Post By: JKaboom Posted: 7/16/2012 9:33:31 PM Points: 924
So I've only used live leeches once and we always used to avoid them where I'm from in MI. How do you handle leeches to bait the hook. We found the one time we used them that they are very lively and try to dig in right away which kind of freaked us out. On YouTube it has a clip of a guy using his needle nose pliers. So: 1) How do you handle them to put on hook? 2) which end do you hook them through? 3) Should you hook through just once or multiple times? 4) How to care and store them overnight and on the way to lake and while fishing?
We had a good time using them on slip bobbers for walleyes the one time at Pueblo and want to get better at using them. Your advice is appreciated :)
I just pick one up and handle em like a worm. I hook them once through their 'sucker' mouth on their 'head' end and let em go. Yeah, they tend to attach fairly quickly to your skin, but generally, no problem there. They will stretch and fluctuate through the water which gives good action on a worm harness or on a Lindy Rig. Sometimes... walleyes only want a leech,....instead of a crawler.
As far as storage.....can't really say. I guess try and store them overnight in a small, live-bait container possibly in the fridge.
Tried to find a link/pic to the type of leech/bait container I have, but it could take a while to find it on line. Gander Mtn used to carry them years ago. don't know if they still do or not. Sorry I can't be of more help right now.
JKaboom...sorry it took me so long, but I figured it would be faster to just show you a couple pics of what I have, instead of trying to find it on line.
It's a two piece container. The top (yellow) fits onto the bottom (white), and the black handle flips up and over the top of the yellow, and locks into place. These are also great for float tubes, belly boats, 'toons, etc...with limited space.
keep leeches in the fridge, clean water every 3 or 4 days and they will live a long time. Most leeches that you buy for bait are scavengers, not blood suckers, so don't be scared of them.
The leeches you will most likely be handling are not blood suckers. That makes them as harmless as worms. They might tickle you a bit, but thats about it lol. I hook them just below the bottom of the sucker with a #6 circle hook. Thats hooking it threw the tail. When you put them in the water they should look like they are trying to swim away. Leeches keep fresh for awhile. Just change out water every 24 hours they dont require much oxygen for survival. Remember to carry your proof/receipt of where you got your live bait.
We use the kool-aid containers with holes in the top when we fish off the dock in Minnesota, we will put 10-15 in there and leave the rest in the fridge. When we are on the boat my uncle has a small live well. When using them I hook them in the sucker and double them on.
Hey PBS, thanks for the tips :) I really appreciate it. So ok then they cannot dig in and attach within the time it takes to put them on the hook I was really wondering/worried about that because I know back in MI if you ripped one off after it got attached it people had difficulty removing their beak or whatever it is...
Thank you also for the pics of the container basically that looks like a half size minnow bucket so I will shop around for one that is like that.
My brother and I are heading down to Pueblo and going to shore fish them again on a slip bobber (this time I got the lighted ones I was not prepared correclty last time and our Lindy rigs were getting hung up on the rocks on the bottom so now we are good to go).
I fish with leeches often and have great success with many different species.
I but them at Gander Mt. you get 12 for 2.99, I hear tho some bait shops carry them. You can just store them in a Tupperware container or gander also sell a Styrofoam container for like 2.00. just keep them in the refrigerator. When hooking them i just pick one up and put in on a baitholder hook. I hook through the sucker which is on the fat end. The skinny end tends to try to crawl around so its pretty easy to tell the difference. They freaked me out for a while, especially as they are holding on to you as you hook em, but I have never actually been bit. Hope this helps
troutmang - Thank you, I was kinda freaking out about that a little and it was tricky to hook those buggers squirming around now I feel a bit silly...
TetonSnowKing - Thank you for the care tips because I don't want to waste them for sure. As far as the receipt goes can you elaborate on that a bit? The regs talk about not using live bait above 7000 feet but is there something special about using leeches like they think I might have harvested them in lake X but am using them in laky y?? I appreciate it :)
OCwalleye - That's a great container tip, cheap and small...
Dudec - Thank you for the handeling tips, that little sucker feels kinda scary if you don't know that they are not the blood suckers
No problem JKaboom.....yeah, they may attach themselves to your finger in the short time that you are attaching them to your hook.....but, it's really not an issue. You actually won't even feel them! By the time you get them on your hook....well, it's less time than our conversation haha!
Naw man....no worries there. they don't have a beak. No pain, no great blood loss....seriously! I think they suck blood through the capillaries of your surface skin.....no arteries or veins.
