Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations LEECHES...Good or bad???

I wouldn't call them obscure.

Hang Loose,

I think getting rid of leeches would be like getting rid of mice from a field.

However, you may be able to reduce the population, and have some really great bait. When I was a kid, we used a coffee can, rocks, and small bluegill to catch lots of them. (Lots of them also caught us.) Here is a good link for catching them the way we did:

Catching Leeches

Ken

Hang Loose, Just FYI, stay tuned because most likely Ken will soon be sporting a recipe for sauteed leaches, country style.

He calls it "West Virginia Pâté de Foie Gras"

Now that I have stopped my eyes from bleeding envisioning a pantyhose-clad, leech covered 500lb, Jhap I'll TRY to help answer a question.

IIRC, I read somewhere that ALL ponds eventually get leeches, but unless the waterbody is very large, the problem rarely lasts more than 2 seasons.

With that in mind hang_loose (NO JHAP--NOT YOU!!) consider this link's info to avoid them till they go away.

http://www.uaex.edu/wneal/Pond_Management/pages/topics/leeches.html

Edit: more links

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/fisheries/topics/leeches.htm


Although they will probably never truly go away, keeping a swimming area plant free will allow fish to eat any that dare to try the unprotected areas where you like to swim.

Perhaps if catmadoo lived further south, he might embark upon creating a recipe for country-fried leech.

catmandoo, might try that.. Do you think chicken livers would work... if I can keep the CC's away from it??

Sunil... That reminded me of a joke I read in Readers Digest..

Whats the difference between a zoo in Louisiana and other zoos?




The Louisiana zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage............along with a recipe.

I'll pass on the sauteed though.

Thanks guys.

I may have led a deprived life, but I've never seen an actual leech.

Deprived? No. Sheltered, maybe.

You've obviously seen at least 1 tick.

I guess I've picked 1000 leeches off myself, some of them engorged with blood. I never got an infection, or even a sore from them. I don't hold a grudge, they're fine with me. Every time I pulled one off, I thought about what great fish bait it would be.

Same for me except with ticks. Plus, fish don't seem to like eating ticks.

You've never seen a leech???? Loser. Didn't you just turn fifty?

Must not have many in-laws.

Rad, thats classic.

Speaking of what fish don't like to eat...

Ever feed your bluegills those Japanese beetles that get so prolific in the in the summer? I noticed my bluegills will eat them but only as a last resort. Maybe because I feed them? I do know they give off a foul odor. Perhaps the bluegills don't like it either?

I dont EVEN wanna hear about Ken's leechead cheese conconctions.

Seems as if someone posted long ago about a floating trap for those japanese beetles. He caught thousands of them.

284 POUNDS!!!

Dam it Brettski, see what you've gone and done!

Theo next time I see a leech I'll mail one to you. You know me always trying to help a brother out.

All the rest of the leaches I find I'm shipping to Brettski's pond.

Send him a muskrat or two also.

I'll chip in an otter.

Hang_Loose -- I would think that you could use chicken liver. You need to squash the top of the can almost closed anyway, so I would think that would keep the catfish out.

Also, the more I think about it, hanging JHAP in a big nylon stocking over your pond might just scare the leeches away. I believe he may even be available for an adventure (his wife is out of town). Just make sure you use a real heavy strap, we wouldn't want JHAP to SNAP.



Naw, no recipes for leechead cheese (yet) -- but . . .

here is a neat clip of Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs), up in my old stomping grounds, learning how to devein leeches before dusting in seasoned flour and deep frying:

Mike Eats Leeches

Makes me want to visit the relatives.

Theo -- if you are ever in the Duluth, MN / Superior, WI area in the summertime, just let me know. I can make arrangements for you to get up close and personal with some leeches. Our family still has a cabin on a lake that is filled with leeches (and big fat walleye). Just a little salt takes them off real fast.

And -- no muskrats right now, but I did have a soft-shelled armadillo getting a drink out of the pond's emergency overflow the other evening. Unfortunately, the overflow was too high and wide for me to jump over it, so I didn't catch him.



Good Eatn'
Ken

Ahhhh, possum innards!

Possums are so cute!

I love possums, they're slow and ugly and I can relate to that.

Ole possum, was country when country wasn't cool.

Burgermeister: Here is the info. from a 2005 PB post by Redfishman on A large japanese beetle trap.


Time to deploy my floating Japanese Beetle traps. They worked really well last year. Thousands of beetles came and were gobbled up by schools of bluegills and LMB's. At times there were carpets of beetles with 50+ fish feeding. I don't know if they effectively put weight on the fish (I think they do) but it is fun to watch the fish feed. build one yourself and see:

Cut the bottom from a plastic water jug from the office or Home Depot. file and tape the sharp edge I used automotive weather stripping.

Get an inner tube from truckers Supply size 400/480-8 Part # LTT-400

order beetle trap (top only)
http://www.snow-pond.com/TrapLure/traplure.html
roughen up surface of jug and glue on with goop

Anchor where you can watch Finished product:


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#18635 - May 24, 2005 02:27 PM Re: Floating Beetle Trap