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Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

Title:Fishing-V2: All About Angling
Notice:Time to go fishin'! dayegins
Moderator:WAHOO::LEVESQUE
Created:Fri Jul 19 1991
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:548
Total number of notes:9621

178.0. "Insects/Bugs/@#$@!%#" by GEMVAX::JOHNHC () Mon May 18 1992 14:04

It's about that time of year when the bugs graduate from flight school.
Soon they'll be everywhere. Black flies. Mosquitoes. Noseeums of all kinds.

I've seen real northern types carry on as normal human beings, despite
having mosquitoes clinging to lips, ears, and cheeks. (These people
usually seem to object when a mosquito goes for an eyelid.) For the
most part, these folks don't seem to itch at all, and they don't seem
to get any kind of welts. How do they do it?


I've heard that eating bananas will make you more appealing to
mosquitoes. I believe it, too, after seeing how mosquitoes will go after
the kid who had the banana for breakfast while basically ignoring the
kid who had straight cereal.

I've heard that heavy daily doses of vitamin B6 will make you
unappealing to mosquitoes and black flies. I've also heard this makes
you unappealing to other people as well.

I haven't found an "electronic mosquito repellent" that works.

So, what do you folks use for those still summer evenings fishing the
shallows?

T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
178.1UNYEM::GEIBELLIN SEARCH OF ELUSIVE SALMONMon May 18 1992 14:259
    
       deep woods off
       D 50
       avon skin so soft
       
      or 
     be a man and take the skeeter bites along with the fish bites 8(::
    
    
178.2ignore them...AIMHI::BORZUMATOMon May 18 1992 14:4311
    They don't in general seem to bother me.
    
    My wife on the other hand likes skin so soft, and usually over does
    it.
    
    So well that i stay away from her as well.
    
    I cannot stand the smell of it. Can't describe it but, but the odor
    is very strong.
    
    JIm
178.3Vanilla Extract ??ROYALT::LOVETTMon May 18 1992 14:5210
    I've heard Vanilla Extract works for repelling black-flies.  Has anyone
    else heard this or tried it.  I generally don't use anything.  I tried
    skin-so-soft once but didn't notice any difference, before and after.
    
    
    
    
    Try consuming large amounts of beer a couple hours before going out.
    
    						 :-)
178.4no smell...repel!!!VSSCAD::MMURPHYMon May 18 1992 15:026
    
       My opinion REPEL you can't beat. I've tried skin-so-soft and
     others, but nothin works like repel. It cost some $$$ but for
     me it works great! 
    
                                                 K'
178.5What doesn't destroy your equipment?JUPITR::NEALMon May 18 1992 15:077
    Is there anything that "WORKS" that doesn't melt plastic? Every
    bug repelant I have seen melts fishing gear. How good can this stuff
    be for your skin if melts plastic?
    
    I have used the skin so soft with ok results, but it stinks.
    
    Rich
178.6POOL::JMCLAUGHLINMon May 18 1992 15:375
    
    My wife was telling me yesterday that skin-so-soft has been taken
    off of the market. She said that there was something toxic in it.
    
    					Jim
178.7wear long pants and shirts...GNPIKE::HANNANBeyond description...Mon May 18 1992 15:3915
	Good question on what works with fishing.  The scent of
	bug juice like DEET or Skin-so-soft, especially the latter,
	must not be good if it gets onto the lures.  Skin-so-soft
	might work, but the stench is hard to bear.  And DEET melts
	plastics - I had deet all over my skin, including my ears,
	and it distorted the plastic on the telephone when I picked 
	it up!

	There must be a better way.

	I've heard that if you eat a lot of garlic that it helps.
	It supposedly works with dogs to repel fleas too.  But then
	again it may repel humans too ;-)

	Ken
178.8Vitamin B1COMET::FAASTMon May 18 1992 19:196
         I use vitamin B1. You have to start taking it about a week before
         you are planning a trip, but it will definately keep the skeeters
         off. It will also create a faint odor on your skin, but it is
         definately better smelling than Skin-so-soft.
    
                                                             -Tim-
178.9Ah, *B1* rather than B6GEMVAX::JOHNHCMon May 18 1992 21:498
    What kind of dosages of B1 do you take?
    
    As I read your reply, I realized it was indeed B1 rather than B6 that I
    had heard repelled mosquitoes and people.
    
    Thanks.
    
