Leeches trick?

Spent Saturday evening floating leeches under bobbers. Time and time again, I found that the leech had tangled the end of my line into a knot!

Here was the exact scenario:

0-5 mph wind
8 lbs floro leader
1/16 oz Fireball short shank jig (tied direct to the leader)
Each leech was hooked one time through the “sucker”
Medium size ribbon leeches kept in water at the same temp as the lake
Soft “lob” cast 15’ from the boat

What am I doing wrong? Anyone else have leeches twist the line into a knot?

I would add a heavy pich weight 8 inches above the jig head my self.
Then I hook through the sucker and re hooked through the body center line area or what ever looks most natural

They ball up like that in the cold water. Water probably still too cold for leeches where you were fishing.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

They ball up like that in the cold water. Water probably still too cold for leeches where you were fishing.

-J.

That was my first thought. Does seem odd if you stored them in the same water temp as the lake your were fishing, but I would agree that in earlier season, cooler water they usually seem to ball up.

Were your leeches slimy?
I have had leeches ball up or just plain twist around the line until I wiped the slime off of them.
I don’t know why they occasionally get slimy but they do and that seems to solve the problem.

I’ve been fishing leaches on Devil’s Lake for 20 years. On occasion will ball up for no apparent reason. I hook them once through the sucker and that’s it. Saw local pro on tv show who always hooks them once about 1/2 way down. Never tried it but I will this year. Maybe gives better presentation? Prevents balling up? We shall see…..

I’ve always had the best luck keeping leeches lively by storing them with ice. Whatever your water temp, they should “warm up” and get active. If they’re floating in the live well or next to the boat, they might match the top water temp but not that from a couple feet down.

Polar Bear wrote:

I’ve always had the best luck keeping leeches lively by storing them with ice. Whatever your water temp, they should “warm up” and get active. If they’re floating in the live well or next to the boat, they might match the top water temp but not that from a couple feet down.

Agree. Keep them in a cooler on ice.

My Helix unit said the surface temp was 64.5 degrees and we were only fishing in 8-10 FOW.

To be clear, the problem was not that the leeches were “balling up.” Instead they were wrapping themselves around the line and jig an in that act effectively tying a knot.

I’ll try the suggestion of double hooking them mid-section next time!

We used to to call that being “slimed” by the leech. It would essentially crawl its way up the line and make a giant mess, leaving slime on the line as far as it could climb.

The solution? Take that one off and try a new one.

Obsession wrote:

I’ll try the suggestion of double hooking them mid-section next time!

Could do this, when jigging in Canada they guy fishing with us, always hooked it twice and tried to not fully puncture with the second hook to cover the hook up was his logic and it worked. I have had it happen quite a few times to me also, and agree it’s not balling up it somehow grabs the line and ties a knot. The slime theory is a new one to me however if I think back they may have been slimy when this happened.

Can we train them to tie fishing knots?

Try soaking them in 87 octane.

It happens… like said, try another one… dip it in next to the boat and observe, if the next one does too.

I have the same thing happen the few times each season I slip bobber fish. I really don’t think there is anything you can do to stop it or prevent it. I’ve tried several of the things people have mentioned and some days nothing seems to work. If I plan a full day of bobber fishing I’ always rig several rods right from the start. If one gets messed up I grab a different rod and toss that one out while I work on solving the problem on the other.

I believe live twist contributes to this issue. If I have it happening I always retie with a fresh piece of line. Adding a swivel between the weight and hook has seemed to mostly eliminate the issue for me, at least I haven’t had it happen in quite some time.

grubson wrote:

I believe live twist contributes to this issue. If I have it happening I always retie with a fresh piece of line. Adding a swivel between the weight and hook has seemed to mostly eliminate the issue for me, at least I haven’t had it happen in quite some time.

Also agree with this. It should have nothing to do with hooking them twice. And in fact I would not recommend doing that as you will restrict the leeches movement and not look very natural.

Keep the leeches cold and in the cooler and add a small barrel swivel about 8-10 inches above your jig. Should drastically reduce or eliminate your issue.

I do quite a bit of bobber fishing with leeches, and this problem seems to happen once in a while, but when it does it seems to be all day, every leech. I always thought it had to do with the underwater currents + the water temp where I fish Where I’m fishing, your bobber will “walk” west right up until sundown then it’ll walk east. Which is great IMO it’s almost like trolling a small, limited area without actually having to troll.

When it’s too cold they ball up and if the current is flipping them up towards the sinker then they seem to grab and tangle the line like that.

Hook it in the middle – 2 pierces – from top down first then back up. Then they sit horizontal too.

We chased big (8-12#) walleyes for a few years and could only get them on slip bobbers and leeches. Never hit a minnow or crawler. We used up to 1 1/4″ WIDE leeches that really spun the line on the hook. So big they “danced” the bobber. Once I figured this out no issues.

lindyrig79 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>grubson wrote:</div>
I believe live twist contributes to this issue. If I have it happening I always retie with a fresh piece of line. Adding a swivel between the weight and hook has seemed to mostly eliminate the issue for me, at least I haven’t had it happen in quite some time.

Also agree with this. It should have nothing to do with hooking them twice. And in fact I would not recommend doing that as you will restrict the leeches movement and not look very natural.

Keep the leeches cold and in the cooler and add a small barrel swivel about 8-10 inches above your jig. Should drastically reduce or eliminate your issue.

I have never noticed me catching less then my buddies when hooking my leeches twice. But I have noticed mine don’t get stolen so easily

Who would have thought there was so much technique to fishing a leeche?

Ive been told that we have been hooking leeches wrong this hole time. Youre supposed to hook them in the opposite end apparently. I never do it, but do any of you do that or heard this?

CaptainMusky wrote:

Ive been told that we have been hooking leeches wrong this hole time. Youre supposed to hook them in the opposite end apparently. I never do it, but do any of you do that or heard this?

Is the logic that they’ll swim away from the line instead of up toward the bobber causing slack and twists?

Also, anyone got any rock bass repellant for leeches
I love a relaxing evening of slip bobber fishing and have caught some dandies, but at least on our lake you really have fight off the rockies. Some nights it’s a lost cause.

I am not sure the exact reasoning, but I think the dude who told me that said because that is how they swim in the water or something. Maybe it is to avoid them from curling up on the line not sure.

I don’t fish with leeches that often. 99% of the time it’s crawlers, cranks, or plastics.

When I do fish with leeches on trips in Canada or to other inland lakes, I always hook them once through the sucker without issue. The key I’ve found is to keep them on ice, and to observe them boat side and how they react before actually fishing them. I do use a tiny swivel about 24″ up as well to eliminate line twist.

Not sure if this matters but I have always hooked the leech just “under” the sucker or just below the bottom of it…

Has worked 98% of the time with great swimming action