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Float Tube Fishing in Ireland


Having a really great time fishing from the world's best floating fishing platform  

Midges, Horse Fly (Clegs),& Mossies!

Midges

Midge is the name for small flies of the order Diptera. These tiny flies are active from May to September especially when it is calm and overcast.

Non-biting midges known as chironomids  or buzzers are harmless, in fact they are one of the important trout foods. Being taken as bloodworms, the blood-red, aquatic larvae of the midge, suspended pupae, the ready to hatch nymph, and as emerging and winged adults. You need to have lots of imitations of these for trout fishing. Black, black-red, apple green are the popular body colours.

The males of the biting midges feed on nectar. Only the pregnant female midge bites in order to feed her developing fertilised eggs. The midges that bother us are those of the genus Culicoides a very small midge, with a wingspan of about 1 1/2 mm. They have dark freckles on their wings. There are six Irish species that bite people. The most irritating is Cuculiodes impunctatus which is responsible for 90% of the bother these tiny insects inflict.  Most midge species hate bright sunlight but unfortunately there is an exception Culicoides heliophilus which tolerates sunny conditions.

Scottish Highland midges and Irish midges ( the same species ) have a reputation which is respected internationally. Midges are most active on calm, cloudy and moist days. Adult midges form cloud-like swarms like a foggy column in the air.  A single bite is a tiny irritation; but midges come by the thousand, and a you can be bitten many times.
The bites are distracting and annoying, and there are tales of people being driven to madness by the attention of midges. It all depends on your own body's reaction. People vary. Usually they are less than a nettle sting, just a reddened spot after a 1/2 hour. Some people are more allergic than others getting raised itchy bumps. Scratching will make it worse. Instead, take an anti histamine, because the swelling is caused by your body's immune system releasing histamines and  white blood cells to eliminate infection and repair the wound.

Midges live around stagnant water, bog pools and wet areas and are a feature of life in the hills. They don't like winds because their flight speed is slow. So they get left behind a running person, although they gather again when a person stops moving. In still evenings they come down off the mountain into sheltered valleys.  They don't like strong sunlight, dry air or wind. Light aversion makes them tend to be most active at dawn and dusk but they appear during the day if the conditions are right. If it is a 'midgy' day then activities such as picnics should be avoided. Staying in one place will quickly result in midges hanging around you. Midges are an annoyance to people fishing the damp boggy uplands areas.

In 2001 scientists in the UK proved that some people are really bitten more than others, and it depends on the  responses of midges to different people's sweat .  They collected sweat samples from volunteers using skin swabs after putting them through a vigorous exercise routine. They then gave each sweat sample a 'field attractiveness score'. The higher the score the more likely a person is to be bitten by midges. So you should hope you are not too "tasty" to midges!  The research will help entomologists develop new repellents to block receptor sites on midges' antennae and thus stop people being bitten, no matter how attractive their sweat is to the insects.

How to avoid being bitten by midges

  • Clothing gives protection, so long-sleeved shirts or blouses are good -  covering the face, scalp, neck, wrists and hands can be dealt with by repellent.

  • You can buy a "midge hood" or even a "midge jacket" but in summer these are stuffy and can make you sweat which does not help. Nets that are light in colour interfere with vision more and can cause a headache through eyestrain. Dark nets are better for viewing through.

  • Wear a lightweight hat to keep them out of your hair.