    John H-C
178.10Garlic??? Cigars work well for MOST kinds of pests too 8-)MAST::MACHADORemember... tracers work BOTH waysTue May 19 1992 10:518
	I hear that garlic capsules work well also but I don't know how many you
have to consume or how long before you go out that you have to start taking 
them. During black fly and skeeter seasons is the only time that I regret
quitting smoking. Back when I smoked all I had to do was grab a nice big cigar
like a Macanudo Portofino on my way out of the house and it would keep the bugs
(and most people 8-)) away for better than an hour. 

Barry
178.11sosPENUTS::GORDONTue May 19 1992 14:0411
    When I worked as a Mechanic, the bugs never bothered me.  I think that
    it was because of the oil smell in my skin.  After leaving that
    profession, the bugs won't leave me along.  I use skin-so-soft and it
    seems to work for me, can't stand the smell of off, 6-12, etc.
    
    When I'm in the boat around Plum island, the greenheads really kill me
    for a couple weeks during the year.  However, they leave my wife along. 
    I think the difference is that she puts on sun tan lotion as soon as we
    are at the dock -- Georgio spf 24.
    
    Gordon
178.12Brewer's Yeast....B-6 source.DELNI::JMCDONOUGHTue May 19 1992 16:3625
       
        "Skin-so-Soft" allegedly has more harmful chemicals in it than 100%
    DEET...and yer all correct---that stuff stinks so bad my DOGS won't
    even come near me if I use it!! I tried it once, and was nauseated by
    the stench of it...
    
        100% DEET works, but if it's 90 degrees and you're sweating a lot,
    you have to keep putting it on every hour or so cause you'll sweat it
    off.
    
        The SIMPLEST way to get Vitamin B-6 (Hadn't heard about B-1, would
    appreciate some documentaion sources on that one...) is to buy some
    "Brewers Yeast" at a "rite aid", CVS, or similar. Comes in pills and
    powder form. It also has a lot of other beneficial vitamins andminerals
    in it, so it's good for you anyway. Brewers Yeast is about 50% B-6, and
    if you take it every day for about a month or so before the bug season,
    you'll build up enough to discourage insects. It will NOT stop all
    biting, but it reduces it a whole lot. I guess there are bugs that have
    no sense of smell just like there are people..
    
      Also...B-6 has NO effect on the way YOU smell....it MAY be that you
    need a change in your deodorant...or a bath now and then...
    
    
       John Mc
178.13COMET::FAASTTue May 19 1992 21:076
    You can buy them at your local pharmacy, and you take a couple a day
    about a week before planning a trip. If you go out like every weekend,
    just keep taking them all summer long, or until the skeeters freeze!!!
    
                                                              -Tim-
    
178.14Personal HygeineGEMVAX::JOHNHCTue May 19 1992 22:388
    re: .12
    
    Yeah, I guess you're probably right. I probably just need to get wet
    more often.
    
    <g>
    
    John H-C
178.15Works for meMSDOA::BEAZLEYWed May 20 1992 21:028
    Day's Work or Brown Mule chewing tobacco. Just chew it a while and then
    smear it over your arms and legs. Works every time.
    
    If you have trouble with the chewing, try cutting it with some crunchy
    peanut butter.
    
    Coonass
    
178.16Fly Story CCAD28::DAVIESThu May 21 1992 01:2618
Gidday from New Zealand.
 
No helpful tips about bug repellent. Each brand of bug seems to have its 
own individual dislikes. However, here is a bug story from Down Under.

Near Greymouth in the South Island (a place renowned for the size and
ferocity of its sand-flies) two sand-flies caught and killed a sheep on
the mountainside about a mile from the beach. Said one fly to the other
"It's a beautiful day for a picnic. Let's take this sheep down to the beach
and eat it there"
"No", said his friend. "We'll eat it here"
"Why?", said the first sand-fly.
"Use your head, stupid" replied his friend. "If we take the sheep to the
beach, the big fellows will take it away from us"  

Regards,

Chris Davies
178.17?!?!?!?DELNI::JMCDONOUGHThu May 21 1992 12:4816
       Re .16
    
       Sheesh!! I heard of "plagiarism", but youse "Kiwis" take the PRIZE!!
    
      That's a BLATANT distortion of the Northern Minnesota mosquito
    story.... Only difference was that the 2 mosquitoes broke into a cabin
    and were discussing whether they would take the fisherman who was
    sleeping there back to their home or eat him there...
    
