Scotland V England

[trent.barbeler]

A bonfire made of kilts and thistles normally sees off any midge attack.

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[Jeff S]

ayjay:

 

ayjay:

 

 

Scotland has midges..        

Nothing funny about them unfortunately, they can be a big problem if you are prone to getting bitten.

I had no idea they were so vicious.. They sound like they would give the mosquitos in Eastern Oregon a hard time.

[ayjay]

The bite itself is not a big problem (afaik) but they don't go around in ones and twos, there are normally millions of the little blighters and if you get bitten by a fair few of them it's hard to know where to scratch first.

[argyll]

Midges 'no sweat'. Argyll horse flies in the middle of a gallop, that's something else. I fell far enough to put me in Oban hospital for two days

[Andrew Burgess]

argyll:

 Argyll horse flies in the middle of a gallop, that's something else. I fell far enough to put me in Oban hospital for two days      

[Jeff S]

Must have been painful Argyll. Not sure if I want to laugh or not. Settle for a smile

 

Back in the early 90s I worked as a range firefighter in Eastern Oregon on Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge. (great birding opportunities) On our off time we could sometimes accompany the biologists on their various tasks. We had government issued deet bug 'lotion' which didn't work. Swarms of mosquitos, so many that underneath the trees you could swear that there were high tension powerlines overhead.

 

One story we overheard was that a caravans tire went flat and instead of changing it right away he decided to wait until morning. With it being cold at night the mosquitos tons (tonnes?) of them congregated inside the wheelwell near the hot water tank, so many that touching them felt like flesh so he said. Seriously disgusting!

Cr@p I just realized how long this is. Sorry.

 

The midges that we had there and in Florida could be detered by using skin-so-soft. Does it work for you guys?

[jim doyle]

As we anlers would expect its the female midge that does the damage(sorry ladies its true) I think they are there as our partners revenge It is unbelievable that something so small can cause so much damage!!!!!!

[Will Wilkinson]

Skin-so-soft is the no.1 deterent that I've found, just about the only thing that works against highland midges. Way better than DEET and much more pleasant to use. Given how DEET attacks certain plastics I hate too think what it's doing to my skin.

 

Will

 

[ 23. May 2005, 09:58 PM: Message edited by: Will Wilkinson ]

[ooarr_not_a_maggot]

Midges!?!?!....pah!!!!. Get yourself a midge hood, or better still a midge jacket. They won't bother you after that. Just make sure you get them in black so you can see what you're doing. Don't bother with the lighter coloured material ones because you'll not be able to see a thing. The ones with the plastic visors in them are useless, too!!. They just distort your vision and you end up tripping over your rod.

 

As for the fishing up here....well there's nowhere near the number of species as down south. If you're heading for the Highlands, there's plenty of free fishing for pike and brownies in a lot of the bigger lochs, aswell as Ferox, Arctic Char and Salmon if you know where to look and get lucky. If you're feeling energetic, you can't beat a hill lochan for brown trout fishing. 30+ fish in an afternoon is easily doable if you're any good at fluff chucking. Plenty of places stocked with rainbows too, if you're willing to pay a few quid for a day ticket. Also one or two places where you'll find them floating about free of charge.....just look for the lochs that have rainbow trout farms on them, where there's always escapees to be found. You can also pay to fish a quality salmon river, as already mentioned.

[Sportsman]

Fishing in a midge hood is one thing, try having a BBQ in your garden in one