Every morning on our Gods River trip to Hudson Bay, Jim Suttie would strip to his waist and coat himself with insect repellent. Suttie didn’t like shirts, and bugs were a serious factor on that 1983 trip in northern Manitoba.

Suttie used a product containing nearly 100 percent DEET, the active ingredient in most repellents at the time. We worried about Suttie, as he stood, bare-chested and bare-backed, slathering the greasy oil all over himself.

Eight of us were making the trip, and we all used DEET-based repellent to ward off the intense mosquitoes and blackflies. But nobody used as much as Suttie.

We were unsure what the long-term effects of DEET use might be.

I am happy to report that Suttie is alive and well today, with no apparent ill effects from his liberal use of the repellent.

Certainly, that’s not a scientific study, but I figure if Suttie is still OK, the stuff can’t be that bad for you.

That said, I use repellent sparingly, as do a lot of people I know who spend time in mosquito-infested woods. Most of us use a combination of bug-thwarting techniques, none of which is completely satisfactory but together mitigate the onslaught enough that we can continue to fish, paddle and portage.

When I use repellent, it’s usually a high-concentration of DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, or N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). I want one with 95 percent DEET for long-lasting protection.

Effective as it is, DEET seems nasty to me. I don’t like breathing its fumes. And it will remove paint from fishing lures, eat fishing line and turn hard plastic items soft and gooey. I usually apply it only to the backs of my hands, then use those to spread it to ears, neck and cheeks.

I avoid using it on my palms to reduce the chance that DEET will devour my fishing tackle, glasses lenses, etc.

I use a pump spray form of repellent. Sometimes, I’ll spray it in small quantities on my cap and my sleeves as well.

And as soon as I’m in a situation where the bugs have abated, I’ll wash my face and hands to remove the repellent.

Beyond repellent, many of my friends use hooded mesh “bug jackets” to keep mosquitoes and blackflies at bay.

These are light and easy to pack along, but they are much hotter to wear than you’d think they would be. Mesh head nets also are effective and not as hot as a jacket.

It isn’t particularly fun looking at the world through the dark mesh of a head net or bug jacket, but if the bugs are bad enough, you’ll give up some view.

Other choices in clothing can help your cause: Long sleeves, of course, and long pants. Light-colored shirts and pants seem to attract fewer mosquitoes than dark ones.

Thick socks are better than thin for those ankle-biting specialists. If things get really bad, I’ll tuck my pants in my socks or boots and look like a dork.

When it comes to bugs, I’m kind of like Yogi Berra on baseball. Yogi said, “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.”

Dealing with bugs is 80 percent attitude and 95 percent DEET.