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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Fishing Forum Leech question |
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05/22/2019 01:06PM (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
All this chatting about leeches has me remembering the occasional leech that wraps itself tightly around the shaft of my hook and then secretes a slime, a gelatinous cocoon. Does anyone know why a leech does that?
I will paddle eternal, Kevlar and carbon.
05/22/2019 03:46PM
SweetBerryWine: "Leeches used to do this to me and it was because I was double hooking them. Now, I only hook the leach once, 1/4" below the sucker. My leech balling-up problem has halted in its entirety. "
Hmmm. I single hook them and it still happens to me, maybe one in a hundred.
I will paddle eternal, Kevlar and carbon.
05/22/2019 03:48PM
OMG, happens to me all the time and usually just out of the blue. I imagine that the leech has just seen the world's largest walleye come within a fraction of a millimeter of ending its life and in self defense, rolls into a rock hard ball so tightly that its insides seep out onto its outsides. No other logical explanation for it.
05/22/2019 06:25PM
If you had a sharp hook stuck through you and were thrown into the lake as bait for something much larger than you, you would excrete something slimy and gelatinous, too. :)
"Keep close to Nature's heart, yourself; and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ~ John Muir
05/22/2019 06:32PM
SweetBerryWine: "Leeches used to do this to me and it was because I was double hooking them. Now, I only hook the leach once, 1/4" below the sucker. My leech balling-up problem has halted in its entirety. "
+1. You must be using the big ones with the yellow stripe! :)
Not to Hurry-Not to Worry
05/23/2019 09:28AM
I don't know why but that does make me think. I grew up hooking through the sucker. I have a friend that hooks through the opposite tail end. I was taught that through the sucker will not tear off the hook as easy on a light tail bite. I have no idea if that is accurate or not. Where are you hooking your leech?
05/23/2019 10:43AM
Selfsuffi: "I don't know why but that does make me think. I grew up hooking through the sucker. I have a friend that hooks through the opposite tail end. I was taught that through the sucker will not tear off the hook as easy on a light tail bite. I have no idea if that is accurate or not. Where are you hooking your leech?
"
Through the sucker.
I will paddle eternal, Kevlar and carbon.
05/23/2019 11:06AM
Jackfish: " If you had a sharp hook stuck through you and were thrown into the lake as bait for something much larger than you, you would excrete something slimy and gelatinous, too. :)"
Im too slow at the keyboard today, my exact thoughts.
"So many lakes, so little time." WWJD
05/23/2019 06:30PM
missmolly: "Selfsuffi: "I don't know why but that does make me think. I grew up hooking through the sucker. I have a friend that hooks through the opposite tail end. I was taught that through the sucker will not tear off the hook as easy on a light tail bite. I have no idea if that is accurate or not. Where are you hooking your leech?
"
Through the sucker. "
Hook it about 1/8th inch BELOW the sucker, as the sucker is very flimsy and the hook can easily pull out if hooked through the middle of it.
As far as the Leech balling on your hook, it will occasionally but all you need to do is hold the leech and hook barely in the water near the boat for about 30 seconds, and the Leech will usually straighten itself out & try to swim away.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Outdoors-Bait-Tackle/1606420532911075?skip_nax_wizard=true
05/24/2019 05:33AM
The Great Outdoors: "missmolly: "Selfsuffi: "I don't know why but that does make me think. I grew up hooking through the sucker. I have a friend that hooks through the opposite tail end. I was taught that through the sucker will not tear off the hook as easy on a light tail bite. I have no idea if that is accurate or not. Where are you hooking your leech?"
Through the sucker. "
Hook it about 1/8th inch BELOW the sucker, as the sucker is very flimsy and the hook can easily pull out if hooked through the middle of it.
As far as the leech balling on your hook, it will occasionally, but all you need to do is hold the leech and hook barely in the water near the boat for about 30 seconds, and the leech will usually straighten itself out and try to swim away."
Thank you TGO!
05/24/2019 05:20PM
missmolly: "Selfsuffi: "Thank you TGO!"
Yeah, thanks, Jim. How's retirement going? "
Absolutely fantastic missmolly, thanks for asking. With no particular place to go, and the rest of my life to get there allows me to be the "Ultimate Vegetable"!!! :)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Outdoors-Bait-Tackle/1606420532911075?skip_nax_wizard=true
05/24/2019 07:16PM
The Great Outdoors: "missmolly: "Selfsuffi: "Thank you TGO!"
Yeah, thanks, Jim. How's retirement going? "
Absolutely fantastic missmolly, thanks for asking. With no particular place to go, and the rest of my life to get there allows me to be the "Ultimate Vegetable"!!! :)"
Woo-hoo! I'm retiring in increments. 17 years ago, I quit the 9-5, which was more like 7-9. A couple years ago, I quit road trips. In another 3.5 years, I hope to quit the last of it.
I will paddle eternal, Kevlar and carbon.
05/26/2019 07:32PM
missmolly: "The Great Outdoors: "missmolly: "Selfsuffi: "Thank you TGO!"
Yeah, thanks, Jim. How's retirement going? "
Absolutely fantastic missmolly, thanks for asking. With no particular place to go, and the rest of my life to get there allows me to be the "Ultimate Vegetable"!!! :)"
Woo-hoo! I'm retiring in increments. 17 years ago, I quit the 9-5, which was more like 7-9. A couple years ago, I quit road trips. In another 3.5 years, I hope to quit the last of it. "
We are on the same schedule missmolly. I have 3 years 6 months and 2 days to go.(but who is counting :) ). Looking forward to more fishing time then!
Dave G.
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