Any solutions for freshwater leeches?

[ski4xtc]

A friend of mine who owns a neighboring lake just called me to ask about leeches. Thankfully we have not had the problem. His two connected lakes are about eight feet deep. The leeches are about 1/4" long and are all along the shorelines. They have grass carp in the lakes but no other planted fish. Any easy solutions or anything he can do to ease the problem. I have heard bluegill work but not sure that is a good option. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or solutions.

[Waternut]

Haven't tried it yet but considering it for my shoreline which has the little tiny brown leeches sitting at the bottom. Not sure if that's what you have or not. I only get them on my feet when I walk in the soft junk at the bottom. http://www.thepondguy.com/product/pond-logic-muckaway

[A_B]

Bass eat them.

[Brady]

@ski4xtc I didn't know my ex wife was out at your friends lake. Took me lots of money and attorney fees to get rid of mine! :)

[Horton]

Todd or Jay?

[GOODESkier]

Not sure this is legal or even good for the environment, but if you mess with the PH of the water by adding LINE to it, the leaches will flat out die. Not sure the ramifications, but I worked at a summer camp, and we treated the swim area in the lake with lime, and ZERO LEACH ISSUES!

[Than_Bogan]

I'm not aware of a way to get rid of leeches completely, but I do know that a local ski lake (Oakham MA) used to have quite a mean leech population, and it got a lot better after some local fishermen did some stocking to boost the largemouth bass population.

[jackski]

For around your dock you can use salt licks like for horses. Just hang if off the dock in you starting or swim area. Not sure about the legalities of it but it works for small areas.

[cwillygood]

@Than_Bogan is right on, we have serious leach problem until some fisherman starting stocking the lake/pond and after a few years the leaches are pretty much gone, besides some small ones here and there

[boarditup]

Bluegills work. However, you want the variety that will not nibble on your body parts. Check with your local Natural Resources office. You will also need a top predator to keep the bluegills in check. We have Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike. Otherwise, the lake will get out of balance very soon. Only 4-5 pike for our 40-acres.

[swc5150]

Sounds funny, but the blue gill in our lake bite guy's nipples. One drew serious blood on my brother's nip. I'll be honest, it was 2 years ago, and I still can't stop laughing!

[E_T]

@swc5150 that happened to me today.. i did not enjoy it one bit. I proceed to beam back to my spaceship.

 

[MrJones]

We stocked our lake about 2.5 years ago and did not put any blue gil in specifically due to the nipple and mole biting issue. Bass, catfish, grass carp, and shiners. Of course the worst lakes I have been at for that have had people feeding the fish around the docks. Does not seem to be a good idea to me.

 

The lake is 5 years old and I have never seen a leach. I did lime the bottom and shores on the advice of another lake owner before we filled it as well which might have made a difference.