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Transporting Leeches


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Do you need to bring water to change out for transporting leeches from a lake?

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I don't use leeches all that much, but when I have them I keep them in the cooler in their container. I never put them in the live well. This is the way my dadbalways did it so I kept doing it that way. Never have to worry about having them in lake water. Maybe there is a reason to put them in the live well That I don't know about?

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sxviper, legally the water inside the containers, inside your cooler must be changed before leave the landing. If they(cooler/containers) where inside your boat while on the water.

Just pointing that out.

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The laws say, bait water not cooler water. I will not dump my cooler (with ice) out just because it was in my boat. And I don't see any where in the laws it say that.

I have no problem changing bait water.

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Bluewater, I was refering to the water inside the bait containers. Just pointing out that just because you kept it in the cooler doesn't exempt it form being changed.

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I was told by a CO who checked me coming off of Mille Lacs last summer that whether or not you use lake water (ie keeping your leeches in a cooler vs baitwell) you still have to empty that water and use bottled water when you leave the lake. He said that because you are putting your hands in the lake water, handling fish, etc you can still have things on your hands that transfer to your baits water when you put your hands in there to get new bait.

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The laws say, bait water not cooler water. I will not dump my cooler (with ice) out just because it was in my boat. And I don't see any where in the laws it say that.

I have no problem changing bait water.

This question came up at our annual meeting with the local CO's. The point of the law is to prevent the transportation of lake water. Any container containing water that was on your boat while it was launched must be emptied upon landing your boat. Doesn't matter what it was carried in, if it was in your boat it is considered lake water and must be dumped. You can talk all you want about not dumping your water but it won't hold up in court if you get caught. Good luck.

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That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. What's next a shower at all accesses to make Sure we are completely clean? I also think the law was intended for baitwells in the boat. Some people even some CO's have no common sense when it comes to interpreting the laws. My guess is if I ever get pulled over I will have to fight my case in court.

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John, Thanks for knowing everything. I am glad we have people like you to keep us minions in our place. If I go to court I will let you know so you can come and tell me "I told you so."

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I had this exact conversation with the water resource officer in Saint Cloud at the Sportsman's Show as I also never put lake water in my leeches, his explanation, "I understand your argument but unless I have been in your boat for every second it was on the water I can not see absolute proof that there was not in fact an exchange of water in the container, if you intend to keep the leeches or minnows you will have to have a container of water on shore and totally exchange the water by completely emptying the bait container and replacing the water." therefore there will be very little live bait used in my boat. He wouldn't get into a discussion about drinking water in my boat, probably thought I was getting a bit sarcastic and probably was. His next comment, "There will no longer be any warnings issued."

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Buy the cheap bottles of water keep inside the same cooler until you load your boat up and exchange water before you leave (make sure it is unopened and still sealed) this is one thing a officer told me last year you have proof that it isn't lake water and you give your leeches fresh water.

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Before we head to the lake we fill a cooler with well water and keep that in the back of the truck. We were checked by DNR last summer and he suggested the idea. This way IF we catch keeper eyes on Mille Lacs we can legally transport them back to the cabin to clean.

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Well nobody has absolute proof where the water in my truck came from either.

Its feel good legislation that will accomplish little to nothing.

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Like I said very little if ever any live bait in my boat. It is going to be bad enough that I have to let them crawl all over my boat with a magnifying glass trying to find something to ruin my day with, I am not going to argue with them about the water.

And I'm not exaggerating, last Thursday I had to even dig out the anchors and let them see the ropes to see if there were any "hitchhikers" attached before I could launch. Everything I did was watched and commented on while little notes were taken on a clip board. I asked if my fishing license and registration for the boat was needed too and was told no and he finally walked away.

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I had this exact conversation with the water resource officer in Saint Cloud at the Sportsman's Show as I also never put lake water in my leeches, his explanation, "I understand your argument but unless I have been in your boat for every second it was on the water I can not see absolute proof that there was not in fact an exchange of water in the container, if you intend to keep the leeches or minnows you will have to have a container of water on shore and totally exchange the water by completely emptying the bait container and replacing the water." His next comment, "There will no longer be any warnings issued."

Normally I back CO's and police officers 100%, because they have a tough job.

But the "I need absolute proof you did not exchange water...." troubles me.

What ever happened to the burden of proof lying on the accuser?? confused

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Well nobody has absolute proof where the water in my truck came from either.

Its feel good legislation that will accomplish little to nothing.

Derail alert!!!

True but this discussion is not about the sensibiilty of the law but about the legality of transporting live bait, leeches in particular.

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Quote:
Normally I back CO's and police officers 100%, because they have a tough job.

But the "I need absolute proof you did not exchange water...." troubles me.

