Pond Boss
Posted By: Snipe New aquatic critter.. - 07/18/20 10:15 PM
Observation at the pond last night while I was out taking a look at the Comet.. I pointed my 4-wheeler down the bank and turned the headlight on, looking into the water I was watching as a few minnows started showing up, then outta nowhere comes a leech. Looked to be about 4-5" long, redish-brown in color and a quite graceful swimmer. I've only seen 1 swimming leech in my life and it was a big dude up in a Canadian shield lake.
Does anyone know what leeches indicate or if this is a bad thing? I know they are present in areas around here in a much smaller, black form, but never seen one swimming like this.
In Bill Cody's smb article published several years back, in part 5, the forage types listed show a leech and this was quite similar in color and ruffled edges.
Posted By: Snipe Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/21/20 09:08 PM
I'm guessing by the lack of input, either I'm extremely boring :-)) or.. this is quite common everywhere but here.
Posted By: anthropic Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/21/20 09:20 PM
We used to fish with leeches, but then the lawyers objected. Professional courtesy.
Posted By: RStringer Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/21/20 09:24 PM
I had a leech in the pond this year but it was black. I was maybe 1-2 inches long. Im sure fish will eat them up but I would rather them not be in there. Mainly because we swim in ours a lot.
Posted By: Steve_ Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/21/20 09:35 PM
My first thought was that it could be a crane fly larvae (We always called them Oak Leaf Grubs in NY when we used to accidentally catch them while seining for minnows). They can get fairly big, and have the appearance of swimming when they get introduced into the water column, and also made excellent bait for jumbo YP.
Posted By: Snipe Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/22/20 03:21 AM
This one was very graceful and fairly big, 4-5" I'd guess.. There's YP present in good numbers so I hope they hammer the leeches! A few Saugeye as well and I know they will eat them so I'm hoping there isn't a large supply of them. This is the only one I've seen so maybe I was just in the right place at the right time.
Posted By: canyoncreek Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/22/20 01:08 PM
I have always wanted to cultivate leeches. That seems to be possible based on the fact that there is a ready supply for bait shops all over. I can never figure out how to get them to grow where you want them to. I would prefer them not to be in the pond in any great numbers. I would like to know how to trap them out of other ponds when I need some for fishing though!

I am interested in viewing the comet though! What direction do you look and at what time? I hear the best viewing is tomorrow?
Posted By: Theo Gallus Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/22/20 02:53 PM
Originally Posted by anthropic
We used to fish with leeches, but then the lawyers quit coming. Professional courtesy.
Perhaps the pond is getting ready for a revival of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous".
Posted By: Snipe Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/22/20 04:22 PM
Originally Posted by canyoncreek
I have always wanted to cultivate leeches. That seems to be possible based on the fact that there is a ready supply for bait shops all over. I can never figure out how to get them to grow where you want them to. I would prefer them not to be in the pond in any great numbers. I would like to know how to trap them out of other ponds when I need some for fishing though!

I am interested in viewing the comet though! What direction do you look and at what time? I hear the best viewing is tomorrow?

Look NW, directly below the top, fwd star of the big dipper (Opposite the handle) and it's about 1 fist above the horizon at arms length with the tail coming back up and east-nearly as long as the big dipper handle-and you must be completely away from any light pollution. 45-60min after sundown it starts to show.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/22/20 07:23 PM
Strange, I've also come across my first leech this year in 20 years of having my pond.
Posted By: neopond Re: New aquatic critter.. - 07/30/20 07:19 PM
I would think if waterfowl and snapping turtles are occasionally present in any pond, that leeches would be present too. As to identification of the types of leeches, I can't really speculate regarding that.
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