Leech season

[Freedom55]

I soaked my traps at my favorite beaver pond over-night for the first time this year and was rewarded with 6 jumbos per tin. And 6 large per tin. Plus a handful of smalls that went back. I left the traps in to soak before I replenish the liver this evening, something I've never tried before.

If it goes as well as last year, I can save a couple of hundred dollars on bait and if I can get some more aluminium I might get enough to trade.

I use printer's tin from the local newspaper in case you wondered.

Free

[WayneChristie]

got any pics of your traps? Ive only tried leeches once, I could trap them right at work even

[Freedom55]

I can't send photos on this platform. Best I can do is describe my units.

A tin made from alum. flashing, accordion folded in such a way as to make two pockets on one side and one on the other. I clamp one end shut with a key split-ring and the other with a 15' cord and float. I put fresh liver in each pocket and clip them shut with a single large paper clip near the centre. My pieces are 2' x 3' before folding and 6" x 3' when done.

Toss them into the water along side the reeds/weeds and secure the float to the bank. The beavers will try to carry them off. Typically I pull them about sun-up but this day I am leaving them in.

Last year's freezer burned liver will not work in my experience and you must use a pond that doesn't freeze solid to the bottom mud. Good luck

[Dark Wing]

Last spring I did really well trapping leeches. I drilled a bunch of leech sized holes in a coffee can , tossed a few fresh chopped up minnows in it and left it over night. Came back early the next morning and the trap was loaded , it even had riders on the top.

[WayneChristie]

I can't send photos on this platform. Best I can do is describe my units.

A tin made from alum. flashing, accordion folded in such a way as to make two pockets on one side and one on the other. I clamp one end shut with a key split-ring and the other with a 15' cord and float. I put fresh liver in each pocket and clip them shut with a single large paper clip near the centre. My pieces are 2' x 3' before folding and 6" x 3' when done.

Toss them into the water along side the reeds/weeds and secure the float to the bank. The beavers will try to carry them off. Typically I pull them about sun-up but this day I am leaving them in.

Last year's freezer burned liver will not work in my experience and you must use a pond that doesn't freeze solid to the bottom mud. Good luck

thanks. I will have to give them a shot this season, but I dont usually look hard for walter til fall.

[Freedom55]

I keep leeches in my fridge all winter; constant temperature and a weekly change of water and they will survive. I put a dozen back yesterday but they were pretty shrunken after a year out of the pond.

Now is the time to get the big fat ones that stretch out to over 6". They have only now come out of the mud and begun the breeding time.

I've been doing this for a while, since the one time I paid $70.00 for a pound of jumbos that died on the road, and I have worked out that this method has been the best way to go. I have a friend who traps commercially and that operation started as soon as the ice came off entirely and the water began to warm. Start too late and the jumbos disappear; maybe a canoe and deeper sets?

Free

[OL_JR]

I keep leeches in my fridge all winter; constant temperature and a weekly change of water and they will survive. I put a dozen back yesterday but they were pretty shrunken after a year out of the pond.

Now is the time to get the big fat ones that stretch out to over 6". They have only now come out of the mud and begun the breeding time.

I've been doing this for a while, since the one time I paid $70.00 for a pound of jumbos that died on the road, and I have worked out that this method has been the best way to go. I have a friend who traps commercially and that operation started as soon as the ice came off entirely and the water began to warm. Start too late and the jumbos disappear; maybe a canoe and deeper sets?

Free

Tis the season, I find it get's pretty slim pickings throwing traps out from shore as the water warms up as well. Spring is the time to get them, and to be honest for our use in a matter of a few nights trapping we generally have more than enough to last the summer and end up with extra for the winter, although I've found them not super effective for walleye through the ice.

It is definitely a huge money saver and I love leeches as they are durable and walleye love them. Usually trap a few hundred over a couple/few nights. A little tub in the stores will come with 10 for around 7-8 dollars. Pretty easy to see the benefit.

[ab_hunter]

Do you ever happen to trap the large leeches that can crawl out of the bucket? Do the walleye like them just as much as the ribbon leeches?

[moose maniac]

Easy leech trap is a burlap sack with a chunk of bloody meat and a rock tie a rope on it and chuck it out in the water I catch tons this way

[OL_JR]

https://i.imgur.com/FGQFjmA.jpg?3

These guys are just under a year old. Had quite a few more heading in to the off season but got a little slack with the water changing and the body count went up significantly from past seasons.

[YeeHaw]

Had some leeches overwinter in goldfish tank, used them in the spring

[Freedom55]

Today's early morning haul, from a new location, resulted in more than 40 dozen assorted from only three traps. Going back this evening with the culls (little buggers) and twice the number of traps. One more night and I think I will have enough for me then I can trade some for something interesting.

