View Full Version : Blackflies in June in ME
So someone level with me...
How bad can I expect the blackflies to be in early June for SOBO from Maine? Any suggestions on what has worked to deal with said blackflies will be appreciated. Have dealt with them as canoe guide in Canada and know they can be brutal.
I did the 100 Mile Wilderness in June, 2007 and the black flies weren't so bad but the mosquitoes were absolutely brutal. Far worse than anything I had anticipated.
Trying to predict the blackfly crop, is like trying to predict the weather. It varies from year to year.
Early June is the peak of the season, but if the trend of the last few years holds, the bugs won't be too thick.
They are a good percentage less worse than whoever that says they are horrible make them out to be. The misquitoes are a different story.
They are a good percentage less worse than whoever that says they are horrible make them out to be. The misquitoes are a different story.
If that has been your experience, consider yourself lucky.
Cookerhiker
04-22-2010, 15:08
So someone level with me...
How bad can I expect the blackflies to be in early June for SOBO from Maine? Any suggestions on what has worked to deal with said blackflies will be appreciated. Have dealt with them as canoe guide in Canada and know they can be brutal.
Welcome to WB Japhy:welcome. Here's a very recent thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=61205) on that subject.
This stuff works, Bens 100 (http://www.cabelas.com/p-0003894510198a.shtml), follow the instructions on the bottle. One bottle should last a long time. Had my first bout with the little black devils yesterday. Gonna be a bad tick year here too.
The Solemates
04-23-2010, 09:12
been there twice in black fly season...both times the flies nor the skeeters were as bad as people make them out to be.
I assure you at times they can be something to behold.
Been quite a few years since they have been really vile. Time will tell.
The Solemates
04-23-2010, 11:47
I assure you at times they can be something to behold.
Been quite a few years since they have been really vile. Time will tell.
oh i agree....Ive never seen them that bad in maine, but I've only been there a handful of times in my life. but at the same time, I've came out of the woods and people in town have said, "don't know how ya do it, flies are bad this year"....but i never though they were that bad. ...but I have spent significant time in the lower coastal regions of the south, where bugs can REALLY get bad....I guess its just a matter of perspective. and alaska too...wow they can be bad there.
thanks for the info everyone! it is much appreciated.
warraghiyagey
04-26-2010, 15:50
been there twice in black fly season...both times the flies nor the skeeters were as bad as people make them out to be.
Agreed. . . this story is continually overplayed ad nauseum. . . .
This stuff works, Bens 100 (http://www.cabelas.com/p-0003894510198a.shtml), follow the instructions on the bottle. One bottle should last a long time. Had my first bout with the little black devils yesterday. Gonna be a bad tick year here too.
Ben's 100 works. As does anything with 100 percent DEET as an ingredient. I much prefer the liquid to the spray. Liquid is much cheaper, and more effective in my experience, though sometimes I use a spray
on my tee shirt and hat.
Weary
Agreed. . . this story is continually overplayed ad nauseum. . . .
Black flies vary day to day, week to week. Traditionally, they are worse from late May through June. This year everything tends to be earlier by at least two weeks.
Even in bad years, black flies tend to disappear on sunny windy days. And by dark every night. Whether they are bad or not, depends to a large extent on what you are wearing. They like dark reds, blacks, and blues. Tend to ignore persons wearing a light colored shirt.
Weary
walkin' wally
04-29-2010, 08:38
I agree with what Weary said. We are indeed at least two weeks ahead of the usual in regards to black flies and other springtime events. On the other hand we may have some great hiking later this summer with the bugs hopefully ending their cycles sooner than normal...
In Central Maine our winter sort of ended by the last of January. No bitter cold or major storms for weeks. Ticks could be bad this year though.
GolfHiker
05-16-2010, 20:06
Great topic. Everyone has Black fly stories. I tell people they met us at the entrance to Baxter State Park on May 31st. 2003 was a brutal year for the little buggers, and I got welted daily. I tried to stay in long sleeves, long pants, cotton gloves & even wore a head net. I did not use any bug dope. My recollection is that the black flies worked you over during the day, and the mosquitoes came in at night to finish you off.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the HMW, but I'll never forget the flies! Bottom line, do whatever you have to do to stay sane thru June.
Great topic. Everyone has Black fly stories. I tell people they met us at the entrance to Baxter State Park on May 31st. 2003 was a brutal year for the little buggers, and I got welted daily. I tried to stay in long sleeves, long pants, cotton gloves & even wore a head net. I did not use any bug dope. My recollection is that the black flies worked you over during the day, and the mosquitoes came in at night to finish you off.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the HMW, but I'll never forget the flies! Bottom line, do whatever you have to do to stay sane thru June.
Those who show up in Maine sporadically during bug seaaon should be prevented from commenting on their black fly experiences. Those who say black flies are not as bad as reported, have no clue. Words don't exist to describe the critters at their worst.
