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Ticks - stay or go?

11K views 38 replies 17 participants last post by  Woohoodude11 
#1 ·
Just curious to get some opinions on this.

If you encounter a tick at one of your ponds/fishing spots, do you stop going there altogether? Or do you continue going to that spot but stay keenly aware that they might be present?

Up to this point I have often completely written off any places where I encounter a tick. I'm wondering if this is a smart move or overkill, especially if it's a place I enjoy going to.
 
#5 ·
mid cast last night i felt one crawling up towards my unit. dropped my jeans on shore, flicked it off and kept on fishing. i stopped panicking about those things a long time ago when i took up turkey hunting. just do a solid check when u get home. helps to have a woman in the house. i have however, completely written off taking my dog to some places due to those demon seeds.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
No reason to be so afraid of ticks. You get one on you, just brush it off. It takes almost 2 days of crawling around on you to attach and actually feed in which there is a chance for lymes. If you cant tell theres a bug crawling on you or you dont shower, then that's a whole other can of worms you should remedy first. I've had 3 on me or my clothing this spring already.

Funny you brought this up, saw this at the Vet today.

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#9 ·
Aux Pleins said:
No reason to be so afraid of ticks. You get one on you, just brush it off. It takes almost 2 days of crawling around on you to attach and actually feed in which there is a chance for lymes. If you cant tell theres a bug crawling on you or you dont shower, then that's a whole other can of worms you should remedy first. I've had 3 on me or my clothing this spring already.

Funny you brought this up, saw this at the Vet today.

I was mountain biking in Kentucky over memorial day for about 2 hours, didnt stop much, but I had 3 ticks, different types, all buried under the skin on my legs, I took a good knife to them and cut them clean out with skin and all....probably not necessary but I wasn't fucking around.
 
#10 ·
polishfly said:
Aux Pleins said:
No reason to be so afraid of ticks. You get one on you, just brush it off. It takes almost 2 days of crawling around on you to attach and actually feed in which there is a chance for lymes. If you cant tell theres a bug crawling on you or you dont shower, then that's a whole other can of worms you should remedy first. I've had 3 on me or my clothing this spring already.

Funny you brought this up, saw this at the Vet today.

I was mountain biking in Kentucky over memorial day for about 2 hours, didnt stop much, but I had 3 ticks, different types, all buried under the skin on my legs, I took a good knife to them and cut them clean out with skin and all....probably not necessary but I wasn't fucking around.
Ride faster
 
#11 ·
polishfly said:
I took a good knife to them and cut them clean out with skin and all....probably not necessary but I wasn't fucking around.
Probably a side effect of the Tequila, my man :lol:

I shower immediately after every outing, no matter how long or short of an outing. I give my bare ass a once over in the mirror beforehand. I've got plenty of moles on me that trigger false alarms, though :lol:
 
#12 ·
Woohoodude11 said:
polishfly said:
When life gives you Lyme disease, drink Tequila!
If that ain't a Polish answer I don't know what is :lol:
Eh... not so much. ;) If it were a Polish answer, then he'd have said "drink vodka". :lol:

To the OP, definitely overkill to just not fish somewhere that has ticks. I picked up a tick in my backyard last year... a fenced in backyard, in the middle of a neighborhood, where the closest "nature" area is about 1/4 mile from my house. One of my dogs picked one up, also. So yeah... definitely overkill. Just give yourself a good examination every time you come home, and make sure to shower. If you do get one on you that happens to embed, you actually should do what polishfly suggested, and try to dig it out with a very sharp knife. When I've had one embed, I usually use a small exacto knife. https://www.amazon.com/Nicpro-Precision ... PDZX8?th=1

When you burn them or squeeze them with tweezers to try and get them out, it typically causes them to vomit, which is the quickest way to increase your chances of lyme disease. You can also leave the head in by accident with tweezers, which also increases the risk of lyme disease as well as infection.

