Tips for insect control while fishing

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Tips and recipes for insect control when fishing, including new products available to help keep the bugs at bay.

Insects are a problem for many of us who work and play outdoors. Those of us who fish are oftentimes more affected because of the increased insect population commonly found anywhere you have a body of water. While there are numerous products available on store shelves to ward off flying insects and other hazardous crawlers such as wood ticks, some of the most effective insect control can be found in your cupboards disguised as other products.

Vick’s Vaporub has a strong odor not only to people; it must to insects as well. While I would not suggest putting Vick’s Vaporub all over yourself to ward off insects, I would suggest putting it around the bottom of your pant legs as this seems to be an excellent deterrent to wood ticks.

Two other products that people report using to ward off flying insects include scented dryer sheets or Avon Skin-So-Soft. Tuck a dryer sheet into the back of your hat or into your pockets or cuffs on your pants. While they do not seem to work for all flying insects, they do seem to work for the black flies commonly found around water. Avon’s Skin-So-Soft can be applied as directed or mixed with a small amount of rubbing alcohol. Avon’s Skin-So-Soft has become such a popular remedy they now offer their own version of a full-fledged insect control product.

Recipes

These recipes have been used through the years with a variety of ingredients, depending on what I had available. Mix with either an 8-ounce bottle of rubbing alcohol or vinegar. I personally prefer mixing with the rubbing alcohol but plain white vinegar can be a better choice for small children or those that have adverse reactions to rubbing alcohol. Mix in a spray bottle and spray onto your clothes and around the area. Avoid spraying directly on skin. Alternatively, apply to cotton balls and scatter around your fishing area. If you choose to spray on yourself, avoid contact with eyes and nose, and test in a small area such as your wrist to check for any reactions before spraying heavily. Mixtures can also be diluted with an equal amount of distilled water to the alcohol or vinegar.

One-tablespoon Tea tree oil mixed with rubbing alcohol or vinegar is a proven fly and no-see-um chaser. As a natural insect repellant, it will work for many other flying insects as well.

One-tablespoon Mint oil mixed with rubbing alcohol or vinegar.

A combination of 1 tsp Eucalyptus, ½ tsp Peppermint, 1 tsp Citronella, mixed to 8 ounces of vinegar or alcohol will ward off the mosquitoes. Take out the Citronella and replace with either Anise or Cedarwood for repelling flies.

Other Forms of Insect Control

Anyone who spends a large amount of time fishing knows that at some point no amount of sprays or time-tested recipes will work. Insects have days where they just seem to be on attack, often on those days when the fish are biting. Be prepared with extra ammunition by carrying along a product such as a ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellent, a portable appliance that runs on butane and helps fight off mosquitoes for up to twelve hours.

Clothing can help to keep the bugs at bay. Wear tight fitting cuffs and pant legs, netting over the head for those absolute worst times of the day and clothing sold with insect repellant built in, such as an Ex Officio BUZZ OFF™ Insect Repellent hooded sweatshirt.