BITING FLIES

HELLO FELLOW CANADIAN FISHERMAN!!!

HEADED TO LAC SEOUL SOUTHERN HALF IN 3 WEEKS. I HAVE DONE SO MUCH INTERNET RESEARCH ON BITING FLIES, BUT CANNOT FIND ANY GOOD RELIABLE INFORMATION??? WE KEEP THE NORTHERN AND SLIME OUT OF THE BOAT, TRY TO WEAR LONG SHORTS AND SOCKS, BUT THE BITING FLIES SURE CHEW UP YOUR ANKLES, FEET AND LEGS.PLEASE PLEASE PLEAS GIVE ME SOME GOOD INFORMATION ON SOMETHING TO DETER THEM. THIS IS OUR 4 YR IN CANADA, AND WE CANNOT FIND A GOOD DEFENSE. EVERYONE BE SAFE AND THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

About fifteen years ago NATO researched bug repellents for military personnel protection use in the north.  The results were that picardin based repellents were found superior to deet based for black flies and about the same for mosquitoes.

Our group switched years ago and come back with far fewer bites.  Natrapel and Cutter's Advanced use picardin, among others, and are easily found.

Just returned from Canada fishing trip.  We fished in shorts and t shirts.  Biting flies were controlled by deep woods off.  Soak your legs, socks and shoes and you should be fine.  Luckily they never seem to bug you above you knees.  If you do not put on spray they will drive you crazy.

Wear Long Pants and higher top shoes so pants cover you shoe tops when you sit. Shorts are not an option if you want to avoid being bitten.

Thanks to everyone. 9 days and counting

We just came back from camp.... A friend brought up this stuff called Tri-TEC Fly repellent. It comes in a spray bottle and is used for livestock and horses. It can be purchased at Farm/Fleet. Simply spray down the boat floor and the interior gunnels, FLIPP’N AWESOME!! I have never seen anything like it, the black flies were horrendous and this stuff saved our bacon. Will never go up again without it.

we have used Coppertone Sport SPF 50 with very good success. SHoot it on before you get in the boat though, we've also seen that it will shut down the guy that gets it on his line or lures (clean your hands man)

While I would like to fish in shorts, there is no better fly protection than boots that come up over your ankles and long jeans. Would not go out in Canada without such protection.

I keep a flying insect killer spray in the boat spraying as needed. As with all lotions and sprays be careful of you rods and reels.

Tea Tree oil mixed half and half with water and put un a spray bottle  wirks well 

If  you are referring to what I call "ankle flies", high concentration DEET (eg. Deep Woods OFF) will keep them away.  You have to cover every square millimeter of skin (and your socks if you are wearing them) with the DEET and you will be fine.  One trip we had hundreds in the boat all day.  No problem with the DEET.  Weird how they don't bite above the waist.

I check another site (Walleye Central) on a regualr basis and they have a forum for anything doing with fishing in Canada. Several guys on that site have recommended Coppertone Sport (SP30-50) does a good job of deterring black flies.. Sounds strange but there seems to be quite a few guys that use the product for this purpose. I have not tried this myself..

Our group does fly-in's every year to Canada and we always pack bug suits to keep biting flies and skeets from bothering us..We take tops and bottoms with us and they do not add hardly any weight to our 100lb fly-in goals..They are also very comfortable to fish in on warm days.. We also take thermo cells along to help control biting insects and sometimes use bug sprays..