Gander keeps their leaches in 44 degree water, a plastic coffee can with a snap on lid works to hold them, main thing is to keep them cool, I store mine in frig in garage *-) Mother doesnt venture out there .
The receipt thing applies to leaches and minnows, where they came from is the concern.
Reply by: zekers Posted: 7/17/2012 4:41:24 AM Points: 90
I used leeches this spring for the first time. I acted like a little girl trying to get them on the hook while they were attaching to the container, finger, rock, etc. I like using them now. They are very active, tough on the hook, and catch many species of fish. I just scoop one out of the container onto the ground. The rocks and dirt will stick to their side, making it easier to hold them while you hook 'em. Do most people hook just one on a hook, or are multiple leeches better?
Reply by: nightangler Posted: 7/17/2012 10:10:54 AM Points: 1278
Call me a wuss but I handle them with needle nose pliers. They creep me out!!!
I picked up a small liquid bait holder bucket at Sportmans Warehouse in the springs for like $3. It has a rubber seal on the top that keeps it from leaking so you can carry it in a backpack or something like that. Works great!!
I keep my leeches in the crisper drawer in my fridge (my wife cant see them down there). I usually only change the water every week or so and they do just fine. I have had the same set of leeches in the fridge for about a month now and they are still just as squirmy as the day i bought them.
When I hook them I grab them near the sucker with my needle nose pliers and then hook them right through the sucker. Then I double back the point and poke them 1 more time. I found I landed more fish when I doubled it back as I felt like they were just getting ripped off when only hooked once through the sucker. I typically use 2 or 3 leeches in whay I dubbed "The leech Orgy" last summer. All their heads stay together on the hook but their tails go in different directions, almost making it look like they are all feeding on something or mating. Does that catch more fish? I dont know, it just looks cool prior to casting it out and its always fun to say the word orgy hahaha!!!
I was unaware you had to keep your receipt when fishing with them until I bought them at the north shore marina and they said something. We had been buying them at Wal-Mart in Fountain because you get 18-24 leeches for $3.25, which is 2-12 more leches for the same price as the marina. I also have picked them up at Xstream in Colorado Springs. Any reason why they would worry where they came from? Obviously Wal-Mart didnt say we had to keep our receipts...
Reply by: lewdog Posted: 7/17/2012 11:23:46 AM Points: 691
Thats because they're Walmart. Haha. U are supposed to buy your live bait from a baitshop. They want u to do that so your not introducing a aquatic disease or species into the lakes. Bait shops are inspected n tested periodically and have to get there bait from a liscensed provider.
What about nightcrawlers? Those are considered live bait and 95% off the buckets of crawlers I see out there are the ones that come from Wally World.
It makes sense they would want to prevent an aquatic species from entering the lake and possibly spreading disease but it seems like that would be something they would not be able to control with places like Wal-Mart and Sportsman's Warehouse selling live bait without anyone telling people what the regulations are. I love supporting Xstream and the Marina's at P-lo but times are tough and if I can get 2 for 1 at Wal-Mart I am going to, just like the vast majority of people out there...
Curiosity, what is the punishment for having leeches (or crawlers) without having the receipt showing where they were purchased? I assume a ranger would have to be the one inquiring about that. Also, I am curious is Wal-Mart is on the approved list of live bait suppliers. Last thing I need is to get a fine and lose my ability to fish because I am using "illegal" bait...
(Just a side note, after hearing that I had to keep a receipt, I have kept the Wal-Mart receipt in my wallet with my fishing license. I'm just curious)
I myself didnt get in trouble they just dump them on the ground. Atleast thats what they did to my minnows. It was ok with me though. I was at the inlet at Jackson and just went n netted some just after he dumped them. your not reqd. to carry a worm receipt.
The best time to buy leeches is in the spring before they spawn which they are by now. You can buy them by the pound from the northern states, They are available small, medium, large and jumble plus horse leeches which are real good for catfish\. Keep them in a container with water only 1/4 inch covering them. Change there water once a week. NO CHORINE. The best water to use is artisan water, in a refrigerator. They also store real good in a leech tamer and water. Do not hook them thru their head as they will curl abound the hook. Only the tail end once which is the sucker. This way they stretch out real long and will last a long time even OK to use again sometimes. Colo. fishing regulations DO NOT require you to have a receipt with the leeches as claimed by some state parks. I have an email from the Wildlife dept. attesting to this fact.
Very interesting OldMikkDale. I never knew you could order in leeches by the pound. With as many as I use that may be my approach next spring, especially with my move to be 3 miles from P-lo Reservoir happening in 2 weeks.
