Tag Archives: how-to-make-natural-bug-repellent

Cattails – Excellent Natural Bug Repellent for night fishing

Probably quite a few of you out there know about smoking cattails,…..then again, maybe one or two of you might not. So I thought I`d share this fun, “good-to-know” outdoors tidbit with all of you.  

Night fishing in the Summertime means hot, muggy-buggy nights and being devoured by mosquitoes, as you sit along the banks of your favorite river. Now as I sit here writing this, I can`t really recall where I first learned about cattails as a kid growing up. Might`ve been Boy Scouts…….not really sure. But I do remember riding my bike down to the Mill Race in Califon and then tromping out in that mucky-swampy area to cut down my cattails. Then I`d take them home and lay them on top of Rusty`s dog house to dry out for a week or so. Next time Dad would take me eel fishing in Black River and I would be bringing along my cattail “bug repellent” –     

 
While I was out last week with my `Yak, at the end of the day, I whacked down some cattails or “punks” as they are also know as. 
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Once I got home, I took them up to the attic as the ungodly heat up there would dry them out in just a few days.
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And here`s a quick little clip showing how well they smoke once lit;
So there ya go…………….and now ya know!