Pretty much everyone who’s had some exposure to outdoors adventures knows the risk of running into those merciless creatures: Ticks. It’s most common to hear outdoors enthusiasts talking about these monsters when discussing hunting and hiking-type activities. What may surprise some is that these are prominent enemies of fishing adventures as well.
What do you need to know about ticks?
There are roughly 9 common ticks encountered by people in the North American area. More importantly though, there are 3 types of ticks that can pose a serious danger to humans.
- Ixodes scapularis (commonly called the “blacklegged tick”)
- Amblyomma americanum (generally referred to as the “lone star tick”)
- Dermacentor variabilis (also called the “American dog tick”)
Ticks can be Hard or Soft
Hard shelled ticks tend to be the most prevalent carriers of disease.
Soft shelled ticks can pose complications in life also.
The other ticks to be especially aware of are:
- Ixodes pacificus (also known as the “western blacklegged tick”)
- Rhipicephalus sanguineus (or the “brown dog tick”)
- Amblyomma maculatum (commonly known as the “gulf coast tick”)
- Dermacentor andersoni (which you may have heard referred to as the “rocky mountain wood tick”)
- Ornithodoros spp. (that is frequently called the “soft tick”)
The CDC has a vast amount of information on ticks. They cover identification, prevention, removal, and break down the various diseases that ticks carry.
Tickcheck has a variety of helpful information if you’re interested in learning more about the disease aspects of the risks ticks pose to humans.
The structures you should pay particular attention to while out fishing or looking for new fishing spots will be
- Wood plies, especially if there is potential for a rodent occupation in that woodpile.
- Wooded areas (you know, like those irritating twigs, branches, and tall plants you navigate through during your trek to that perfect, secluded, honey hole of a fishery).
- Piles of leaves, trash, or thick patches of weeds
- Tall grass, especially thick grass
- Stone and concrete walls where moisture can collect and be retained during hotter portions of the day, week, etc.
These are not the only places to look, but if you use them as a point of reference, you’ll quickly start to get an idea as to what kinds of (out of water) structures you need to avoid or, at least, cross with caution.
The Illinois Department of Public Health offers information about the identification, prevention, and treatment of tick-related diseases, and statistics. Your state department of health may have local information for you such as what you’ll find here.
Igenex has a vast amount of information about the various diseases ticks carry, how to identify and treat those diseases, and how to catch a potential problem early.
Now, you don’t want to forfeit your outdoors adventures just because of some pesky critters that MIGHT interfere with your fun, and avoiding commonly known risks isn’t going to solve your dilemma, so where do you go from here?
The CDC has recommendations for preventing tick related diseases and avoiding tick infestations
There are some very common and rather effective, options to prevent ticks, available to us outdoors adventurers these days.
Tick repellants: DEET, Picaridin, and IR3535 are a few options. Prevention.com covers these options rather thoroughly.
As avid anglers and hunters, AJ and I have started using a combination treatment that repels ticks and kills them in addition to clothing that repels ticks.
One of these types of options is Permethrin
This is what we use in addition to our bug spray discussed in “15 Musts for your Ideal Outdoors Pack.”
Now, why am I telling you all of this?
AJ and I fish pretty much year-round. There is, occasionally a week here or there where we are either too busy with other activities or not willing to deal with less than favorable weather for any number of reasons, but these breaks from fishing are truly few and far between. The only consistent gap in our fishing schedule is when we take breaks for hunting season.
Our hunting process is fairly routine and well established nowadays. And tick management is one of our big focuses when it comes to our safety while hunting any prey. As surprising as it might sound, we are not always as conscientious about protecting ourselves from these beasts when fishing.
The size of ticks can make them especially easy to miss even when you’re paying close attention.
Just the other day we returned to one of our favorite fisheries for a relaxing day of catfishing. The area had been closed down by the government for several months during its annual maintenance and restoration program. Being locked out as we had been, we were a bit too eager to return. Discovering one tick on our gear during our return to the car was all it took to remind me of how we had let our eagerness get in the way of our number one rule: safety first.
To get some exposure to other risks that fall into the realm of needing to be prepared, check out “Safety First When on Your Outdoors Adventures.”
So, naturally, I began thinking about how bad we were at not thinking ahead with things like this when we were first starting our quest to find our place in the outdoors world. I realized that most of you, reading these articles, are where we were several years ago. You’re just starting to find your place, your groove, your system. These types of precautions might not be forefront in your mind as you prepare for a fishing trip, or when you stop on a long drive to check out a possible fishing spot you happened to notice on the map.
We hope that you will be inspired to start thinking about the minor risks involved with the outdoors and develop your own system for preparing and preventing them from becoming major catastrophes that could (ultimately) damage your quest for the outdoors.