keeping leeches

[fishmarket]

2 men in a boat, someone out there has a great way to keep the leeches lively yet make them convenient for each guy to get. Thanks for the advice.

[Fishin4Life]

Leach locker for yourself, and then to keep the other guy happy, tell him to bring his own, LOL

I usually tie the leach locker off near me and it will float toward my buddy or vise versa. This way either you pull it in with the rope or just reach down and grab the leach locker. I have this one....Works great

[crappace]

I have been in the BW with a locker like this. It works great until you get into a current situation and it pops open. The screw top ones make the trip with me now. Those and a mesh bag with velcrow opening. We leave the screw top at camp sunk with a rock in cold water and bring the bag out with us for the day.

[Team Otter]

Leech Tamers. Very nice. A mesh bag with velcro top that floats in your livewell.

[Mike Walerak]

I have seen guys use wet newspapers in plastic containers or small coolers so that they can be dispersed around the boat. It is a little too messy for me though. On a positive note, is it is easy to clean up!

mw

[Capt.Blaine]

I use a little 6 pack cooler. (just flip the lid to open) Just set it in the middle of the boat. This also keeps them cool. Then when you get home strain the water with a noodle strainer. I keep leeches good for months. Just change the water weekly.

[fishmarket]

thanks everyone, we use a little cooler and it works pretty good. They should be kept around lake temp, right?? If its hot, we put some ice in the cooler withe the leeches, seemed to work ok..

[HEUY]

Dumb question? Does chlorinated water hurt/kill leeches? What about the ice cubes? Same with worms?

[Fishin4Life]

Quote:

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Dumb question? Does chlorinated water hurt/kill leeches? What about the ice cubes? Same with worms?

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Not a dumb question, I don't know the answer, lol

[SteveWilson]

Let your tap water sit for 24hrs before using. Most of the chemicals will outgas during that time. If I plan on going out fishing I'll fill a 5 gal bucket with water from the hose and let it sit for a day

[Northlander]

I either use my leech tamers in the livewell or when canoeing a floating screw top leech locker. I dont like the snap top ones because the tops pop open.

[Bobb-o]

or if you need to change the water within a half hour, the stuff that you use for aquariums in the yellow bottle gets rid of the chlorine and helps keep the leeches alive longer.

[Swamp Scooter]

I have seen the leech locker and the one the mesh bag too but I found something a few years back that works even better and you get one leech at a time. It is one of the Colman canteens. A small flip top insulated water jug. It is small(600ml), has a screw on cup/cap to dump the leech into and the flip top. Just give the thing a swirl and then pour out into the cup. Leeches come out one at a time! I put a couple of ice cubes in with the water and it stays great for a long time. Just change the water daily and add a chunk of ice and they stay alive for all week or so of fishing in Canada. It also floats so no chance of losing it. It does not have to hang ove the side of the boat and will not break and spill if you step on it.

[Aquaman01]

Ya'll gave me some inspiration! I went to the shed to look for a leech bucket and couldn't find one, nor was my wife willing to let me use one of our thermos bottles

so I looked around and saw an old water bottle.

It's a wide-mouth water bottle whose cap is held on with a plastic loop back around the neck. The plastic loop fulfills the lanyard requirement, and a couple of hundred 1/32" holes just below the neck fills the flow requirement. All that's missing is flotation/insulation. Wait-wait...I've got it!! We have some old tattered dense foam sleeping mats for tent camping. I'll just cut a shape, wrap it around the bottle and either hoseclamp or ducttape it in place!

Not a leech locker, leech tamer or leech tote. More like a leech cozy! I just hope I don't get confused and reach for the leech cozy when I'm looking for a beer cozy!