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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 10:43AM
2022 Bug Reports

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
Cricket67 08/29/2022 01:09PM
Granite River through Sag, down to Alpine and out through Seagull Aug 22-28.
Bugs were not much of an issue except right at sunset, sunrise, and a few places deeper into the woods - and even then with our Permethrin treated clothes they were tolerable. We did have a lot of bee-like bugs that I believe are hoverflies at all our campsites during the day. Did not bite or sting but were a bit annoying after awhile.
budfox_mn 08/24/2022 12:58PM
Entered on Lake One, camped on Lake Three. The rain definitely stirred up the mosquitos. Chased the kids to tents from 8:30 to 9:30 each night. After the dusk swarm, they cleared out. Dawn in the 6 am hour was also a feeding frenzy.
jwise82 08/24/2022 09:25AM
Mudro entry to Gull lake 8/16-8/20 Bugs were not to bad, some mosquitoes on portages and a couple evenings around dusk in camp. We didn't use any spray or headnets. Much better than I anticipated after many years travelling in Canada during the same time of year.
Bearpath9 08/20/2022 11:17AM
Just got back from Wood-Hula-Good lakes. Bugs not too bad, I only sprayed my legs, and that was on the one hot day. Otherwise, not an issue.
4keys 08/16/2022 09:29PM
Just returned from East Bearskin, went to Johnson Falls, Alder, Pierz, Crystal, camped on Canoe. There were some mosquitoes on the less traveled portages, and some buzzing around our heads in the evenings, but we didn’t need spray. There was a folding wind blowing some of the evenings.
Tony 08/16/2022 05:45PM
Just got back from the clove lake granite River area last night the mosquitoes were terrible morning and night must have killed over a thousand of them.


Laying in my hammock on at night I could see him congregating on them mosquito netting and on the under surface of my tarp and then getting up in the middle of the night to do some business and then coming back to the hammock and spending the next half hour to killing mosquitoes before I can go back to sleep.
Tony
Maureen 08/14/2022 10:05PM
Last week on Saganaga virtually no mosquitoes or biting flies! It was windy 2 days but even on the calm days we experienced very few bugs. No headnets or repellent needed. Almost surreal.
CanoeViking 08/05/2022 10:10PM
Last weekend on Seagull 7/28-8/01. Biting flies were a nuisance at one campsite. Found a couple biting gnat bites but never saw them. Mosquitoes were bad if it wasn’t windy or sunny. But we had a gentle breeze most of the time so they were not an issue most of the time except for going to bed.
EasyFisher 08/02/2022 11:11AM
EP 25 Moose lake. Stayed on knife, spoon, and Ensign. It was cooler, we had rain and wind most of the week. But this was the least buggy trip I've ever been on. Now we permetherin our clothes. But other than at dusk for about an hour bug's were not bad. Hardly used bug spray the whole trip. Though they did get my hands one portage carrying the canoe because I didn't spray. But I pooped in peace on this trip without being bothered. We did bring a thermacell and used at dusk, seemed to help a bit but wasn't necessary. But for bwca, bugs were not bad at all.
Fishman53 07/25/2022 06:38PM
7/17 - 7/21. EP 47 and day permit out of EP 62. Mosquitoes were very present early morning and at night. They were also present during day on portages and trips to the latrine. 40% Deet kept them at bay, while Thermacell on trips to latrine was worth its pack weight to protect those areas not covered in Deet! No issues with other flying critters.
woodsandwater 07/24/2022 02:37PM
Came out Friday July 22nd after entry and exit out of Lake 1. No Black Flys. Few Deer Flys. Many voracious Mosquitoes awaiting us outside our tent in the morning.
OHPaddler 07/18/2022 05:32PM
7/11 - 7/17. Sag-Kek-Fishdance-Kawishiwi-Little Sag-Oagish-Seagull. Mosquitos thick in the evening, with some on portages. Did use a bug shirt on River Lake in the evening/morning. Some stable flies on a southern Little Sag island camp.
sdgrey 07/13/2022 10:53AM
Just got down with a 3 night trip on S Kawishiwi River.
Traveled from Lake One to Clear Lake.
Some of the portages were pretty brutal for the bugs mainly mosquitos.
The Dragonfly population was huge as were the dragonflies.
Some issues with biting black flies - but a little deet went a long way
analyzer 07/12/2022 12:00PM
7/7-7/11. Kawishiwi to Pan and back. Mosquitos on some portages were thick. Especially the 61 rod portage into Pan, around the marsh. They were nasty. I don't get welts from mosquitos so I don't normally worry about them much, but I did put on a head net the 2nd time through there. Overall I'd say the mosquitos were on par with what you might normally expect in mid-june. Something like a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Certainly not the worst I've had it. There were a few flies, but very tolerable.

