Spring is here. Ticks are waking up. What's the best way to protect yourself? Clothing with insect shield or just repellent sprays?

Treat your clothing with permethrin.

Wear colors you can easily spot ticks on.

Seems like they are getting worse and worse these days.

I spend a lot of time in the field and ticks are near the top of my list for ‘worst things on earth.’ I do not believe in overkill with these things and use all reasonable means possible to manage the risks.

For those of us who use rowboats and canoes that live outside flipped over on grass, ticks are a very real issue.

Be vigilant about a few basics…a couple of these underscore what @NelsonIII said.

I definitely use permethrin on clothes (boots, pants, top shirts, jackets) when near high grass, brush or woods. This stuff can be nasty but just read about proper use and it becomes the predominant protection.

I’ll even spray insect repellent over legs right before walking into field.

Check your self along the way and after.

Good clothes color to spot ticks helps with quick inspections. And don't dismiss particularly small spots as just dirt.

We keep our pets/dogs wearing Soresto collars and monthly Semparica Trio (expensive) - good for protecting them and helps guard against them as carriers back to us. After hunting or walking with dogs in these environments we check them for carrier ticks with fine toothed comb.

Separately, we manage controlled burns every couple years in a number of fields. This is obviously not a suggestion - it just points to how far we go in managing the risks they pose.

Beyond this, stay in the car.

Good advice above ~

Untreated Lyme disease will absolutely wreck your life - sometimes permanently. The CDC testing for it is less than 50% effective, yet all doctors rely on it. If you test negative but still have symptoms, get tested again. Even then, good Lyme-aware doctors are prescribing short duration antibiotics (usually Doxycycline) to ensure treatment is quick and thorough. If you go more than a couple weeks undiagnosed/untreated, it will go systemic and may never go away.

My wife was undiagnosed and it took her 4 years of about a dozen different treatments to recover after going systemic. In the process, Lyme attacks your weakest areas. Her weak area was her Thyroid which stopped functioning and she had it removed but turned into Graves Disease and Thyroid Eye Disease which she gets extremely expensive transfusions likely the rest of her life to stay in front of.

My son, also had undiagnosed/untreated Lyme - for 7 years now and likely will never recover. He's basically handicapped and unable to work, or any quality of life. Ruined at age 23 and now turning 30 with little hope of a future.

If you get symptoms, don't waste time. Get tested right away and hope for a positive result. Be sure you go to a Lyme-friendly doctor who won't mess around and will treat you without a positive test result. The docs you want to stay away from are the ones that say - "Hey the test is negative, maybe it's just in your head." "Have you always been a hypochondriac?" "Are you depressed?" Etc. Etc. Etc. Then you're screwed ~

1 hour ago, NelsonIII said:

Treat your clothing with permethrin.

^This.^

John has further great suggestions. I live in Tick Alley, as New England leads the country in Lyme's, and I walk though woods to launch my boats.

Two tick vaccines are supposed to be released this year. I'll get mine ASAP.

I got over 200 seed tick bites one day in summer of 24 I think. It was rough, couldn’t sleep for a solid month . I love winter

Last thing I need at this point is a tick born disease. I have a cousin who is now allergic to red meat from a tick.

22 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

^This.^

John has further great suggestions. I live in Tick Alley, as New England leads the country in Lyme's, and I walk though woods to launch my boats.

Two tick vaccines are supposed to be released this year. I'll get mine ASAP.

I'm no expert, but be absolutely sure these vaccines are well tested and work as planned. Previously there was a Lyme vaccine available, but it not only did not work effectively, it actually triggered Lyme disease in some patients since it introduced the Lyme bacteria to the system to develop antibody resistance. Minnesota is the #2 state for Lyme and the Lyme doctors we ended up with said they have treated many people that took the previous vaccine and it back fired.

Chronic Lyme disease/alpha gal allergy sufferer here - if a tick latches on - you’re at risk. Always go to the doctor if your tick bite doesn’t heal fast or if it gets progressively more irritated - these are indicators.

A simple course of antibiotics is all it takes to prevent a lot of future medical trauma - for alpha gal - if you start feeling funny 4-6 hours after consuming meat regularly - get the blood test - potentially life threatening meat allergy. Not fun.

Layer up and tuck stuff into stuff and immediately take clothes off and wash them and immediately check yourself over buck naked when you get home. That’s about all you can do an it’s still not fool proof

@FryDog62 I am very sorry to hear about your wife & son.

Hoping for the best for them.

Not even sure what else to say.

We spend plenty of time in places where ticks live.

They are a part of life here.

We have no secret to preventing them because I do not believe one actually exists.

Taking all the precautionary measures already mentioned above helps.

Early detection is key.

Having the proper tool and knowledge to remove them correctly

from both humans & animals (if you have them) can be essential.

I would routinely make an attempt at some comical type remark

about how many ticks we have here.

Seems wildly inappropriate now, and I apologize deeply for my previous indiscretions.

Stay Safe

A-Jay

I can’t stand tics. We get them so bad here in Iowa also when the weather warms up. I try to use off bug repellent. Tuck plantain socks if I’m wearing jeans. And I check myself over at home and avoid brush if possible. Honestly I probably miss alot of good spots because I’m not willing to stomp through stuff to get to a spot. To afraid of ticks.

47 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

^This.^

John has further great suggestions. I live in Tick Alley, as New England leads the country in Lyme's, and I walk though woods to launch my boats.

