Fri, Oct 20th, 2023 - 9:34am
June 20, 2022 - 9:00am | By James McCarty
The Flag Outdoors Expert Steve Carney has your weekly Outdoors Angle right here!
As we slide into mid-June, leeches and crawlers are now starting to replace live minnows as the water has warmed into the low 70's. This is always a very predictable pattern as the walleyes and pike have now changed from early shoreline patterns to mid-lake structure.
Leeches are my go-to bait now but it really depends on the lake itself. Some lakes have tons of small perch and bluegills which raise havoc on your crawlers but leeches have a tendency to be much tougher and can resist those pesky panfish strikes.
I have talked about using a dental syringe to "blow" your nightcrawlers up and make them more bouyant. The same goes for leeches. Just a little puff of air into either tip of the leech will get it off the bottom and become much more visible to gamefish. That puff of syringe air also gets that leech very active.
Long snells are also a key to leeches in June. The snell is the section of leader line down from the sinker. Always have at least 5 feet of leader line to keep the leech well away from the sinker. This is especially critical on clear water lakes.
After a great Spring using minnows, the time has come to make the change.
Large leeches have been hard to find so you will have to be creative to find that perfect size. When you do, fish on!
Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.