    
       Re .15....
    
       If you swallow a couple of good mouthfulls of that tobacco juice,
    it'' kill any worms you may have too....among other things..
    
      John Mc
178.18Doesn't keep them away.....VICKI::DODIERFood for thought makes me hungryThu May 21 1992 14:027
    	re: Skin-so-soft
    
    	It has no effect on mosquitos, only black flies. It does not repell
    the black flies, it just keeps them from biting you. That may be why it
    doesn't seem to work.
    
    	RAYJ
178.19sss works for mePENUTS::GORDONFri May 22 1992 13:268
    re: skin-so-soft
    
    I was digging the garden last evening and had sss on.  The mosquitos
    were buzzing around but not biting.  I even had them walking on my arms
    looking for a place with no sss to the could bite.
    
    gordon
    
178.20DEET works better for me on skeetersVICKI::DODIERFood for thought makes me hungryFri May 22 1992 13:5210
    	re:-1
    
    	We must have a hardier version of mosquito by us then because SSS
    made no difference (that I could see) in the amount of mosquito bites I
    or my kids have gotten.
    
    	Fortunately, DEET seems to do the trick.
    
    
    	RAYJ
178.21WAHOO::LEVESQUETailing Loops, Inc.Fri May 22 1992 15:131
 I used Ben's 100 last night and I was not bothered at all.
178.22ANYONE KNOW?PIPPER::STURNERSat May 23 1992 04:0713
    Whats the prediction on inquine insefelitis (sp) this year?
    Are the experts saying people will get infected this year
    or don't they have anyway of knowing before hand?
    
    And if it does stat again I hope their not going to try spraying
    again! I don't think that did anything but kill a bunch of birds
    and Lord knows what it did to the fish.
    
    They say they didn't spray over water but many witnessess said they 
    did!!!
    
                                         Scott.
    
178.23WAHOO::LEVESQUETailing Loops, Inc.Tue May 26 1992 09:323
 It's eastern equine encephalitis, and this year may be a good year (few cases)
due to the lack of excessive wetness so far. It's the wet weather that provides
the best breeding for mosquitos.
178.24Cocoa Butter for Blackflies?ROYALT::LOVETTTue May 26 1992 13:144
    This past Memorial Day weekend my girlfriend got sunburned and applied
    cocoa butter to relieve the pain and prevent peeling.  The blackflies 
    were brutal that afternoon into the evening.  None of them even came
    close to her.
178.25Try baby oil...MLCSSE::LANDRYevitcepsrep ruoy egnahcWed Jun 03 1992 12:569
    
    I heard that the reason Skin So Soft works isn't because of any
    chemical in it, necessarily, but that it coats the skin with oil which
    drowns the insects before they can actually bite.  I also heard, that
    based on that information, any oil based skin lotion will work.  Like
    baby oil...
    
    jean
    
178.26TOOK::SWISTJim Swist LKG2-2/T2 DTN 226-7102Thu Jun 04 1992 09:535
    Somewhere I read that the SSS thing is exactly as described in .-1.  (On
    the other hand note that Avon makes no attempt to pass it off as an
    insect repellent).  A test was done with SSS vs DEET and they found that
    the big difference was that SSS only lasted about an hour (until the
    oil wore off) whereas DEET-based sprays lasted 4-5 times longer.
178.27THEY WILL PUT IT ON YOU ONE DAYSA1794::BABIARZEMon Mar 29 1993 14:026
    SEE YOUR LOCAL UNDERTAKER, THEY USE SOME STUFF THAT WORKS GREAT. I WAS
    GIVEN A SPRAY CAN OF THIS A FEW YEARS AGO BY A PERSON I MET ON THE THE
    RIVER, SO HAPPENDS HE WAS A UNDERTAKER. HE DID MENTION THAT YOU COULD
    ONLY GET IT FROM A MORTITION SUPPLY HOUSE.. PLUS IT WAS ODERLESS. HAY
    IF YOU ARE GOING OUT    WHY HAVE BUGS ON YOU..
    
178.28May want to read the canVICKI::DODIERFood for thought makes me hungryThu Apr 08 1993 14:214
    	Just a thought but if this stuff is made for dead people, they don't
    need to worry about what they put in it (i.e. harmful side affects).
    
    	RAYJ