Free

[Elchinodiablo]

Do they need to be fed if you overwinter them in a tank? and if so, what is a good feed?

Thanks

[Freedom55]

Do they need to be fed if you overwinter them in a tank? and if so, what is a good feed?

Thanks

I put them in glass jars, in the fridge at +1 with a 10 day interval between rinses and water changes. Keep an eye open for deceased ones or they will contaminate the water. The water is melted ice from a rain barrel or rain water at the same temp. as the fridge.

The bad news is that there is no percentage in keeping them over winter but the same technique applies to keeping them alive and swimming until October when my boat goes to bed.

Near as I can figure.

Free

[Freedom55]

Do you ever happen to trap the large leeches that can crawl out of the bucket? Do the walleye like them just as much as the ribbon leeches?

I've never seen 'em, 'horse leeches' I think, but apparently only ribbon leeches will do.

[Rvsask]

I've never seen 'em, 'horse leeches' I think, but apparently only ribbon leeches will do.

I used to think that, until we actually tried the horse leeches. One of those suckers is tough enough for multiple fish.

[ab_hunter]

I used to think that, until we actually tried the horse leeches. One of those suckers is tough enough for multiple fish.

Do the fish like the horse leeches just as much as the ribbon leeches? I've heard conflicting things thats why I never tried. The slough I trapped had a lot of horse leeches in it though...

[CptnBlues63]

I can't send photos on this platform. Best I can do is describe my units.

A tin made from alum. flashing, accordion folded in such a way as to make two pockets on one side and one on the other. I clamp one end shut with a key split-ring and the other with a 15' cord and float. I put fresh liver in each pocket and clip them shut with a single large paper clip near the centre. My pieces are 2' x 3' before folding and 6" x 3' when done.

Toss them into the water along side the reeds/weeds and secure the float to the bank. The beavers will try to carry them off. Typically I pull them about sun-up but this day I am leaving them in.

Last year's freezer burned liver will not work in my experience and you must use a pond that doesn't freeze solid to the bottom mud. Good luck

I've been told folding an aluminum pie tin would work good.

Sadly there are no good sloughs near me or I'd try this out.

I see you're from Perdue, SK! Before moving here to AB in 2005 we had an acreage between Asquith and Perdue (south of Kinley) and my son went to school in Perdue. I sure do miss that acreage!

[Freedom55]

My friend with the bait business also uses pie plates; they work. My fishing buddy from G.P. AB sent me a Jeff Dunlap video disc so I have imitated his method.

As for Perdue, we moved here from Calgary in '09 to retire. Talk about self isolation! But the better fishing is closer. You may know Cal and Debbie M.?

Free

[CptnBlues63]

My friend with the bait business also uses pie plates; they work. My fishing buddy from G.P. AB sent me a Jeff Dunlap video disc so I have imitated his method.

As for Perdue, we moved here from Calgary in '09 to retire. Talk about self isolation! But the better fishing is closer. You may know Cal and Debbie M.?

Free

I don't think we'd know them......it's been 15 years since we moved away and I worked running around central/northern SK fixing computers, printers and servers in banks so mostly was only ever home at night. We only lived there for about 1.5 years before I got this position here in AB so didn't really get to know a lot of the locals well enough to be getting together for dinners and such.

Does the Chinese couple still run the restaurant at the Esso station on the highway? Best chow mien I ever ate!

Lots of good fishing in the area........especially north!

[Freedom55]

There's been three or for operators of that place in our time here; the last bunch ripped off 30K from Esso Oil without ever opening and it's been closed for 4 years. In fact, there are no cafes or diners in town. Even the hotel has been shuttered for more than a year. We do have a great golf course so meals have been available for at least part of the year. Maybe.

Great fishing. Peaceful. Oilers fans.

[singleshotom]

Just to add if you want to increase your catch numbers . An American fellow I met told me about 45 yrs ago to use pork kidney meat as bait it worked better then liver. I found it worked better in ponds that had leeches for sure.
Also set in the evening and pull at first light in the morning, the earlier the better will also increase numbers! I’d set 4 in the late evening and pull first light an get around 200 per trap.
Also had no luck using horse leeches, fish would shy away from them.
But I discovered how to get them to separate them selves. Leave all the leeches in a plastic bucket 3/4 full of water. In about 2 hours all the horse leech are gone they can crawl out a plastic bucket! The others won’t!
About pork kidneys get them fresh as you can from a butcher, the fresher the better!
I also found some ponds or sloughs don’t have leeches but in most cases if there was bulrushes and fairly clear water there was a pretty good chance of success!
Good luck fishermen !
That was my way of getting spending money as a young man.
Sst

[OL_JR]

The leeches I trap will crawl out of the containers I put them in if the lids aren't fitting properly but they settle down after a few days and are good for the rest of the year.