I should note, we tried to be in bed before the late onslaught. They were brutal at dusk, and very noisy. But that's common place early in the year.
tmccann 07/05/2022 10:32AM
We traveled along the border between Knife and Sag. Mosquitoes are really ramping up. Interesting note, no deer flies yet.
MacCamper 06/29/2022 06:22PM
Day tripped from East Bearskin Lake to Johnson Falls two days ago, June 27th, with zero blackflies, a handful of mosquitos on the portages and fewer than five dear/horse flies. The morning was rather calm and perfect for aerial attacks, which never happened. The afternoon paddle back to the EP was so breezy from the west that airborne pests were the last thing on our minds! Once on shore and in the woods however, the mosquito population ramped up when I grilled our dinner. Not intolerable, but very apparent.
CanoeGuru 06/16/2022 07:16PM
Black Flies were out in full force in the Gunflint area (Round Lake to Little Sag to Tuscarora and back). Mosquitoes were awake too. Totally manageable with good gear, don't leave skin exposed on portages. Lemon/Eucalyptus cutter seemed to work good on exposed hands.


It was difficult to manage the black flies on our dog. All we could really do is check her often, but she was bothered by them. Good news is the the black flies arent known as to carry disease.


A couple silver linings:


Black flies need good clean flowing water to hatch, so a good hatch can be a sign of a healthy ecosystem


Probably unrelated: We saw 20+ Tigertail Butterflies
sconnie84 06/15/2022 11:56PM
I was on Alpine Lake from June 8-12. Reading trip reports before we left I thought we were going to be eaten alive by the black flies but overall the bugs weren't bad.


On average there were 1-2 times per day the bugs got bad and we needed to put on our head nets, mainly in a bay where there was no wind. The black flies were present but didn't end up with any bite. I used bug spray and left with 1 mosquito bite. My brother didn't use any spray and had 6-8 bites at the end of the trip. Overall, very manageable.
ducks 06/15/2022 06:57PM
I was up the Gunflint Trail with my daughter May 21-24 and I don't think we saw a bug.
I was back up the Gunflint Trail with my wife and all 3 kids from June 7-11 and the mosquitos were as thick and as big as I've ever seen them. Each of us was carried off at least once. Both trips up there were awesome.
ntphinne 06/12/2022 07:16PM
Entry point 41 Brule Lake 6/10 - 6/12. Buggy everywhere, many different types of bugs--butterflies to black flies to mosquitos. Head net was essential, long sleeves and some DEET on the hands Still, a great trip.
jillpine 06/10/2022 08:27PM
The hatch is real.
HayRiverDrifter 06/09/2022 10:09PM
Just returned from Malberg. June 4th - 8th. Black flies were thick all day. Swarming at first, then started biting later in the trip. They were out all day except an hour or two in the morning and an hour in the evening. Wore head net for 5 days either deployed or on my hat for quick deploy. Mosquitos increased during the trip mostly in the evenings for a hour before dark taking over for the black flies. Pulled the dip stick back at the entry point and I was almost a pint low. Good walleye fishing.
ThePeregrine 06/09/2022 09:05PM
Black flies are viscous right now. Took a trip out of Clearwater June 4-8 and black flies got worse every day and by the end of the trip were present in swarms all day even in wind and smoke. I didn't see many mosquitoes but would have traded every black fly for two mosquitoes by the end of the trip. Soon enough I'm sure that will be true.
Daubenspeckm 06/08/2022 04:20PM
We were near Snowbank the first week of June and the Gnats were so bad we had to use head nets for the first time ever. They were out all day. Mosquitos and black flies were present but not as bad.
Hawk777 06/08/2022 03:49PM
WhiteWolf 06/05/2022 05:52PM
Can second that about Gun Lake area and unreal black flies. Both ends of the Fairy port were the worst I'd ever seen them. In every orifice uncovered. Needed a camp on Gun with wind exposure or it would've been a nightmare. Just started drawing blood in last few warm days. Stable flies are still stupid as they are easily killed but in a few days ---- oh boy. Mosquitos are on the up and up also.
Time- June1st-June5
Fenske Lake,Mudro,4-Town,Boot,Fairy and Gun.
straighthairedcurly 06/02/2022 08:43PM
Birch Lake campground 5/27: lots of little black flies.
Kawishiwi Triangle 5/28-30: a few black flies and mosquitoes on portages, wind kept them at bay at our rocky campsite. We all agreed that there were very few bugs overall.
Guest poster 06/02/2022 01:44PM
Just got back from way back crooked.bugs are terrible as to be expected this time of year.on way out bugs at gun lake were insane if you weren’t at a wind blown point,even then you need 30mph+ gusts to keep them at bay
HighnDry 06/01/2022 09:59PM
Crane to Snow Bay and further on LLC. Sand flies are out and swarming. Ate my share this past weekend/week.
geotramper 05/31/2022 02:40PM
May 28-30, Pine Lake via Vermillion and Trout (EP 1)


