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at the STONEY POINT GRILL
December 9, 2008 we will be taping two shows before a studio audience and you are invited. One show will be taped at 7PM and a second show at 8PM. Thanks to the Bass Pro Shop in Bolingbrook, we will have a FREE raffle between the two shows and after the second show. Stoney Point Grill is located just east of LaGrange Rd. (Rt 45) off 191st Street in Mokena. Enter the driveway between Denny's and White Castle. Come early and enjoy the shows.
Articles
A Story About Leeches by Don Dziedzina |
Quite a few emails come to me from readers asking about fishing or some other aspect of the outdoors. Every once and awhile, when a question is asked, it sparks a memory of some experience I had. Let me share one of those stories with you.
An email message dealt with the purchase of bait over the internet or through mail order. What a familiar note that rang out.
I ordered leeches from a company that probably doesn’t even exist any more as it was so long ago. I was going on a fishing trip with a friend and we wanted some huge healthy leeches for trophy smallmouth bass and walleyes.
The order was placed over the phone for two pounds of the largest leeches the company had. Since I was working at the time, I had them delivered to my fishing partner’s house.
The leeches were shipped to his home the week of our trip up north. Oddly enough, the package was accepted by my friend‘s mother-in-law. Well, she thought it was just another package, so she took it and placed it next to his desk and never told him about it. This was a Tuesday afternoon. We were leaving on Friday night.
Upon my arrived at my partner’s house to pick him up, I asked if the leeches ever came. He said no but had the thought to check with his wife and mother in law to see if they were aware of any deliveries. Well, if you haven’t guessed it by now, the mother in law said a package was delivered on Tuesday. Oh boy.
The package was found and we were a bit concerned about opening it, especially in the house. We went outside and put the wind to our backs. The leeches were packed in a styrofoam container and sealed air tight. That container was in a sealed cardboard box.
To our surprise, with this box sitting in an unairconditioned room for three days, the leeches were all alive and healthy. Talk about lucky.
When we got to the lake near the Cisco Chain at the Wisconsin and UP boarder we had to wet a line right away.
The weather was quickly changing. Storms were coming in and we could hear thunder in the distance. We both had a couple of rods rigged with a small hook and a split shot. My partner and I both made a cast with a leech over a deep hole that had a pile of trees on the bottom of it.
It was only a matter of moments before we both had a huge smallmouth bass on. I netted both fish in the one net we had in the boat. While struggling with that to clear the tangles, my partner baited up a third rod with another jumbo leech and made a cast into the same hole again. On the drop he got a third smallie. Believe it or not, the three fish combined weighed over 18 pounds and my friend had a very impressive mount made with the fish by Ron Lax Taxidermy outside of Eagle River in Vilas County.
Memories like this can never be forgotten. There’s no doubt about it that these were very lucky leeches for sure.
I have since learned of a great way to store leeches for fishing. First get a bucket, preferred with a tight lid and foam lining. The bucket should he tall enough so that you can place a plastic water bottle inside and still close the lid.
Freeze a couple bottles of water. Keep one in your cooler with other ice and drinks, sandwiches, etc. Now take one of the frozen water bottles and put it in your leech bucket.
The water will stay cold and the leeches will attach themselves to the side of the bottle. Need a leech? Lift the bottle and some leeches will come along with it. The extra bottle of frozen water is for when one starts to melt down.
When baiting up, I like to place a leech into my fishing towel first to get the water off of it. That makes the squirmy little bugger easy to hold so a small wire hook can be placed in through the sucker and out the back of its head. I think it’s the head. By putting the hook through the sucker, the leech won’t ball up on the hook. Once in the water again it will swim naturally until it get picked up by your catch of the day.
Big leeches as well are medium sized ones are good for bass and walleye. These are ones that are from four to six inches long when swimming. Small leeches that are two to three inches long are good for panfish but will also catch a good share of gamefish too. I’ve seen on occasion real small leeches, about an inch and a half long at best and would use them for bluegills.
Leeches are really good baits to use, but remember this; keep them cold like you would nightcrawlers and minnows. Warm bait is often dead bait. I just got lucky one time.