Glad they didnt ruin your day when they made you dump your minnows Lew!!!
Jkaboom - Very good question. Since last year I have been wondering if you can use leeches up at 11 Mile. I never brought any because I wasnt sure Trout would eat them but I have debated it a few times. Then after reading no live bait over 7000' in the reg book I was glad I didnt break any rules but wasn't 100% sure I would have anyways since worms are considered live bait and I have used those for years up the Mile...
Reply by: Les in WP Posted: 7/17/2012 2:19:50 PM Points: 0
I'm new to this forum, but reading this thread gave me the giggles... since I don't like leeches either. But I grew up on a walleye lake in MN, and in order to go walleye fishing with the 'grown ups'...I had to be able to bait my own hook - with whatever was on the menu that night. I do recall... having some major problems with leeches. That is, until our neighbor Leo showed me an easy way to do it when I was about 6 years old. Here's how:
Wearing jeans, and preferably sitting down... scoop, or 'flip' a leech out of its container...so that the creature lands on your pants right above the knee, in my case. You're jeans will soak up that little bit of leech-water...and the leech will start exploring its new surroundings...erm, out of water, on your pants. (It helps to know, they can't leech onto you thru your jeans) Next, place the flat palm of your hand (gently) ONTO the leach (wear gloves if you need to) and quickly begin rolling the leech around in a circular motion, on your wet jeans. A heathy/active leech should be averse to this treatment...and will 'cringe' up into a tight little rigid ball of leech.
At that moment, you have a (short) window of opportunity to get you hook in, before the leech even notices. Much easier than trying to handle them in thier soft, squichy, wet and slimy state. *Do not SQUASH, or otherwise injure the leach while doing this, especially if you're after walleye. AND careful not to wipe off too much of their natural slime coating...or your bait will have poor movement, and will die faster. Be gentle, or you'll defeat the purpose...
Once your leech is curled up in a rigid little defensive ball...simply pick it up, (as fast as you can) insert the point of your hook into the sucker-shaped mouth, thread the length of your hook through the leech, just until the point of the hook (with the barb) exits out the leeches back. Once that barb clears the leeches back...its safe to drop it, directly into the water (erm, without releasing the bail on your reel) and just WATCH what happens. This part is important...
If the leech hits the water and frantically tries to swim away, hook and all? Its perfect, you're good to go. If the leech hits the water, and lays there on your hook like a wet noodle? Junk it, and start over...in my experience, a MN walleye won't touch it. Not sure if CO walleye are any different, but I highly doubt it. By nature, its a moody, paranoid, and cautious fish. I've never fished in Pueblo either, but if the water is especially clear? The walleye becomes even more moody, paranoid and cautious. The only time they won't be moody, paranoid, and cautios...is if you happen to catch a whole school of them with a feeding frenzy in progress. (rare...but FUN, if you can ever get lucky enough.)
The disclaimer again, I've never fished CO walleyes. I'm still trying to figure out CO trout. But I do have plenty of practice using leeches...even if they do gross me out. And thank goodness, I'm not the only one...lol
Welcome Les!!! That sounds like a good way of putting the leeches on the hook. I'm am also glad i am nott he only one creeped out by the little blood suckers (or scavengers or whatever, I always assumed leeches sucked blood).
Les Claypool is the man, amazing Bass guitarist. I didnt know he is a fisherman, that makes him even more of a bad ass!!!!!!
He also wrote the book South of The Pumphouse. Its hard not to go fishing without blasting the song "Fish On." Les claypool is the man! Glad you got your answer Jkaboom.
The 7,000 ft. rule is for minnows only. The problem existing now is at least some of the state parks are trying to enforce rules from the Aquatic Nuisance Species Watercraft Decontamination Manual while in their brochures they state they enforce the Colorado Fishing rules. Not true.Their manual state all live bate must be accompanied by a receiipt from an authorized dealer in the last 7 days so beware if you are fishing in a sate park. The zebra mussel can devastate a lake in a few years as the female can lay 30,000 to 1 million eggs a year and 2 to 5% can become adults. So it is wise when you buy leeches to dump them out of the container, dump the water out in a waste container (not a body of water or down the drain) wash and dry the container, and wash the leeches with water without chlorine in it and cover them with 1/4 in. of water. {Eggs may be in the water and they are too small to see.} Chlorine, 140 degree water or straight vinegar will kill the mussels or eggs. The leeches sold for fishing are not blood suckers and are nice little guys. I keep mine in a refrigerator and don't put a lid on their container.
