Ed:

I was afraid you'd chime in with encouragement like that!

I was on the upper-upper reaches of Kettle one day with sleeves DOWN and there were at least 50 on my arms & hands! Then one afternoon at Cross Fork, the back of my shirt was covered until a downpour provided relief; once the rain stopped, the flies were back!

Oh yea, cigars didn't do squat either as I'm sure you discovered with the pipe! I was considering bringing a cow with me this year, figuring they would be more attracted to her than me. Even though that would save me the hassle of bringing cream for the coffee, I can't fit her in the car with all of my fishing stuff. Even the ever present toads don't seem to make a dent in the population of those @!$%# flies. Maybe a couple of pet swallows is the answer!!

What is interesting is, this fly seems to me to be a recent plague yet the story told by DCNR is they stopped the program years ago. Either someone is lying or the flies have multiplied like crazy in the last 3-4 years. Did you noticed the giant purple fly traps hanging from the trees?

More good news - the geniuses in charge are now considering releasing wasps to control the stink bug population!

Will they ever learn???