Best Mosquito Weaponry

We are camping two nights on the Big Fork River. The mosquitoes appear extra thick this year. Camping on a river is just asking for the pain train, but we’re trying to make it as pleasant as possible, while we chase some fish.
Just curious what everyone likes to use to combat mosquitoes?

We plan on wearing long sleeve bugstopper shirts, pants, shoes, sun gloves . We have several thermacells and smoke coils. We are also packing a screened in tent/porch for camp. Also plan on spraying clothing with Sawyer Permethrin. Bug spray is no good for fly fishing line so trying to avoid usage on the boat.

Thinking about buying Lixada mesh suits or some head nets. These white mesh paint strainers seem like a cheap but effective barrier. Also might bring along a propane mosquito fogger for camp. Fingers crossed this area doesnt have deer flies.

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i’m no help with the skeeter gear, but wereabouts on the bigfork river??? we are about 15 miles south of the river. and 25 miles or so from the town of bigfork.

Checkout “the original bug shirt”
Very popular in the canoeing world. I just ordered one for fishing/ camping in VNP.

High deet and cuss words…

Good topic. I’m curious who/how many use the Thermacell table top products and what you think. Thanks.

I woke up in my tent. The entire top of my rain fly was covered in mosquitoes. I turned the thermacell on and within a few minutes all the mosquitoes left. We use several on our patio during dinner time. We place them under and on the table. They are effective.

I ordered the “Tougher than Tom” TNT for my house… but haven’t tested yet. Will follow-up.

I think Thermacell works great… in the right conditions. You need that smoke around you so if there’s a breeze you need to place it up wind. Similar to Citronella in that sense.

This stuff works absolutely phenomenal in place of DEET: https://nantucketspider.com/products/the-original-natural-bug-repellent

Less potentially bad chemicals and smells better. I have put this stuff through the paces this spring and it flat out works.

Last but not least, always have to have a stick of After Bite at the ready!

I have used the ThermaCell devices for many years. I first discovered them on a canoe trip to the BWCWA. Bugs can be pretty bad there and the ThermaCell worked great. I bought my own right after that trip and love them. I just have the personal size one and that covers a personal space area very well. My son learned about them on another canoe trip and he bought the patio sized ones for his house. I recommend them.

troutbum wrote:

We plan on wearing long sleeve bugstopper shirts, pants, shoes, sun gloves . We have several thermacells and smoke coils. We are also packing a screened in tent/porch for camp. Also plan on spraying clothing with Sawyer Permethrin. Bug spray is no good for fly fishing line so trying to avoid usage on the boat.

Honestly you’ll be fine with this setup.

Permethrin is incredibly effective even though it doesn’t repel bugs. It kills them and dead or dying mosquitoes don’t bite. The bugstopper shirts are commercially permethrin treated so no need to treat them but do all your other clothing. I use Martin’s permethrin concentrate (so much cheaper than Sawyer premixed) to treat a sun hoodie, hat, face mask, sun gloves, pants, and socks. For any exposed skin I use Picaridin spray or lotion – it’s fly line friendly. DEET works great but that stuff is poison for gear.

Thermacells work well in camp.

A headnet is a good idea for your sanity but only works with a bucket hat underneath. The mesh clothing looks like a joke to me, mosquitoes would just bite through wherever it’s touching skin/untreated clothing.

Permethrin sprayed on the outer clothing kills the little buggers if they touch it. A study conducted by the Smithsonian Institute found that by walking a one mile long trail in the FL Everglades while wearing a treated shirt, they were able to reduce the skeeters along that trail by over 80 percent in just three days of a walk at sun up and a walk at dusk. I use it on my hunting clothes, especially during turkey season and discovered that the seat in the truck was covered with dead ticks at the end of the day. They hitched a ride on me but didn’t live long enough to bite before expiring.

Does anyone have experience with the Simms Bugstopper hoodie? They get very good reviews and I am considering picking one up.

Aboxy17 wrote:

Does anyone have experience with the Simms Bugstopper hoodie? They get very good reviews and I am considering picking one up.

Not that exact one but anything called “Bugstopper” by Simms is going to be commercially permethrin treated by Insect Shield and be awesome.

You can send your own clothing in to Insect Shield for treatment – it’s not cheap but basically permanent compared to the at home treatment that’s only good for a few washings.

