Check this out. IF you wanted too, you could use the clothing soak on your fly/tent and clothes and since you sew, you could make your own Dog Armor.
Permathrin is non-toxic to dogs and humans ( proper dose) and lasts thru multiple washing. Easily last thru a season of tripping.

One of the best things I ever did for bug protection.

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I would say it does but you'd have to be wearing socks as any open skin is going to get bit.
You can see it working. A fly/mosquito lands on treated surface, it just fall off dead.

You can buy Permethrin at places that carry horse/cattle products in "bulk' so to speak. You'd just have to dilute it down to percentage that is safe for humans/dogs.

I bought a 4 bottle pack which comes with ziplock bags/gloves. Each bottle treats 1 outfit, shirt/pants/socks.

I did it a little different than they recommended.
I put ALL my tripping clothes minus raingear in washing machine and added just 2 bottles. I wanted to see if getting less than what they recommended would work okay becasue I wanted to limit my exposure to the chemical.

Since it lasts thru multiple washings, I figured if it didn't work I could boost the dose before next trip.
Worked fine and now I just renew it every year with a single bottle.

I wear that ball cap/doo-rag combo and the bugs never bite my neck/ears. I think it would be the same with those ankle biter flies as long as you had socks on?

I don't go in the peak of mosquito season like you do, but I don't see them even landing on treated fabrics, just open skin.
You do your tarp they won't swarm underneath and land on it becasue it will kill them on contact.

It's cheap enough to make it at least worth a try to see if you think it's worth it?

While my answer has nothing to do with towable gear pods, my defense against ankle biters is sealskin socks. I got them initially for the advertised purpose of keeping my feet dry, not so good, but discovered by accident, that while my paddle partner was chewed bloody, I was not getting bit. Go figure.

We call them "fish flies" here because they do eat dead fish.  They also seem attracted even more to one's ankles if you have had your feet and legs in lake or beaver dam water...something they smell in the water I think.   

IF you combine the thoughts/info in your and IC's posts about those ankle biter/fish flies it makes for much "speculation" on why they bother SOME people more than others.