FlyAnglers.org

[Buxtehude]

It seems that the nasty little insects are thriving in Maine and the enviros are delighted. If you have never fished amidst a cloud of these bloody insects and suffered the welts and sometimes infected bites for a week afterward you are missing something that will make you long for mosquitoes.

They especially like running water, waterfalls, riffles, pocket water...right where you need to be for trout, and nothing will keep them away because they'll crawl inside your clothes where you don't use bug dope. Just changing flies will give them the opportunity to polish off your hands for lunch. They bite and chew flesh so the bites bleed and that draws more of them in for a meal.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/06/23/black_flies_surge_in_maines_clean_rivers/
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"Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man." (Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead)

"There is an inverse relationship between reliance on the state and self-reliance."
(William F. Buckley, Jr.)

[haverodwilltravel]

Those Maniacs are a bunch of whiners. In New Hampshire, they are the size of eagles and pack a 55 gal. drum to store the blood.
Several things I've learned over the years.
1.) Cigar and Pipe smoke turns them off.
2.) After a number of years one becomes somewhat immune to the bite/(It's that or you just don't taste good).
3.) Avon's Skin so Soft mixed with Deet works best. The deet helps you die faster and the Avon product keeps you smelling sweet so the search dogs can find your body in the late fall.
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"Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend."..........Corey Ford

[Fred of York]

There used to be a big problem with them along the Susquehanna, as stated in the article, and people living along the river could hardly go from their cars to the front doors without getting bitten. Trying to fish the river was a nightmare.

The spraying really does the job and it has not harmed other insects. The white fly hatch is as prolific as ever, caddis flies are everywhere, damsel and dragonflies abound.
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At my age I'd rather have a talking frog.
Harry Truman was correct when he observed, 'My choices early in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician.. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.'

[cb]

I visited my sister in New Zealand in 1994. The Sand flies that year loved me. (One thing about Sand flies = They have good taste!)

I bought insect repellant which was almost useless.
In the end I was advised to mix: 50% Johnsons baby oil with 50% jeye's fluid. What a cheap and effective mix it was.
The only snag with it is when you fish knee deep in the sea. when returning to the beach for new bait you must put more on your lower legs before putting the bait on your empty hook as the little beggars get you quick. Whether it also works with black flies is another thing but it is worth a try.
You smell a bit clinical on the return home when conifined to a car's interior but not much more pungent than the average fisherman gets after a day in the outdoors!
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I think - therefore I am, at least I think I am, Oh it's so confusin!
You may think I am a complete idiot but parts of me are missing!

[cb]

[cb]

Am I psychic or WOT?! Now I look stupid!
Honestly, there was a double post!
I am certain there was. At least I think there was. was there? Now I am confused!

TIME OUT!
_________________
I think - therefore I am, at least I think I am, Oh it's so confusin!
You may think I am a complete idiot but parts of me are missing!

[Doug Gilmore]

[Ed Kelleher]

[cb]

I was nearly right!
After a word with the wise one I will change my insect repellent
Mixture to: 50% Johnson's baby oil and 50% Dettol.
Try it! it works. Then try some bait! that sometimes works too!
_________________
I think - therefore I am, at least I think I am, Oh it's so confusin!
You may think I am a complete idiot but parts of me are missing!

[J. Fogerty]

[Trico]

I just got back from a week in the North Maine Woods area of Maine and I was the black fly buffet for the week. Ben's 100 seemed to act as an attractant. I assume the scar tissue will not be too noticeable.

[MAGALLOWAY]

Blackflies were put there by the Good Lord for a reason; few people realize it, but rattlesnakes are deadly allergic to the little barstards!
Fact of life--either you got blackflies in your face or you got scorpions in your boots or brown recluses in the pumphouse. All in all, I'll take the flies.


Jim

[RWeber]

In truth and all seriousness it's the tourists who suffer in the adirondacks, by the time the flies are bad we've become almost immune to the bites, no swelling and no itching, now skeeters are soon to be nearing their peak and horse and deer flies are coming on after that.

I do not mind skeeters, black flies or rattlers but am allergic to no see ums.

deer flies and horse flies are repelled by nothing and take a pound of flesh per bite. Like those green headed marsh flies along the coast. I can do without them.
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....and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.
-John Voelker

[St. Lucie Tom]

Sand flees are just teeth with wings and I just let them eat if the bite is on.

Tom
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I am retired but I have an office on the Flats. CCA
Tom, your antagonistic responses have come to an end.

[haverodwilltravel]

Tom, I swear sand fleas were used for torture in the middle ages. I use a thick coat of greasy sun block so they get stuck.
_________________
"Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend."..........Corey Ford