  • Avoid wooded, damp, sheltered ( from the wind), shady (from direct sunlight) areas.
  • Avoid the bog at midgy times in the early mornings and evenings
  • In morning/evening go to areas that are bright, breezy like eg the coast. Or have dry ground like eg a town.
  • Apply a good midge repellent for your face, hands, neck  when in a midgy zone.
  • Midges zone in on moving dark objects as well as scent, so wear light-coloured clothes.
  • Close windows or doors in the early mornings or evenings.
  • Recently, midge trap products have become available. These release carbon dioxide, water vapour from propane gas,and small amounts of octenol. This resembles the breath of cows and is a powerful attractor to midges. All biting insects, including midges, detect the scent and fly to the device where they are sucked into a net. The devices catch thousands of midges daily, and since the population is local you reduce their numbers, spoil the next egg laying cycle, causing a localised population crash. This creates a low midge zone around your house.
  • Midges like to land on a moving dark coloured object, so a dark sticky patch on your hat, or sticky jacket shoulder epaulette is very effective at trapping the ones searching for a place free of repellent. It continues working when repellent begins to wear off. This trick is very important with other bigger nuisances like horsefly-legs.

Insect  Repellents

There are repellents available at supermarkets and chemists, which work. The best -  Mijex, Shoo and Jungle Formula - contain a chemical component called "DEET" which has been tested successfully in repelling midges, blackflies, mosquitoes and other biting bugs. DEET  is used by the military in high strength (50% - 100%) formulations.  DEET is considered safe when used correctly, but remember these are pesticides for skin application and toxic.  The Lancet medical journal published the following: When used sensibly, insect repellents are advantageous and safe, but the potential toxicity of DEET is high and the use of repellents containing more than 50% DEET should be avoided in infants and young children because of their thinner skin. Frequent total body application of DEET for days or weeks should be avoided. Pregnant mothers should avoid using repellents where possible and reduce quantity applied. Avoid the mouth, and wash hands before handling food to eat and keep it off plastic items, like glasses frames, and fly lines.

On general principles I accept DEET based repellents work better than anything else. However, I also want to reduce the amount applied on my skin. So:
    I have lightweight clothing cover the majority of my body's skin - hat, collar buttoned up, long sleeve shirt, no short trousers.
    If not fishing the clothing is light in colour too. But fishing demands darker russet/camo colours which attract biting insects.
    This way high DEET repellent is only necessary for the small area of skin still exposed - neck, hands, face, ears. 
    I use high strength on these small areas of skin, and only those areas, light cloth protects the rest.

Alternative insect repellents contain herbal extracts such as bog-myrtle and citronella. Avon Cosmetics Skin-so-Soft has a good reputation with some. Smoking profusely is advised. Not by me. These work, just. People who hunt, fish or work outdoors usually don't bother much with these, which says something you should notice.

My experience: Products with 5% DEET are next to useless, 10% DEET is good for 1/2 hour, and 25% DEET can do 2-3 hours.  I am using 75% but only on small areas as outlined above. I don't get bitten at all. This is a lot to do with horsefly measures .. see below.

By the way, fish hate the taste/small of repellents. When tackling up and handling gear, wash hands. (Eating oranges has similar effects on catches by the way)

 

Horse Flies (Clegs) & Deer Flies

Horse flies and deer flies belong to the fly family Tabanidae. Horse flies are considerably larger than deer flies. Both horse flies and deer flies have large heads and large eyes. They are ALL troublesome little gits from hell !
 Horse flies can range from 20 mm (3/4 inch) to more than 25 mm (1 inch) in length. A common species has brilliant green eyes which are sometimes crossed with red or purplish bands. Larger species of horse flies are brown to black and have varying stripes or triangles on their abdomens. The wings of horse flies are usually clear or completely dark, whereas deer fly wings have varying patterns.

Deer flies are comparable in size to the bigger house flies and are more wasp-like with yellow or black varying striped bodies. The wings of deer flies have mottled patterns. Deer flies also have brightly coloured eyes, ranging from gold to green, with large coloured stripes. They look life an insect wearing polarized sunglasses with camo coloured wings.

Adult horse flies feed on nectar and pollen.  Males are harmless but females need blood from a mammal for egg development.
Both flies are nasty, painful biters which feed on the blood of humans, cattle, horses, dogs, deer and other mammals. They cut through the skin using mouthparts shaped like a knife. They dribble anti coagulant to make the blood flow. The flies will then suck the blood up from the wound for several minutes. They leave an open cut. These flies can spread disease. (New England Journal of Medicine 322:1752, 1990) Deer flies and horse flies are suspected of transmitting Lyme disease .

