Is a leech tamer (mesh bag) big enough to keep 1lb of leeches for five days?

No. You'd want something like a BaitKing, LeechKing or Leech Locker for that. They will keep your bait safe from turtles and other critters. The Leech Tamers are great for daytrips and smaller amounts of leeches, but a pound would be way too much IMHO.

Should be big enough, might be a little tight, but if the fish are biting you won't have to worry about them not fitting. You are only taking 1lb of leeches? We are going in next weekend and will be bringing in 4-5lbs of those slimmy fish catching miracles.

We used it for our one pound of leeches and it kept them healthy for 8 days. Each night we would fill the plastic bag that they came in with water and put the tamer inside and stored it safe in camp. Just in case otters, snappers or others would find them floating while we slept.
The remaining leeches were so healthy at the end of our trip we gave them to a group starting their trip.

Chuck

Thanks for the info. I think well try the tamer, putting them in the plastic bag at night per TBGC. Yes, only 1lb, we weren't going to take any until I read a few of the threads on this board, then I knew I had to make room for some. Thx.

What I like to do is to bring a plastic gallon jug, and have the leeches put in bags with oxygen, place them in the jug for protection from bursting the bag, then when you get to camp, take them out of the plastic bag and pour them in the gallon Jug, take out what you need when you go fishing, keep the rest in the shade and change water two or three times a day and no worries...

Bruce

1 pound fits just fine in my leach tamer and lasts 4 days.

I put 2 lbs in a small BaitKing. We traveled with them in a plastic bag and air (all purchased from Voyouageur North).

At camp, we removed the plastic bag and put the leeches directly in the bait king.

Each day, I would grab a few handfuls for my leech tamer. The bait king would keep floating safely at camp.

Every once in a while, the vecro on my leech tamer would not seal completely and my leeches would escape. Since most of my leeches were back at camp, it was not a big deal. It if had been my entire leech supply, I would have been heartbroken.

But leeches worked great. They are definitely worth whatver hassle it might take...

This year on our basecamping trip we developed a nice system of keeping our leeches. We purchased a leech locker from TGO and 1.5 lbs of leeches. We kept all the leeches in the locker at base and when we wanted to go fishing each canoe would take a handful or two and put them in a leech tamer. With changing the water in the locker at least once a day we kept all of them alive for the entire week.

I read another thread where someone punched some holes in a gatorade container, put the leeches in, filled it with water, and tied it to the boat. I tried it and it worked great. I only encountered a few dead ones on a 5 day trip. I just gave it a squeeze every once in awhile under water and that seemed to be all the replacement water they needed. I was just very conscious about keeping the bottle in the water whenever I could.

When I portaged, I just tied the rope off a little shorter and it was no hassle at all. I can't say for sure that it held up to any turtle attacks, but we did have quite a few turtles around a couple of our campsites and the bottle was never affected by them.

I'm sure there are a lot of different ways to skin the cat, but this one was cheap, convenient, and effective for me.

Good Luck!
-Nick

TGO would be the expert on this, but I think it has a lot to do with the time of the year. The leeches are much more resilient earlier in the year.

Just got back from 5 days in the BWCA. I put two pounds of leeches in a two quart coleman insulated water jug. Changed the water every couple hours or so. Kept the leeches in the shade and it worked perfect. There were a few dead leeches after the 4th day but less than 5. Had enough left over to give to 8 ladies who were just coming in.

We take 1/2 pound of jumbo leeches for 3 guys for 3 days of fishing and have never run out. Even with 5 people we have never run out. But, (and I have posted this before) we keep them in a nalgene bottle with two lids. One lid has small holes (leeches can fit through small holes) the other lid is solid. At the landing all the leeches go in the bottle with fresh water, put the solid lid on and throw it in a pack. Keeps your stuff dry and your leeches alive. When you get to camp put on the lid with holes and tie it to a bush. If you keep it in the water (and tied securely) you won't lose a single leech. When shore fishing put on the solid lid and turn it up side down, the leeches stick to the lid making them easy to grab. We like this system so much that we have two leech bottles, one for each canoe. Never had a problem with turtles either.