What ever happened to the burden of proof lying on the accuser?? confused

They are enforcing the law. That is exactly what we pay them to do and I expect them to do it to the best of their ability and turning a blind eye to you, me, or anyone else is not necessarily appropriate. Don't blame the CO's for doing what the legislature we voted into office orders them to do.

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They are enforcing the law. That is exactly what we pay them to do and I expect them to do it to the best of their ability and turning a blind eye to you, me, or anyone else is not necessarily appropriate. Don't blame the CO's for doing what the legislature we voted into office orders them to do.

I don't think the legislature ordered them to issue tickets carte blanche, only where a definate violation of the law is concerned!

Early in their careers, young law enforcement officers have a tendency to overreact in certain situations.

This changes with age and experience.

Sometimes it's best that justice be served, rather than following the letter of the law without any wiggle room.

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I didn't say that so I would politely ask that you don't misrepresent me, thank you. I'm sure they did but again I ask, what does this have to do with answering the question of the thread?

The point is, whether we agree to it or not, if we want to bring our bait home alive we are required to dump all water that was in our boat including water that was in a cooler or bait bucket that we had in our boat and replace the water with water from shore. If you get caught moving a bait bucket from your boat to your truck without replacing the water, it will be your own problem.

Want to start another thread about how stupid the law is, go ahead and I will stand right beside you on your point. I think it is a dumb law but it is the law. Blame the source not the enforcer. The CO does not have the authority to make the laws and is not the source. His job is to enforce the laws that are passed.

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I don't think the legislature ordered them to issue tickets carte blanche, only where a definate violation of the law is concerned!

Early in their careers, young law enforcement officers have a tendency to overreact in certain situations.

This changes with age and experience.

Sometimes it's best that justice be served, rather than following the letter of the law without any wiggle room.

Whether justice is served or not is not within the power of law enforcement to decide. That is for the court to decide.

The point of the law is to prevent transporting lake water from one body to another. If a CO was not with you in the boat he is unable to determined whether or not you did or did not introduce lake water into your bait bucket. Therefore, the law requires that ALL water in the boat must be left at the lake including water that was held in bait buckets or coolers.

Those who have raised the question, my recommendation is to avoid taking the chance. Bring water from home to put your bait in if you want to bring it back home with you. A cooler works pretty nice because it keeps the water cool while you're out on the lake.

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That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. What's next a shower at all accesses to make Sure we are completely clean? I also think the law was intended for baitwells in the boat. Some people even some CO's have no common sense when it comes to interpreting the laws. My guess is if I ever get pulled over I will have to fight my case in court.

Bob, this thread was derailed from the begining....

The OP's question was answered in the very first reply. After that it became a discussion just like all threads here. There are a few topics that I am personally biased towards and will continue to beat the dead horse given the opportunity and I have no problem admitting that.

This AIS legislation is nothing but a waste of HUGE money and will end up being about as effective as the war on drugs has been.

Stickers, wash stations, boat plugs, hired inspectors, locked gates, checkpoints, blah blah blah.

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My question does not concern transporting leeches as much as it does fish. I don't have a livewell, but use a cooler with ice. We decide at the time the fish is caught if it will be released or kept. If kept it goes in the cooler. Of course, throughout the day, some of the ice melts. Do I have to just drain out the water from the cooler or do I have to take out the fish, dump out all the ice and water and then replace the ice before leaving the lake?

Really is getting complicated, but don't want to get a ticket. After all, the fish we keep might have some lake water in their mouths yet when thrown into the cooler. Would appreciate a straight answer on this, since I am sure others keep their fish like this, too.

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I fish the same couple of bodies of water (that are connected anyway). I just took my live well out and use a cooler so I couldn't even accidentally flip a switch and get 'dirty' water in my bait. I go to the water to fish, my live bait has tap water in it, I drive home with tap water in it - and GASP!'- DON'T replace it with more tap water :-0 I then put bait back in tap water at the house until the next time I bring bait and tap water with me again. It's such a malicious cycle I know, I feel terrible.

I know I know- you're probably thinking 'how can this guy sleep at night?' knowing he's breaking the law and transporting tap water that had minnows in it from home? Common sense prevail!!! WALLEYE WALLEYE WALLEYE! Should I wait here at the house for the DNR to come or should I just drive to the nearest office to turn myself in right now?

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So how do you prevent AIS when we have flooding like last spring?

How do stop the spread when the tail light assemblies will hold AIS from one body of water to another? Not all tail lights on boats are water tight.

You can not stop the spread and it is not going to help slow it down with this law either, but that is my opinion and I am entitled to that and I will follow the law as best I can.

As it was put earlier it is a feel good law and will not have a impact on the spread of AIS but It will impact our wallets in more way than one.