Horsefly and deer fly activity peaks on warm, bright days with low wind. Sunlight may discourage midges but it makes horse flies more active. Cool temperature reduces activity. A breeze keeps them away. Horse flies and deer flies locate prey by looking for movement. Their primary sense is sight, which is why they have those big eyes. The flies hang about for prey to happen by. They are attracted by motion, their eyes being well adapted to its detection. They are also attracted to carbon dioxide breath plumes from their hosts.

How to avoid being bitten by Horse flies

  • Dark, moving objects and patterned shapes  attract them. To reduce exposure to bites, wear light-coloured clothing, including a light baseball cap, especially on warm, sunny days when clegs are most active.
  • Weak herbal repellents are not effective with horse and deer flies.
  • Repellents containing DEET work. Some flies still land on your skin, although they have problems biting. With jungle Formula I have noticed they hover about looking for a place to land, eventually try landing somewhere but dance around unable to bite quickly. This causes a tickling sensation which you notice allowing you to brush them off before being bitten.
  • I said brush them off ... don't slap at the place because that will bring a flush of blood up to the skin's surface and not help.
  • When it lands on your sleeve or jacket ... slap it into oblivion ! It makes you feel good !
  • Because they can land on skin with DEET applied previously, it's a good idea to force them into where you can see them. Button up your jacket collar so little of your neck is covered. This directs them towards your hands and face, where you will see and react to a "landing".
  • Horse Flies zone in on a moving dark coloured object, so a 5" x 3" dark sticky patch on your hat, or sticky jacket shoulder epaulette is very effective at trapping the ones searching for a place free of repellent to land on. It continues working when repellent begins to wear off.
  • The best way to treat a bite to prevent infection is with alcohol. Benadryl cream (available as a generic) is the best treatment to stop the itching and swelling that many people get. Apply cream immediately, and again later. The bite fades in about 30 minutes if you do this.
  • Your first aid box in the car ... (you do have one don't you!) ... add swabs, anti histamines and bite cream to it for quick use.

.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes  measure up to 15 mm / 1/2 inch in length. They have a pair of long thin wings, a slender body, long legs, and a hypodermic needle sticking out the front for penetrating skin of mammals.  Their flight is agile, fast, and hard to swat from the air. Their wings beat 250 to 500 times a second, which is the source of that high pitch buzzing whine. The females suck from other animals to feed maturing eggs, which has made them a major disease spreader, killing large numbers of people in some countries.
Aedes mosquitoes, bite during daylight hours (not at night). They do not enter dwellings, and they prefer to bite mammals like humans. Aedes mosquitoes are strong fliers and are known to fly many miles from their breeding sources.
Culex mosquitoes  prefer to attack at dusk and after dark, and enter dwellings for blood meals. Domestic and wild birds are preferred over man, cows, and horses. Culex are weaker fliers and do not move far from home, although they have been known to fly up to two miles. Culex usually appear during the warmer summer months.
Culiseta mosquitoes are active in the evening hours or in shade during the day. They breed in stagnant water, lakes, bog pools and wet areas. The youngest stage is aquatic and required stillwater. Dragonflies eat them and reduce their numbers.

The mosquito bite is a needle like puncture by her proboscis. She injects the bite with saliva that helps the blood flow.
A mosquito's period of feeding is usually not noticed at the time; the bite only becomes apparent later because of the immune reaction it causes. For average people, with the first bite there is no reaction.  After a few bites the body's immune system develops antibodies and a bite becomes inflamed and itchy within 24 hours. This is the average in young children. Later, in adulthood, the sensitivity of the human immune system increases, and an itchy red hive appears shortly after the bite. This type of reaction is common in older children and adults.
Reaction to bites depends on your own body's immune system response and varies from person to person. Lucky adults become desensitized to mosquitoes and have little or no reaction to their bites, while unlucky people can become allergic with bites causing blistering, bruising, and swelling of the bitten area.

