know how many. Some years the cycle will only bring a few bugs. It is just enough for a couple days a good dry fly fishing before the fish get smart to the whole game and start refusing flies. Some years we get plenty of bugs but they coincides with high water and the fishing can be good, but it is not easy. Your flies have to be placed in small little pockets and mending has to be perfect. Other years there are so many bugs that you can catch fish on your back cast. The canyon can be so loud with the mating call of cicadas that the clicks turn into an undulating drone. Fish are racing to get your fly. This is when real addicts are made. We have clients who have been chasing the cicada hatch for a decade or more. They got the taste of it when it was good and now they have to have more.
It can be a catch 22 as far as booking trips. You have to book far in advance to make sure you have a prime date. But what if you were a week early? What if the bugs don't show up? If you wait until you know its on then you are not going to get the guide you want. Even in this day of Instagram and Facebook if knowledge has traveled that “it is on,” you have probably missed the peak silliness and fish are getting smart to the big bug. I have prime dates booked out two years in advance, and a list a mile long asking for cancelations when its on.