By Ian Scott




Back when I had a pair of William Joseph waders to review while fishing the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships, I discovered that William Joseph also produced a gadget called a "Mosquito Annoyer." At about ten dollars, I figured it was worthwhile to try this gadget out. There is nothing more annoying to me that to have forgotten to apply some deet based insect repellant or neem oil while attempting delicate fly presentations to rising fish while mosquitoes are biting at all the skin I've exposed to them. There are some evenings when I have, out of frustration of a bazillion of these buggers flying about, buzzing in my ear and drinking my blood that I've given up on fishing all together. Have you ever had the experience of inhaling mosquitoes because there are so many of them buzzing around?

So when I discovered this gadget that purports to annoy the mosquitoes that might want to consume my blood, I figured if it worked, it would be a great thing to add to the fly fishing bag. Not only that, the William Joseph Mosquito Annoyer needs no batteries and relies on solar power.

The premise according to William Joseph is that only female mosquitoes bite and suck blood. By the time they are doing this, they are tired of male mosquitoes and apparently male and female mosquitoes give off a different buzzing frequency. Therefore, perhaps the sound of what seems like a male mosquito in the area, the females will buzz off themselves and go find some easy blood suckackble flesh where there are no male mosquitoes in the vicinity.

The little gadget comes with an attachment mechanism that fly fishers can attach to a vest, or even through a button hole on a shirt. Or to something that is worn around the neck. An off/on switch controls the little unit - and when turned on, there is an audible "buzzing" noise that is not that aggravating emanating from it. It will continue to emit the noise long after the sun has gone down as well.

So far so good. It's cheap, it's small, and it's efficient. But does it work?

The answer as far as my experience is: "No."

I've worn this thing on a few evenings of angling when I used no deet or neem based product and ate no garlic or took Vitamin B supplements (garlic and Vitamin B are also purported to keep the mosquitoes away - but I don't think they work either) - and been bitten alive by female mosquitoes desparate for my blood. I even thought that maybe it was keeping mosquitoes directly away from where the unit was situated and tried to move the thing upwards closer to my face. Still mosquitoes ate me.

Personally, I still agree that William Joseph makes great waders! But to be more successful in the insect repellant department, they are going to have to go back to the drawing board. If you've got ten bucks to spend, you can try it out for yourself - but I'd advise you to spend the ten bucks on a bottle of Deet based chemistry instead.

Pros And Cons

Pros:

• Small and doesn't get in the way.
• Solar Powered - no batteries required
• Nice "hook" to attach almost anywhere
• Great idea!

Cons:

• It just doesn't work!

Related:

Stopping The Bites
- My review of a Neem Oil based product for mosquito repellant. This stuff might be an option for you.

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