As for the OP question, I would ask the bait shop for some of their water in a separate container that you can leave in your vehicle until you leave the lake then swap the water.

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Or you could just put leeches in leech bedding and avoid the whole clean/dirty water talk. Never used it but worth a try.

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what if im usin berkly gulp, and i put one that has touched the water back in my jar. do i have dump my juice solution out??? i dont ef"N think so pal

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • SkunkedAgain
      It doesn't look like the lake level has gone up at all. I was up a week ago and struggled to get my boat in and out of the public landing on the west end of Head O Lakes. I used my paddle to push the boat further out to deeper water. I could hear the hull moving over the sandy/muddy bottom near the launch.
    • JerkinLips
      Pretty tough.  Was catching about 2 walleyes per hour and the biggest was only 13".  Back up Thursday so I hope I have better success.
    • smurfy
      the kid and I always check our stands prior.......i'll go back to check the conditions of said stands before he gets there to see what we need. while i'm at it if i can i shoot at grouse with shells that appear to not have bb,s in them!!!!🙄
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  With unseasonably warm weather, there are still some anglers hitting the water and most have been rewarded.  Limits of walleyes and saugers being caught, and the forecast looking ahead is favorable. The best bite on the south end of LOW has been in 22-28 feet of water. Water temperatures are dropping and as the temps cool further, the bite has been excellent.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners has been the program for most anglers.  Bring plenty of bait, as you’ll need to sort through some smaller fish and short biters.  Plenty of eater fish to be had, just have to do a bit of sorting.  Anglers are also reporting very good numbers of jumbo perch and occasional pike mixed in with the walleyes.     For those fishing structure, if you slide up on top of a rock pile, don't be surprised to catch a big smallmouth bass, there are plenty around.   This week’s hot colors have been gold, gold/glow white, gold/chartreuse, gold/orange, and gold/glow white/pink.     One tip, a stinger hook on your jig will catch you more fish if you start missing too many fish. On the Rainy River...  Bait dealers are reporting good numbers of shiners in the river this past week.  Interesting, each night is different.  Some areas have the small shiners called pinheads.  Other areas have the larger minnows.     The river is producing some nice walleyes in various spots from Four Mile Bay to Wheeler's Point, to Baudette all the way to Birchdale.  There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale with plenty of public boat ramps along the way.     Walleyes are being caught in various depths, but 15-25 feet of water has been good.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners has been highly effective. Some anglers are also trolling crankbaits to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing has been strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  Fall fishing continues to be excellent. Points, neck-down areas with current, shoreline breaks, and transition zones from rock to mud are all productive locations for walleye right now.   It is traditionally a mixed bag up around the many islands in this part of the lake and this fall is no different.  In addition to walleyes, pike, jumbo perch, and crappies are in the mix.  A jig and minnow has been the most effective presentation. Good muskie fishing is the norm during the fall of the year and area reports have been good.  In addition to casting, trolling shorelines, points and neckdown areas has been effective.  Muskies are often targeting schooling tullibees this time of year. The weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is conducive for fall fishing.  If you don't deer hunt, or if you have harvested your deer, consider some bonus walleye action before the ice forms.  The bite continues to be excellent.    
    • leech~~
    • gimruis
      I'm not one to leave that to chance the day I need it.  I always check on my stands prior to the season.  Just like I always shoot my rifle before the season and I always run my outboard motor before fishing opener.  Too many things to go wrong without confirming it ahead of time.   I guess it could have been beavers but the house itself didn't appear nearly big enough along one ditch.  It was about the size of chair.  I've seen beavers houses many times before and they appear much bigger than that.
    • leech~~
      Good thing you made a check run.  That would have really suked walking into opening day.  Why do you think muskrats and not beavers?  
    • gimruis
      Well I checked on stands over the weekend.  Kind of a disaster.   All the ditches are plum full and twice as wide becauase muskrats have clogged an area.  I spent an hour unclogging it and the water is slowly moving again, but our bridges and planks were underwater.  The back portion of the land where the best stand is was inaccessible.  Hopefully that changes by Saturday.  I have a feeling the muskrats are just going to clog it back up again.   Tons of standing corn still too.  They've started on it, but being so wet now with more rain coming, whatever's there will remain there for the foreseeable future.   All the grassland is completely flattened like a pancake due to 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow.  That eliminates about 75% of the pheasant habitat in this spot.  Total buzz kill.  And this specific spot was one of my better producers last season because the grass was intact and lush through December last year.
    • BWpineisland
      Jerkin, how was the fishing?
    • JerkinLips
      45.6°F Saturday afternoon.  Lake Vermilion was quite empty.
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