There's no worse Mosquitos than on the Mississippi, in Miss., with one exception

A friend invited me to be the co-angler in a bass tournament up here and we went on the mighty river to do some scouting.

We were on an inlet off the river and as the sun set, I hadn't sprayed myself with Off!. I'm telling you, huge mistake. As soon as the sun hit a spot on the horizon, there were more mosquitos around us than Chinese in the entire world. And the damn things seem to like attacking my hands. I am one miserable guy right now, typing to take my mind off the itch even after applying rubbing alcohol, whicch is the only thing I have.

I wouldn't want to live here, no way, no how. And he said it's worse in Louisiana where these insects are as big as small rodents.

 

Scribe: And now you have to go back out there for the actual tournament???

 

Uh, yeah. With some Off!

 

Holy crap. I've heard that some of those damn things are actually ATTRACTED to repellents such as Off.

Best of luck to you.

 

Well he seemed to do better but it was damn weird watching this swarm. We didn't stay long...we got the boat going and moving, they weren't a problem. The tournament is during the AM/early PM hours anyway.

 

Canoeing in Maine.

That I have any blood left is a minor miracle.

 

Been to the deep woods of Panhandle Florida, Alabama and the bogs of Louisiana. The Yukon River has topped them all in size and quantity of bloodsuckers.

 

People have told me that summer in cold-weather areas such as Minnesota, Alaska, Maine and upstate New York and Pennsylvania are terrible for biting insects. I hear the deer flies on some lakes near the Catskills will bite you, then carry you off to their lairs to suck your brains through the holes.

Is there a scientific reason why the bugs seem worse in cold-weather states during the few months when the weather there is warm?

 

And there's no worse black flies than in Woodford, Vermont.

 

Re: There's no worse Mosquitos than on the Mississippi, in Miss., with one excep

As somebody who has spent some time surrounded by miles and miles of rice fields, here's my advice.

Scribe, Off! won't help too much. It'll be hotter than hell, but wear long pants and long sleeves. If possible, get some Buzz Off clothing. I've found it works better than bug spray. Ex Officio, Orvis, LL Bean and most other major outdoors clothing lines have it.

Also, visit a drug store for AfterBite or Burt's Bees Bug Bite Relief Stick. They both work really well.

 

I have no idea, but I can vouch for it's veracity.

In one afternoon of covering Legion baseball, I wore long sleeves and still managed to get a bug bite on every finger.

 

99 percent DEET
Accept no substitutes, but don't get it on your glasses or your watch crystal.