I've used bunny leeches in rivers for trout but never tried it in a lake or with a live leech.

 

I've used bunny leeches in rivers for trout but never tried it in a lake or with a live leech. 

Yeah, I use bunny leech flies and egg-sucking leech flies all the time and I know they're deadly. 

I'm interested in people's experience with real live leeches.

 

Just letting you know it should work... but should and does could be 2 different things. Good luck.

 

Don,

I have tried them briefly a couple of times at Elevenmile with no luck...I tried drifting one under a bobber in the weed pockets in the west end with no luck the last time up there with Terre...I had tried that a couple of times at Eleven Mile...what I havent tried is Walleye style on some drop offs at Eleven Mile on a walking sinker lindy rig style...the reason I tried the small dime sized bobber method in the weed is that it is or was absolutely deadly at Lake John...a muddy weedy lake that I believe has a good leech population...

If you ever fished the west shore at John between the south ramp and the chokecherries you know that are rows of weeds with swimming lanes where I had often seen big trout cruise that were pretty descriminate...you could toss a worm under a dime size bobber and the fish would turn on hearing the splash...look at the worm and keep swimming like oh I have seen that before...when I did that with a leech under a bobber the same fish at John would casually turn like with the worm...like it was going to ignore it and just scream over there and kill it...leeches are deadly or were deadly at John...I havent had them up there in about 5 years...dont trout fish as much as I used to...discovered wipers...and as I read on here from someone...friends dont let friends fish for trout...

 

Don, smallmouth were stocked in elevenmile a long time ago... a DOW guy I talked to said they didnt take hold, but he said every once in a while someone claims they caught one out there walleyes were once stocked there too.  Maybe if you cant get a trout to take the leech one long lost gaint smallmouth will.   

 

Find a good Brookie or Big Cutthroat lake and look out. I think it is one of the best Brookie baits there is.

 

Of course I only fish with flies...

 

Don, my experience with leeches in colder water is they just tend to curl up in a ball rather than do the wiggle thing. Makes it tougher to fish with them like we do in warmer water.

Might be warm enough at Elevenmile this time of year. I say give it a try, you never know.

 

I have caught trout on leeches (by accident) never targeted trout with them.

When I have, it has usually been slip bobbin for perch or walleye.

 

Almost all of my big cutts and brookies have come from leech imitations, but never used live ones.

 

I think what Ed said about the leech balling up in cold water has a lot of merit! I bet they would work now though?

I have caught probably 200 or so nice trout at Spinny and 11-Mile in the last three years on a Vibra Fin Plasric leech. I jig it back to shore quickly on a 1/8 oz Gopher Mushroom head. It looks alive in the water and they almost take the rod out of hands when they strike. Only lure i use now at Spinney! Pike love them also, so I get cut off alot

 

I've heard about you and that Vibra-Fin, Neal. You cornered the market on those black ones when they quit making them, as I recall. So how many thousand do you still have left?? ;D

Well, I'm going to give these leeches a workout tomorrow.

I'll let you know how they work.

 

I've heard about you and that Vibra-Fin, Neal.  You cornered the market on those black ones when they quit making them, as I recall.    So how many thousand do you still have left??   ;D

Well, I'm going to give these leeches a workout tomorrow. 

I'll let you know how they work.

My last order was for 250. I probably have about 120 left? Three of my 5 biggest smallies have come on them. Dozens of pike? And two keeper walleyes at Aurora. Actually I should use them more at Aurora, but I have had so much luck with Power Minnows and LC Pointers out there I haven't used them as much as I should.

I will be up at Spinney alot this fall and that is all I will use there!

 

thats funny
I have a buddy who swears thata10 lb smallmouth followed his tube jig right to the boat and sat there for a minute. He said he was gonna try to take a picture but moving around spooked him. He swore on his mom and hes not one to tell lies. about 3 weeks ago @ eleven mile I believe him

 

The largest brookie I ever caught, 3.5#, was on a live leech, which I got out of the same pond as the fish. No balled up leech there!

 

Leeches ball up in the low 50s for temp ranges...most trout waters are over that this time of the year unless you are up really high...

 

At Seminoe res. in wyo. they work great. We always pick up them slimers when we are trying to catch eyes. My buddy has said he has hammered trout night fishing for eyes with leeches up there. Leeches are such a great bait for all fish.