All I know is they absolutely will work for Walleye and I mean well... I love to cut off a 1/4" piece of a rubber jig body (chartreuse or green are my favourites) and slide it up to the eyelet of a drop shot hook and then hook a leech on. There isn't a walleye that will not bite that I promise lol.

[trigger7mm]

So I put out 4 leech traps last night in the dugout. Folded pie plates with some moose stew meat for bait. One plate had some old minnows in it as well. Checked them first thing this morning and had hundreds of leeches in them! Only thing was, they were all small ones, maybe 1 1/2” long. Would probably be good for perch or trout, but too small for walleyes. The dugout is over 30 years old. Why no big ones? Also, the plate with the minnows added to it had as many or more leeches in it than the other plates put together.

[trigger7mm]

Checked my traps again this morning and had a couple hundred more. Nothing more than maybe 2” though. Is that normal for this time of year, or is just a matter of trying a different dugout that might hold some jumbos?

[wildalberta]

I use clean gallon paint cans with a few holes and leftover deer liver and a rock for weight. Ive got a few hundred of various sizes this week. Ive been lazy about checking them early morning but i still get results. Every pond seems to be different.

[trigger7mm]

I use clean gallon paint cans with a few holes and leftover deer liver and a rock for weight. Ive got a few hundred of various sizes this week. Ive been lazy about checking them early morning but i still get results. Every pond seems to be different.

What type of waterbody do you find to be best? I’ve tried a dugout that is loaded with little ones, and a slough that’s had big ones, but I would only get a couple each check. What are your thoughts. Thanks and have a great long weekend.

[wildalberta]

What type of waterbody do you find to be best? I’ve tried a dugout that is loaded with little ones, and a slough that’s had big ones, but I would only get a couple each check. What are your thoughts. Thanks and have a great long weekend.

Ive mostly been hitting dug outs, they are producing the best. The natural ponds ive hit so far are just little guys. I have 1 dug out thats produced all my bigger ones. Last year at work i was getting steady numbers of all sizes at my first attempt at trapping them. Its seems like if its about 2-3 feets deep where i throw the can is the best.

[trigger7mm]

Thanks for the tip. I’m trying a different dugout tonight. We’ll see....

[wildalberta]

Guys have said to check early as possible in the morning. I cant seem to pattern any difference when i pull them. I have tried to avoid middle of the day but other than that ive always had some.

[OL_JR]

Wondering how folks results have been the last little bit, I had a pretty good few days up to Monday morning where it was pretty poor but also the latest I've picked them. Should have enough for the year but I'll try a little more next week for fun.

Did a little prospecting and found a couple ponds that are really convenient to trap from (right beside the road) and also happen to be 90% ribbon leeches. Most of what I have now is ribbons with some horses and in the past would be mostly horse leeches so curious to see with my own eyes how effective one is against the other. As I mentioned in a past post I've caught a pile of walleye on the horse type so after some reading it makes me scratch my head a little bit that they are considered bad. The ribbons I have are mostly brownish with some darker ones.
The ribbons are definitely more delicate on a hook and it's true they won't climb out of a container while the horses will.

[Freedom55]

So here's some weirdness. Yesterday I finally got to rinsing my 4 lbs. of bait after 3 days. I realized I had waited too long between maintenance and poured more than a pound into a pail, dead. I left them all day and night in 2 gallons of regular tap water; I poured a mouthful of beer into the water and left them to take to a slough and release. We're putting in the garden so that chore got forgotten.

This morning they were climbing the walls and I managed to save 3/4 of that lost group, freshly rinsed in chlorine free R.O. water and back in the fridge. Back to the 2 day cycle.

I stopped trapping a week ago because I have way too many and my last trek through the bush resulted in a tick bite. I don't need a Lyme.

Free

[Gbuss]

So here's some weirdness. Yesterday I finally got to rinsing my 4 lbs. of bait after 3 days. I realized I had waited too long between maintenance and poured more than a pound into a pail, dead. I left them all day and night in 2 gallons of regular tap water; I poured a mouthful of beer into the water and left them to take to a slough and release. We're putting in the garden so that chore got forgotten.

This morning they were climbing the walls and I managed to save 3/4 of that lost group, freshly rinsed in chlorine free R.O. water and back in the fridge. Back to the 2 day cycle.

I stopped trapping a week ago because I have way too many and my last trek through the bush resulted in a tick bite. I don't need a Lyme.

Free


Just a fyi if you fill a 5 gallon pail with tape water and leave it out in the sun open the chlorine will all be out of the water.

Gbuss