# Bitting Flys at FT Pickens



## Sake (Jun 6, 2009)

Any body know what is up with the bitting flys at Ft Pickens. Those things were vicious today. Anybody have any ideas for what to use to keep them off of a would be fisherman?


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## whyworry (Aug 17, 2010)

Anytime we have a couple of days of north wind in the summer them damn things show up. Called "Alabama Ankle Biters", Deer Flies, needle nose blood suckers, and many other non-repeatable names. They are also found way offshore. They will be here as long as the north winds blow.


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## onemorecast (Feb 16, 2009)

We were 25 miles out and getting slammed by those things!!! Man it WAS frustrating. We would kill one and 3 more would come back. Crazy!!!


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Mowing the yard yesterday they showed up. Why do they stay below knee level. I went in and put on a pair of pants, then no problem.

Maybe cows are succeptable only in the legs and the biting flies have learned to stay low?

Strange...

Jim


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## PAWGhunter (Feb 3, 2010)

They got me good today


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

They wore me out a week ago fishing late at Big Lagoon. I doused my legs ankles to knees with cutter and it seemed to help a little but man those things hurt.


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## Todd (May 16, 2010)

I can't figure them out either. One day I was fishing and they weren't there. The next day they attacked me non stop bug spray didn't help much. The next day they were gone again. Dang flies.


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## Bluesbreaker (Apr 28, 2009)

My wife and I were at Pickens at the 2nd park lot and those things like to ate us alive!


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## POPPY (Jan 9, 2008)

dog days of summer is here - bitting flyes - dog flyes i call them. & boy they do bite. they work on a buddy system - kill one - three come back to get even. got me yesterday afternoon over here on the beach @ perdido bay. got me last night (late evening) fishing in wolf bay too. Poppy


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## Stuart H. Brown (Oct 4, 2007)

Clothes seem to be the guaranteed option. How they find you at sea and stay with you all day is beyond me. Time to add the swatter to boating items.
SHB


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

North wind is worse by the way.

Jim


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

They were all over Navarre Beach this weekend too.


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## flappininthebreeze (Jul 13, 2009)

To answer the original question, Skin-So-Soft works best. It's an Avon product. It works like nothing I've found. Use the Original Bath Oil. They have come out with a bunch of add-on varieties with bug repellant, but the oil by itself is fine. Re-apply as needed. You come out with soft skin in the bargain, but be careful in the sun. It ain't sunscreen. In fact, it can be more like cocoa butter. I keep it on my legs, ankles and maybe arms, but not on my face or neck, which is OK, since the lower extremities are the usual target.


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## wld1985 (Oct 2, 2007)

I usually buy that spray on sun-tan lotion...Well We've been building out house out in the woods of Gulf Breeze for sometime now,and the yellow flies have been bad at time..Found that the reg. Bug spray did'nt work and would actually burn after getting alittle sun..So I put on my sun-tan lotion one day and never had a problem..But they other guys still did..


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## PaulBoydenCustoms (Dec 3, 2008)

They were all over us saturday at the trysler grounds, no matter how many we killed more would appear


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## FATBOYSLIMM (Mar 19, 2011)

Oh my god....kinda relieved man, those things been tearing my behind up too- on east dauphin island....so bad one day they ran me off a really nice early speck bite  ...... Always laughed at TopWadda' Joe for wearing those damn long black wool socks when its like 90° at 7am out there....got me some now!!!


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## amberjack (Jan 11, 2009)

Fished the edge Sunday. The flys were bad and maybe that was why the fishing was also bad. Spent a lot of time killing flys. Could not consentrate on fishing, just killing flys.


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## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

Stable flies attack people, pets, and agricultural animals throughout Florida. Stable fly bites are extremely painful to both man and animal. When hungry, stable flies are quite persistent and will continue to pursue a blood meal even after being swatted at several times. Although the bite is painful, there is little irritation after the bite, and few people exhibit an allergic reaction to it.The tourist industry is severely hurt by large numbers of stable flies especially in West Florida from Wakulla County to Escambia County. When stable flies are numerous, tourists leave and are unlikely to return if their vacation is spoiled. 
Stable flies congregate on beaches because they are sensitive to the wind. When a northerly wind blows toward the beaches from inland, the flies are carried to the beaches and take shelter from the winds on the leeward side of the dunes. Some fly to boats and are taken off shore where they continue to bite. The flies normally do not concentrate in residential areas, but they may bite an occasional human and often bite dogs on the way to the beach. 
Stable flies are usually on the beaches during the morning hours (when the wind is from the north) but, frequently, during the middle of the day, the thermal currents on land pull the winds in from the Gulf and the flies leave as suddenly as they came. They may then move inland some 10-15 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Stable flies also are known to transmit such diseases as anthrax, Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) and anaplasmosis to animals. In addition, bite wounds can be sites for secondary infection. Stable flies feed mainly on the legs of cattle and horses. Since these pests leave an animal immediately after feeding they may go unnoticed unless heavy outbreaks occur. They are inactive at night, roosting on fences, buildings, trees, and bushes.


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## CurtisJet (Jan 22, 2009)

Here in Mississippi in late Spring and early Summer, we're inundated with what we call Buffalo Gnats. They drive us crazy. There are a number of things we've found to keep them away. Vanilla seems to be the best. That's right, vanilla extract. I don't know if it's the chemical composition or if the vanilla scent covers up the human scent. Scientifically, I believe mosquitos and most biting flies find their prey by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide, so I'm not sure how vanilla helps, but it does. The other thing we've found to work, and work well, is Banana Boat sunscreen. Not sure what's in it, but it's effective. Now I know a lot of you fishing on boats wouldn't dare to take that out on your boat, but hey, it works. Other things that work are various vanilla scented body sprays that can be found at most large chain drugstores like Walgreens or CVS. You might smell like a cookie, but that might not be so bad. Ever seen the movie "Michael" with John Travolta?


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## dsar592 (Oct 12, 2007)

Well I know these things hurt like heck. I dont care what I look like or smell like as long as I am not getting bit.


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## Hydro Therapy 2 (Sep 11, 2008)

onemorecast said:


> We were 25 miles out and getting slammed by those things!!! Man it WAS frustrating. We would kill one and 3 more would come back. Crazy!!!


Same here...where are they coming from.


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## MGlover54 (May 11, 2011)

I got a really bad skin infection from these things about 8 or 9 years ago on Johnson's Beach. They were everywhere on Johnson's, by my dad had set up on Pickens and NO FLIES!


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## JoeyHernadez (Sep 2, 2011)

You have got to coat on the deep woods off very heavy. Cant miss a square inch of your body or they will find it. They are relentless and can ruin a day for sure.


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## ricantbar (Sep 14, 2008)

always like that this time of year when the north wind blows


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