More unusual bait.

[Nightwing]

Following up on the slug thread, anyone here use leeches?

Very popular here in the states, but I never hear of you guys using them. Killer on walleye(zander), perch(best bait there is for perch), carp, bass, panfish, trout, well, you get the picture. If I only had a single bait to use, it would be a leech.

[Vagabond]

Once tied up a series of tandem lures to represent leeches - with a stiff hackle each end to protect the hooks so that they could be fished slowly over the bottom. Joined the hooks with a couple of inches of old salmon fly line - which gave the bodies bulk and flexibility

 

Caught rainbows up to 7 lb - and that was before the days of big triploids.

 

Leeches are quite time consuming to collect (did a project on them many years ago when I was a student). The success of lobworms (nightcrawlers) for perch may be because the perch take them for leeches - and lobworms are a darn sight easier to get.

 

But yes, I think leeches may be worth trying - we have about a dozen different species over here.

[Andrew]

Got plenty of "leeches" in this country,not allowed to use them

[phonebush]

Vagabond,

Not to steal the thread but in the US many anglers believe the lobworm represent small snakes. Small snakes are favorites of many course fish in the US. Personally, I think they represent lobworms.

Phone

Nightwing, Who'da thunk it? Leaches illegal! Wonder why that would be. I cannot think of a good reason to not use a leach. Unless they are that deadly for bait.

Phone

 

[ 22 February 2002, 10:02 PM: Message edited by: phonebush ]

[Peter Waller]

Now, for a really unusual bait, maybe. Slit the intestine of a cod when gutting the catch. Out rolled a knotted condom, well, one cod had eat it so on the hook it went and yes, it caught another. Another cod had a white plastic disposable cup in its gut, that caught as well! Cod do seem to eat anything, they also hang around sewerage outfalls. That should hit the cod & chips market hard on the head!

[davidP]

As I recall leeches were at one time the 'in' bait for catfish. The problem is getting them as they're only really available as medical leeches and cost accordingly. Mind you, they last a long time on the hook so you don't need many.

[Nightwing]

Phone, I think the "illegao" leches may be of a more human variety, if I got the context of the statement right:-)

For the rest of you, here is an easy and effecient way to collect leeches. Find a slow or weedy area on a stream, or a muck bottom area of a pond, and put out a trap a few feet from shore, in a couple of feet of water. Trap is simple, just take a plastic milk jug and place inside severel pieces of fresh(bloody), beef scrap, available cheaply from your local butcher. Add a few rocks for weight, fill with water, attach a rope to the handle, and toss in. Leave it overnight, make sure to check it every day. The leeches are attracted to the blood, go into the bottle, and attach themselves to the meat. Your should have several dozen leeches in the jug the next morning.

Just cut the top off(for ease of leech removal), and there you go! Place the leeches in a shallow container in the frige with just enough water to cover them(or even just on soaking wet spagnum moss with a bit of water in the container),

and make sure-This is very important-to change the water every day! If leeches are kept on wet moss, just run clean water through them on occasion, leaving the moss soaked, but little if any standing water in the container(leeches kept in soaked moss can go several days between washings).

The leeches need not be fed(actualy, it is harmfull to feed them), and will last for months if their water/moss is kept clean.

You now are the proud owner of the worlds finest perch bait!

A leech suspended under a float is about the deadliest bait known, and best of all, will last through several fish!

[Nightwing]

Oh,

In case of mass escape, make sure you have some resonable excuse already prepared, as the sight of a 6" leech crawling accross the floor at 3 in the morning is guaranteed to awaken every person in a 3 mile radius, 6 miles if the missus steps on it in the dark.

[RONAN]

Nightwing:

Following up on the slug thread, anyone here use leeches?

Very popular here in the states, but I never hear of you guys using them. Killer on walleye(zander), perch(best bait there is for perch), carp, bass, panfish, trout, well, you get the picture. If I only had a single bait to use, it would be a leech.

Come on NIGHTWING, the real question is, How about birds, bats, mice, reptiles, entrails, and a few other popular swimming varieties...LMAO

RONAN