Too cold this opener for leeches?

[The Yeti]

We'll probably pick up some shiners, fatties and crawlers. Does anyone think the water temps will be too cold for leeches?

[doser]

I'd bring all three to stay diverse. You never know. I just picked about 3-4 dozen crawlers in my back yard last night.

[Tully]

I saw guys catching walleyes at Devils Lake on leeches 2-3 weeks ago.

Tully

[anchor man]

Last weekend with water temps ranging from 49-51 on Yellow Lake in Wisc. Leeches were the only bait producing

[FOOT]

Yeti, look at it this way. You probably spent several thousand dollars on a fishing boat and motor maybe a couple of 10's of thousands, several hundred at least in rods and reels, tackle severla hundred more, cabin rental $300 - $400, food, gas and on and on and on. Why would you not spend another $10 on leeches.

I buy fatheads, shinners, rainbows, leeches and pick up crawlers. You never know what a Walleye is going to want so why be left out in the cold with the wrong bait? I also make sure I have plenty of Raps, tubes and jigs.

Have a great opener, I'll be on Winnie again this opener my 32nd year and lovin it.

[travwinkleman]

Hey Doser. I also pick my own crawlers. How long have you kept them? I seem to never get them to stay alive more then 2 weeks. I have one of those crawler boxes with the worm stuffing and food. Maybe I am not keeping the temperature right then. Have anyone tired to trap any minnows?

[Dave B]

It is never too cold for leeches. If you can find them, they are worth a try.

[Hoffer]

makes sense to have all the bait options available - considering the dozen leaches will set you back 3.00

Personally, its minnows as my first choice at least for the time being. Porbably start with Shiners.

[doser]

I can usually keep them alive for a good month. I like to always add fresh ones. Temp might be your problem. They don't need to be ice cold just cool. I keep them in the fridge in my garage and keep it on the lowest cool setting. Meaning if I turned it down any more the fridge would shut off. Don't go over board on the worm food either. I don't use the worm food you can buy very often. I like to crumple up a couple old dead leaves and mix them in the worm bedding. Make sure you stir the bedding every few days too so that you circulate the moisture and air in the bedding. Pick out any dead ones or any that look sick or weak. That is key... a couple dead ones can ruin the whole batch in a short time. If your bedding looks dry just take a mist bottle and spray the bedding and circulate it around.

[merc]

I pick my own crawlers and can pretty much keep them alive all summer. I don't use any worm bedding or food but instead pick up a six gallon pail of wet leaves in spring,pack them in the pail, put as many as 300 crawlers in there and store them in my damp cool basement. When the leaves start going down I just add more and make sure they stay damp. Don't know if anyone else does this but it sure works for me. Good luck!!!

[docwalleye88]

Merc that is a great idea for crawlers. I never thought about that.

[Mr Special]

I've never used wet leaves before, may have to try that. I usually go with moist shredded news paper.

Has anyone had any better luck using the green crawlers? I bougth some of that bedding, tried them but they didn't out fish regular crawler.

[danfall]

Another worm rule is never, never, never keep a worm you break or even think you broke. Check daily, sick worms often head to the top (for O2?). Remove them immediately. If your bait box is old, it may carry bacteria and disease. The pail idea is pretty good since you can wash a pail out and even bleach it at the end of the season. I don't know if I'd bleach, but a good soap and water wash will also reduce the problem of latent bugs. I've also decided the smaller worm boxes were a bit too small. Maybe the 5 gallon pail is bigger and better that way.