Isle Royale Forums

How bad are the bugs in mid to late August?

It depends on how much rain has occurred and what the temps are. We did the same trip at the same time 2 years in a row. One year the bugs were not present, the next year they were horrible. Mosquitoes that is!!

Last week paddling Superior shoreline, no black flies, skeeters not too bad. Didn't generally use DEET until evenings.

I usually go in late August and early September. Last year was the first time in four trips that I experienced mosquitoes. They were on the Feldtmann loop, but not bad enough to wear repellant.

Hi
Just returned and I can tell you that if you spray once with deet, you should be good all day till dusk. At siskiwit and feldtman we had a bit of monster mosquitos.

I only used deet 2times during our trip (we got back on the 6th). No flies but skeeters were bad at dusk and early morning, but if you are moving it shouldn't be a problem. They seemed to hover more then land and bite.

Just returned from an August 11-14th trip. I opted to try a repellent other than my 3m ultrathon lotion (a longtime effective favorite).

I tried a cutter brand 'non-deet' spray. Big mistake for me...while the permethrin spray I sprayed on my clothing kept the bugs away from what I was wearing, they were relentless on my skin. Stick w/ the deet products!