Most but not all mosquitoes are night or low light active. Mosquitoes use visual, heat signature, and odour to locate a host. Of these, the sweat and CO2 trail are probably most important. For Aedes mosquitoes that feed during the daytime, movement of the host and the wearing of dark-coloured clothing may contribute to initiate movement toward a person.

Ultrasonic Devices : You may see advertisements for small ultrasonic electronic devices that are meant to be carried on the body and purportedly emit sounds that repel mosquitoes. Many studies conducted show that ultrasonic devices do not work against mosquitoes

Bug-Zappers: Black light (UV light) insect electrocution devices are purchased in huge quantities by homeowners due to their demonstrated ability to attract and kill thousands of insects. Over 1.75 million of these devices are purchased annually in the U.S. But do they really control mosquitoes? Bug zappers do kill some mosquitoes. However two controlled studies conducted  by independent investigators at the University of Notre Dame showed that mosquitoes comprised merely 4.1% and 6.4% of the daily bug catch. Both studies also found that there was no significant difference in the number of mosquitoes found in yards with or without bug zappers.
More disconcerting, however, is the number of non-pest insects that comprise the vast majority of zapped catch. Many of these insects are beneficial predators on other insect pests. They constitute a major part of the diet of songbirds. Indeed, reduced numbers of moth and beetle prey species have contributed significantly to the decline of songbird populations in many affluent suburbs. Insect electrocution devices undoubtedly bear some responsibility for this. Mosquitoes are more attracted to humans than to light-zapper devices.

 

How to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes

  • Clothing gives protection, so wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts or blouses are good -  covering the face, scalp, neck, wrists and hands can be dealt with by repellent.

  • Wear a lightweight hat to keep them out of your hair.

  • Tie and seal pant legs and socks using tape as a barrier.

  • You can buy bug net to wear and put over sleeping area.  Nets that are light in colour interfere with vision more and can cause a headache through eyestrain. Darker nets are better for viewing through.

  • The very young, the elderly and persons with depressed immune systems are at most risk for infection from mosquito bites.
  • avoid using fragrances and perfumes, soaps, lotions, and hair-care products may also attract mosquitoes
  • Smell is their primary sense but, dark, moving objects can visually attract daylight Aedes mosquitoes. Wear light-coloured clothes, including a light baseball cap to cover hair (especially for dark haired people.
  • Avoid wooded, damp, sheltered areas.
  • Avoid known areas of high mosquito infestation
  • Drain water-holding outdoor containers around the home. Introduce fish or dragonflies to ponds.
  • Reduce unnecessary outdoor activities at dawn and dusk when most mosquitoes are active
  • In morning/evening go to areas that are bright, breezy like eg the coast. Or have dry ground like eg a town.
  • Use mosquito repellents containing DEET for your face, hands, neck  when in a damp area.
  • Keep windows or doors closed during the hours of darkness.
  • Insect trap products are available which release carbon dioxide, water vapour from propane gas, and small amounts of octenol.  The devices catch significant numbers of mosquitoes, and Culex population being local is reduced in numbers. Aedes are able to fly from more distant places and will be affected less. Traps represent an evolving technology that is a welcome addition to mosquito control. Their potential is great, but shouldn't be overestimated.
  • The best way to treat a bite to prevent infection is with alcohol. Oral antihistamines are effective in reducing the symptoms of mosquito bites. Hydrocortisone creams applied to the skin inflammation can reduce the itching, and duration

There is a lot of differing views on colour of clothing and mosquitoes. The information I give here is accurate as my experience goes.
Reference: Mosquitoes and Mosquito Repellents: A Clinician's Guide, Mark S. Fradin, MD

A Floattubeireland article. 

Copyright 2008.  Linking to this is permitted.  Partial reproduction permitted if accompanied by accreditation and a link to this page.

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