I don’t love chemical sprays and lotions for a number of reasons, so have gone for impenetrable cover-up. For legs/torso, summer-weight Guidewear rain gear does the job. For whatever reason, these are pretty good mosquitos protection while standing to fish, perhaps because they are somewhat baggy and not tight on the skin. Rain boots or leather ankle high boots on the feet. For hands, nitrile surgeon gloves are tight, allows feel, and bugs won’t even attempt to bite thru them. Amazon carries them in 100 count boxes for cheap. A bucket hat, or baseball cap with the hood of the rain suit pulled-up, underneath mesh bug head gear completes the ensemble.

The look is ridiculous, but there is usually no one else dumb enough to fish in a mosquito storm to laugh at me. The buzz of 1000 frustrated mosquitos around your face and body is maddening after a while, so there is that.

Worst deer and horse flies I’ve ever experienced was near Big Falls, end of June.
Good Luck!

Almost every angler Ive spoken with has said we have canadian level mosquitoes this year.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/minnesota/news/heres-why-minnesota-is-already-swarming-with-mosquitoes-before-summers-start/

I am going on a week long fly-in in Northern Manitoba next week… I fire up a Thermocell and set below the bunk for the nights sleep… works great !

big_g wrote:

I am going on a week long fly-in in Northern Manitoba next week… I fire up a Thermocell and set below the bunk for the nights sleep… works great !

That doesn’t sound very healthy. I hate breathing in the thermocell crap.

big_g wrote:

I am going on a week long fly-in in Northern Manitoba next week… I fire up a Thermocell and set below the bunk for the nights sleep… works great !

I strongly suggest not doing that unless you’re in a very well ventilated area.
I had a friend think that was a good idea in his wall tent over the weekend. He woke up to his dog’s sneezing and coughing and him, his wife, and daughter all felt like crap. They may have not made it through the night had the dogs not woke him up.

Ive attempted to no avail that mosquitos don’t respect the fact that I identify as a rock.

We need #wokeskeeters

works for me. never a headache and cant smell it.

Cousin has the bug tamer suit, no bites

big_g wrote:

works for me. never a headache and cant smell it.

It’s your decision. But you can’t smell carbon monoxide, you just die.

I live in southwest Hennepin County and have been working in a strip of woods on either side of a creek cleaning up buckthorn and trees that have fallen in the creek. In the 3 of the last 5 days I’ve worked there I’ve swatted 7 mosquitoes. I can’t believe it. I did spray the ground and sampling bushes with permethrin about 3 weeks ago for ticks, maybe that did it.

Now on the other hand I was fishing north of Deer River last week and the mosquitos were horrible. Of course I brought a lot in the cabin when unloading gear after sundown so I spent the next hour on patrol swatting the little SOBs.

Bring a fogger

My go-to skeeter wear when they get that bad is a BugTamer suit. BugTamer has been around maybe 40 years. It’s a 2 layer construction. The bottom layer next to your skin is an open weave cord fishnet. The top layer is a fine mesh. The bottom layer fishnet cord is supposedly the same diameter as a skeeters nose so they can’t reach you.

Rick Janssen wrote:

I have used the ThermaCell devices for many years. I first discovered them on a canoe trip to the BWCWA. Bugs can be pretty bad there and the ThermaCell worked great. I bought my own right after that trip and love them.

Nice! I have never heard of these and assumed that after a lifetime of companies selling failed skeeter gadgets and candles that nothing really worked.

Question:

Did you ever try this IN your (slowly) moving canoe?

I do a lot of skinny water river fishing from a kayak where I’m often right up against the bank, often near some kind of slack water and man, I tell you what.

This past weekend I hit both Rum River, and Beaver Islands on the Mississippi and I swear to god it felt like I was in a South American jungle.

I see they have a specific “outdoor adventurer” model and if this thing would create a shield around me while I cast and paddled around in eddies or nestle into a shoreline it would be a game changer.

grubson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
works for me. never a headache and cant smell it.

It’s your decision. But you can’t smell carbon monoxide, you just die.

So much drama in this statement The OP said he can’t stand the smell of the thermocell… it does give off an odor… which I cannot smell when its in the cabin. If that 1/4 cup of butane burned over 6 hours does me in, I lived a good life.

Backwood original cigars

Big_g
No drama bud. Just facts. Look it up for yourself.
I won’t tell you how to live your life, or end it. I wish you luck.

I did look it up and can assure you, the cabin we stay in is very well ventilated… hence the mosquitos !