But conditions change from day to day, week by week. Only those like Woodsy, who have lived year round during multiple black fly seasons, have any realistic clue about the problem.
I live on the coast where black flies are a marginal problem. But I've spent enough time in the the northern woods to know black flies in all their agony. I have yet to see words that describe the worse I've experienced. I shutter when I ponder the far worse conditions Woodsy has experienced.
In my experience, most years black flies show up in mid to late May, get gradually worse, and then subside around the 4th of July. But seasons vary year to year.
This year things are early. My guess is that the worse of the bugs will show up early, and subside earlier. I'm sure of the first supposition. It's already happening. Come August, I'll tell you about the end of the bug season, unless, perchance, the bugs are into one of their occasional all season long modes.
Weary
[QUOTE=weary;1013488]. Words don't exist to describe the critters at their worst.
Words don't exist to confirm the truth in this statement.
Standing over a smoky fire with tears running down your face to get some relief from them approaches the words, but not quite.
They are like the air in Los Angeles. You really have to experience it.
When they are congregating around your head, breathe through your nose and keep your mouth shut, else they will gag you going down the hatch .
It is ok to swallow a few when eating though.
modiyooch
05-18-2010, 07:26
IMO it's can be a lose, lose situation during black fly season. It's my understanding that mosquitos like shade and still water, and the black flies like sun and running water. I typically wait until after July 4th since I also like sun and running water.
IMO it's can be a lose, lose situation during black fly season. It's my understanding that mosquitos like shade and still water, and the black flies like sun and running water. I typically wait until after July 4th since I also like sun and running water.
That's also my strategy. Though I weaken from time to time and show up in mid June. Remember light colored clothing helps -- a little.
Dark reds and blues draw the flies like a magnet. Once on the St. John River in late May, a friends dark blue sleeping bag was virtually invisible, it had attracted so many black flies. In contrast, my pale blue bag had nary a black fly crawling on it.
Black flies, unlike mosquitoes, mostly disappear as night falls. So leave dark stuff out of sight as long as possible. During fly season, I tend to get up before dawn to get a few fly free minutes in before the hordes return.
When people in your party persist in wearing dark clothing, I find it helps to walk a few feet away from them. That way some of the flies ignore me and cluster on them.
Otherwise nothing helps, other than a stiff breeze, and, of course 100 percent liquid DEET smeared on all exposed skin.
Weary
walkin' wally
05-22-2010, 20:58
I was clearing my section of blowdowns a few days ago west of Monson. There were clouds of blackflies around me but few were biting. I had my sweaty shirts off to dry in the sun and hung around for a half hour near Doughty Ponds and was not bothered very much.That can change very quickly of course.
I have heard horror stories about the black flies in the 100 mile wilderness in June. bring Bottles of Deet. If that's not enough, there's the mud and the high streams.
david
I have heard horror stories about the black flies in the 100 mile wilderness in June. bring Bottles of Deet. If that's not enough, there's the mud and the high streams.
david
I have experienced horror times with blackflies in the 100-mile-wilderness in June. I survived with a few squirts of 100 percent liquid deet, smeared on all uncovered skin. Mud is a nuisance, but so far I've managed to cross all the streams without mishap -- though once I met several disheveled hikers, including one who had lost her shoes. They Were walking past a trail maintenance project I was working on. One asked if I knew where his pack might have washed ashore. All I could offer was "somewheres between here and the ocean."
The shoeless one had taken off her shoes so they wouldn't get wet while she "waded" across one of the small rivers in the "wilderness." They had been washed away by the force of the waist high water.
Weary
neighbor dave
06-08-2010, 18:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRshnwExPU
Spot In The Sky
06-15-2010, 07:33
Is the head-net thing often used or is it over kill if you have enough deet?
Overkill, they are a pain too.
warraghiyagey
06-15-2010, 07:37
Is the head-net thing often used or is it over kill if you have enough deet?
About 1 out of every 100 hikers I see has a headnet. . . same percentage as those looking to get rid of their headnet. . . .
Headnet = poor visibility, poor ventilation, got to drink through a straw, eat through a straw and when the critters get inside the thing you've got a real battle on your hands, mostly for tourists, not hikers.
the goat
06-15-2010, 09:19
I did the 100 Mile Wilderness in June, 2007 and the black flies weren't so bad but the mosquitoes were absolutely brutal. Far worse than anything I had anticipated.
i'll secong that.
did the 100 mile in june 01 & june 03. the blackflies were a non-issue; however mosquitoes are thick as fog and unavoidable.
Wiljourner
06-17-2010, 00:18
While serving on the Baxter State Park trail crew during the summer of 2007, I experianced, Black fly, moose fly, deer fly, and mosquitos. A head net could be a worth while investment.