This reminded me, though... I need to get a new exacto. My daughter took it for a class project last year and I never got it back, and she said she doesn't know what happened to it... :lol:
 
#13 ·
Ive always spent a lot of time in the woods ever since I was a kid and never had tick problems, saw one once or twice. This spring I've already had 3 on me and seen 2 on people Im with. Creepy little guys. Tough as shit too. All in northern IL

An observation, one tick came off a pile of dirty outdoors clothes in the laundry room and made its way 2-3 ft up the wall and stayed there. I imagine they are "programed" to get around that height to climb on passersby in the woods
 
#14 ·
Here's the deal. Definitely shower after every outing, and do the best you can on the body search. But, first and foremost, treat your clothing (shirts, pants, socks), including your rain gear and even you hat, and your foot gear, and your backpack, with Sawyer Permethrin--DoD developed anti-tick and mosquito toxic treatment for application to clothes and equipment ONLY. Then, use Deep Woods Off or something similar on your skin under your shirt and sleeves, even under your pant legs, on your neck. Tuck your shirt into your pants, and your pants into your boots (if you use tall boots like I do, or into your socks if you wear hiking boots).

As far as I know, I've had one tick in 6-years, and that was before I started using the Permethrin. So far, thank God, I haven't exhibited any symptoms of Lyme or other tick-born or mosquito-born diseases.
 
#15 ·
Fair enough, I've probably been overly cautious. The things are creepy, though, and those occasional news headlines about tick disease cases are scary.

I went back to the spot in question this AM, wore pants tucked into socks, long sleeve shirt, and hat all soaked in deet (I read about Permethrin before and I plan to get some). Examination of everything afterwards didn't turn up any ticks.
 
#17 ·
CatsAndCarp said:
Fair enough, I've probably been overly cautious. The things are creepy, though, and those occasional news headlines about tick disease cases are scary.

I went back to the spot in question this AM, wore pants tucked into socks, long sleeve shirt, and hat all soaked in deet (I read about Permethrin before and I plan to get some). Examination of everything afterwards didn't turn up any ticks.
Theyre just something "unavoidable". You spend enough time in the woods youll come across them. Its like walking face first into a spider web. Sucks, but it comes with the territory
 
#19 ·
Skifish1 said:
polishfly said:
Aux Pleins said:
No reason to be so afraid of ticks. You get one on you, just brush it off. It takes almost 2 days of crawling around on you to attach and actually feed in which there is a chance for lymes. If you cant tell theres a bug crawling on you or you dont shower, then that's a whole other can of worms you should remedy first. I've had 3 on me or my clothing this spring already.

Funny you brought this up, saw this at the Vet today.

I was mountain biking in Kentucky over memorial day for about 2 hours, didnt stop much, but I had 3 ticks, different types, all buried under the skin on my legs, I took a good knife to them and cut them clean out with skin and all....probably not necessary but I wasn't fucking around.
Ride faster
Hahaha, I snorted a little coffee out my nose at that ;)
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Agree with what everyone has said and will ad.
IMG_0564 - Copy.JPG

I do a quick check before getting in the truck and also remove my outer jacket or shirt which goes in the back of the truck bed or a small duffle. I found one in the truck and had one make it up to my neck this year so far. When I catch one I pin it down where I can keep an eye on it and wait for those 8 little legs to curl up and die.
 

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#25 ·
big jay said:
I literally had 16 ticks on me today fishing one of my spots that's the most I've ever had in a outing.
Ok...now that might get me to stop going to a spot :lol:
 
#26 ·
Phil6 said:
big jay said:
I literally had 16 ticks on me today fishing one of my spots that's the most I've ever had in a outing.
Ok...now that might get me to stop going to a spot :lol:
Note to self, don't ask Jay for any of his spots :lol:

I actually picked up one of those Thermacell devices. $20 on Amazon if you don't mind the Olive color. Works marvelously for the flying shitheads. Now I can stop breathing in that 96% DEET crap and use it to focus on my legs for those grass crabs.
 
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