Black flies were abundant. Saw relativity few our first day but they increased in number each day. Head nets came out on the 30th. Didn't see any mosquitos. Found two ticks at our camp site on Pine Lake.
Fishman53 05/31/2022 09:22AM
Spent 2 nights on Mountain May 26 and 27. Very few mosquitoes and no other bugs to mention. Bug dope and headnets remained in pack.
tommyc 05/30/2022 11:13AM
May 23-28 Snowbank to Lake One via Thomas
no head nets or dope needed on this trip
minimal mosquitos (2 tried to bite) but saw lots of emergence
a few flies, no one got bit on the trip, but it was warming up a lot
MN_Lindsey 05/29/2022 10:56PM
Just finished Snowbank Trail, more ticks than we could count… hundreds of non bitting black flies swarming your face, today encountered many mosquitoes and little biting flies on the Kek side.


If you’re going to this area bring a headnet.


We were hiking and had to climb over trees so we probably picked up more ticks than the average paddler would.

May 27-29
Pilgrimpaddler 05/27/2022 11:07AM
I went from Sawbill to Wine and back, May 21 - 25. There were no bugs to speak of; no one in our group got any bites and none of us were using repellent.
airmorse 05/26/2022 05:25PM
olentangyrunner: "Just spent 2 nights on Crab Lake and Battle. Total of 4 black flys and no mosquitos. "


Perfect. I'll be in that area in two weeks. I'm sure it will be a different experience for me.
olentangyrunner 05/26/2022 02:29PM
Just spent 2 nights on Crab Lake and Battle. Total of 4 black flys and no mosquitos.
jmontagu13 05/24/2022 09:26AM
Just got back from 3 nights on the Sioux Hustler and didn't see or hear a single mosquito. I only saw a couple of the non-biting black flies, so overall, I was very happy with that. I'm sure temps were partly to blame since Saturday only got to 48 and both mornings were down to 34 degrees.
sueb2b 05/22/2022 12:29AM
sueb2b: "I saw 2 mosquitos yesterday. "


And that was about it for my trip. Although one or two things seem to have bit me, based on my itching. But the bugs were pretty much not an issue.
VaderStrom 05/18/2022 12:34PM
I live in Hopkins and commute to St. Paul 3 times a week. Sitting at my desk today, I saw a wood tic start climbing up my shirt...they're here folks. Time to quit ''No Mow May'' I guess.
KanMopaddler 05/18/2022 10:47AM
I had about 10 mosquitos total from Friday - Sunday(513-15) on Moose and Newfound Lakes. I did see more ticks than i have in past years.
sueb2b 05/18/2022 05:37AM
I saw 2 mosquitos yesterday.
adam 05/17/2022 09:08PM
Post your bug report of your recent experience on a trip.