To all of you in infested areas, and especially those who night fish, what do you do about mosquitoes? I don't want off on me, or my kayak, or my lures. Skeeters eat my fingers like a golden corral buffet steak night special. 

 

Any tricks that actually work? Does thermocell work? Anything else like that which isn't directly on skin? 

 

Also I think they bite through my fishing shirts so I'm switching to cotton at night at least. Thanks for any ideas! 

I do use a Thermocell and they absolutely work. 

Thermocell....... done.

My brother hunts deer in the swamps of eastern NC and said mosquito's are so big that they have ticks and thermocell eliminated any threat.

They work 👍

I use the old school one with the butane and pads on top. They have a rechargeable model but mine failed within minutes (exchanged for the original model) 

Night time is for sleeping 

1 hour ago, F14A-B said:

I do use a Thermocell and they absolutely work. 

 

👍👍👍

I get them bad here and I fish dark times a ton starting around now through the end of Sept.  A hat, long pants, long sleeves, fingerless gloves, and shoes with socks as a start. My fishing shirt has a neck gaiter and a hood.  The neck gaiter is snug fit and helps a lot.  I might pull it up to my chin and over my ears if they are bad, and the hood comes up if they are really bad.  That keeps the bites to a minimum I've found.  I use deet based spray on my pants, sleeves, and hat.  I'll spray it on my skin also if needed.  We use rechargeable thermacells at home and they do work.  But they need to build up a bubble of repellant so if it is lightly breezy or more their effectiveness is limited.  I'm going to throw one in the boat anyway for those still nights, but I rely on the clothes first and Deet second.

I'm lucky that I almost never get bit by mosquitoes. But they do buzz around my ears and that gets annoying.

 

My son, on the other hand, is a mosquito magnet. There could be a mosquito three counties over and it will find him.

the Thermocell works.  but only in certain conditions.  any wind and only any part of your body downwind is covered.   it works awesome in a turkey blind, but I'm probably adding sickness points to my lungs.  

 

when I fished the Amazon I treated all my clothing with that spray.  it worked!!  if I need a more often layer without chemicals ,I would try the mosquito clothing.  I think it is thicker so they cant reach thru?

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Night time is for sleeping 

Night time is for hunting, wrestling, and subduing big girls. Seeing what you're doing is so overrated.

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Night time is for sleeping 

Night time is for drinking then sleeping. 

@GreenPig If you really don't want to bother with skeeters get a head net. They get the job done. 

They haven't been bad yet but they will.

 

I don't like spraying chemicals on me so zero bug spray.

 

I fully cover up, sometimes a head net.

 

Last year my hands did get slaughtered a few times so might have to get some fishing gloves.

54 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Night time is for drinking then sleeping. 

@GreenPig If you really don't want to bother with skeeters get a head net. They get the job done. 

  They don't usually mess with me on the water, and if they do I'll fire up my Thermacell. Now when I'm rigging the evening before at the house is a different story. I fire up the Thermacell and give it 15 - 20 minutes before I go out to the garage to rig.

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

Night time is for hunting, wrestling, and subduing big girls. Seeing what you're doing is so overrated.

I don’t need to see so much as sleep 😂 

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t need to see so much as sleep 😂 

I hear ya brother. Clearly what you've been doing works. I'm going fat girl hunting tonight at 2am, and gonna fish til 9am.

I wish I could night fish! I fell asleep with my belt on last night 😂. Working then mowing, I’m bout beat by dark 

Somebody say head net? Needed those on isle royale for sure!!

 

I was only out an hour last night, couldn't take it any more. This morning, my fingers and elbows are chewed up good. I'll try long sleeves and gloves next time. 

 

How much wind is too much for Thermocell to work? I've never tried it, so I guess I should but just wearing more clothing is much easier.

 

I think I gave my mosquito net head thing to my kids. That'd be nice to have though on those nights when they are buzzing your ears and driving me nuts, I need to locate that thing and bust it out again. 

5 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

the Thermocell works.  but only in certain conditions.  any wind and only any part of your body downwind is covered.  

 

Most bugs, including black flies and mosquitoes, are not a problem when there is a wind. 

Being here in Florida, mosquitoes are our state bird. We grow them big and numerous.

Thermocell is your best friend.

But the worst mosquitoes I’ve ever encountered were in western Montana.

Only happened once. On a mountain hike is when we encountered them. They were relentless and this was mid day. We were all covered up good but my pants creeped  up and they bit me above my socks. I had about 13 welts. Had to ice my leg down back at the house to reduce the swelling.
But here’s the weirdest part, about a year later, those same welts flared up again and itched like crazy. 
Now no-see-ums, that’s a different animal down here in Florida. Those little devils will wear you out ar dawn and dusk. 

8 hours ago, FishTax said:

I was only out an hour last night, couldn't take it any more. This morning, my fingers and elbows are chewed up good. I'll try long sleeves and gloves next time. 

 

How much wind is too much for Thermocell to work? I've never tried it, so I guess I should but just wearing more clothing is much easier.

 

I think I gave my mosquito net head thing to my kids. That'd be nice to have though on those nights when they are buzzing your ears and driving me nuts, I need to locate that thing and bust it out again. 

Just get a new one, they aren’t something you wanna use too many times haha. 
 

Alaska has the worst mosquitos I’ve seen, guess they get it while they can 

5 hours ago, FishTax said:

I was only out an hour last night, couldn't take it any more. This morning, my fingers and elbows are chewed up good. I'll try long sleeves and gloves next time. 

I'm not interested in heavy chemicals like deet, so the only stuff I use is this: Amazon.com: Natrapel 12-Hour Insect Repellent, 6 oz. Eco-Spray Picaridin Bug Spray – Family Insect Repellent for Mosquitoes, Ticks, & More, Black (0006-6878) : Adventure Medical Kits: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

It only goes on my gloves. Might need to apply it more than once during a night trip, but it works. For the rest of me, it's heavy clothes they can't get through. A sweat jacket and a wool hat does the trick. I'd rather sweat than get lumped up. Thermocell is useless if there's a breeze, and when there isn't one, you're huffing fumes and can taste it. I stopped using mine.

 

I dress this way during peak heat in August:

 

Mosquitoes love me. The feelings not mutual… I’ve been meaning to try a thermocell for a while now but as of right now I just wear pants and long sleeve Columbia shirts. It’s hot/humid down here but it’s impossible for me to wear shorts/shortsleeves without getting covered in mosquitoes.

2 hours ago, SC53 said:

Being here in Florida, mosquitoes are our state bird. We grow them big and numerous.

Ha! They call mosquitoes here the state bird too.

 

Honestly if they are that bad, I’d just avoid fishing at night. Not worth losing a limb for a fish.

 

As I stated in the tick thread, mosquitoes can cause serious life altering diseases. Thousands upon thousands of people die from mosquitoes every year because of various diseases they can spread.

 

I worked for the MMCD one summer here (Metro Mosquito Control District) and all we did was follow the rain. Standing water is where they reproduce.