Two tick vaccines are supposed to be released this year. I'll get mine ASAP.

Hey Swamp Girl, please create a post on this site when you learn more about this vaccine!

Ticks are a big reason why I'll never be a spring turkey hunter or mushroom hunter. I've walked through seed tick nest a couple times, once walking to a creek to fish and once walking in to check a trail cam. A lint roller is the best way to get them off that I've found because they're so tiny and almost impossible to grab. Getting rid of the feeling that something is crawling on you takes about a week to go away though.

Light colored clothing and cover up as much as possible. Tuck in shirts, pant legs into your socks, and tape over the area to prevent the tiniest ticks from getting through.

Bad here. Haven't been very successful at repeling them with any of above. Best thing we have found is being vigilant when coming in. Shower frequently, and head to toe checks daily. Brevecto for the dog has worked very well.

I never had a single tick bite until I moved to Arkansas; don't know why. The first 5 years in Arkansas I was sick from tick bites 3 times, and my dog nearly died from them twice. I now keep an extra prescription bottle of Doxycycline at home for myself. For my dog, even though I had always given her the best preventative available, she was still bringing them into the house, truck, and boat; most, but not all would die if they bit her. I came up with an idea that has worked 100% for the past 4 years; ticks do not even climb on her anymore. In addition to the oral prevention, I added an ADAMS FLEA and TICK COLLAR; wish I could treat myself the same way.

Im a tick magnet. And they go for the worst possible spots on me. I’ve tried all the tricks. I watch ticks crawl across clothes treated with permethrin. I do a lot of outside work and play, and when I come inside my girlfriend checks me over, and the clothes go in the washer on hot. From April to November I just assume there are ticks crawling on me after being outside and check myself accordingly.

Remember ticks being a thing 20-30 years ago? Yeah either do I.

We didn’t have deer 30 years ago, now you could hunt them with a hammer

But yes I used to pull ones the size of a grape out of my

Dogs ear 30 yrs ago

Ticks are the second leading cause of disease in the natural world now. Only the mosquito outweighs them.

Much of this is due to a changing climate. Warmer weather allows a longer reproductive cycle for these insects.

If you suspect that a tick may have bit you and there is any possibility of Lyme disease, demand a regimen of doxycycline at a doctors office. If they won’t give it to you, go to another one that will.

Around here we didn't seem to have them until about 20 years ago. Before that me and my dogs could run around in swamps all day and not have any problems. Now there are ticks in every suburban yard. Seresto collars worked good for the dogs. One per year.

There're places on the east end of Long Island that I won't go to anymore. Lyme has been a problem here forever and deer are everywhere out east. My uncle spent years having daily IVs trying to cope with it after working as a contactor out there. A real horror show.

Even worse, we now have the Texas Lonestar Tic here, so Alpha Gal syndrome is a thing too. I know a few people who've gotten it. I'm currently dealing with a serious blood condition, so the idea of contracting Lyme or Alpha gal is a nightmare scenario.

A few years ago, I watched a tic with a bright spot on its back crawl across the sand on a boat ramp then onto my sneaker. A Lonestar I found out. Amazing. I heard they're the only tic with eyes and they actively hunt. Since then, I wear hip waders sprayed with permethrin to get from the parking lot to the water to load the boat and constantly, obsessively, go in and out of the water to wash off any tics that may start their way up my legs. When I get back to the parking lot, I use a garden sprayer to wash off the waders before I hop back in the truck. I'm also vigilant about avoiding brushing into branches or long grass. All in all, a real PIA, but worth it, and so far, it's worked. I haven't found a tic on me in the past 9 years.

the absolute sickest I have ever been was with a tick-borne illness.
@Swamp Girl remembers this.
In the spring of 2023 I contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Covid at the same time. 103-104 degree fever for about four straight days. About two years later and I never got all the way back to normal.

as much as i love spiders, i hate ticks. they're as wasps are to bees, but to spiders

There has been a record number of individuals seeking medical assistance this spring due to tick bites. The top 2 regions are the northeast and the midwest.

The Wisconsin Dept of Health also reported a cluster of alpha-gal disease due to the lone star tick. Traditionally only an issue further south, the lone star tick has been moving north due to warming winters. Alpha-gal disease is the one that makes you allergic to red meat and individuals who contract this often have no idea what the problem is for months, as it's very difficult to diagnose.

Wear appropriate clothing, apply repellent (permethrin), and routinely check yourself for them after spending time outdoors.

On 3/12/2026 at 7:55 AM, Swamp Girl said:

^This.^

John has further great suggestions. I live in Tick Alley, as New England leads the country in Lyme's, and I walk though woods to launch my boats.

Two tick vaccines are supposed to be released this year. I'll get mine ASAP.

Please post the info. when you do.

I habitated the rivers, creeks, and woods all my life, fought mosquitoes, chiggers, Poison Ivy, even leeches, never had a tick bite. Retired and moved to the Ozarks; no mosquitoes where I live, but cannot even walk to the mailbox without getting ticks; been sick from them 3 times. When the touted Tick Vaccine becomes available I hope Bass Resource members will laud it loud and clear.

My mother got an irregular heartbeat due to ticks. I’ve been lucky and received Doxycycline when I’ve had the bullseye. As suggested above tuck your clothes in and pull your socks over your pant legs and tape over the socks. Treat your clothes. Unfortunately there are ticks even in the winter.