ORIGINAL: Pygmy
Travis...There's no doubt that leeches are deadly on smallmouths...
They seem to be more of a NORTHERN phenomenon.. I've never heard of anyone using them here in southwestern NY, and don't know any bait shops that carry them, but in places I've fished inOntario they are used a lot, and I know that in your area in the upper midwest they are very popular...They sure do catch fish and they are a fairly trouble free bait too.. They stay alive a long time and don't require much hassle to take care of, unlike minnows/shiners...
Here in NY's Finger Lakes, the most popular live baits for bass are minnows, crayfish, crawlers and hellgramites, known locally as dobson... For river fishing, add stone catfish, known locally as "tonies"...
I'll bet if we could get leeches here they'd work great, also...Probably could catch our own...Do you know how to catch/gather them..??..
No I don't know how to catch em but I know a few guys that do. I should ask them sometime. I see a point coming up here that you guys don't like minnows... that's not the kind of live bait I use for bass.. I use leeches and occasionally a night crawler. With leeches you can just put on a chunk of one and catch fish and it will stay on for multiple fish. I agree minnows suck especially for a fish like the bass.
goherd1111 I challenge you and the pro angler of your choice to come up to my neck of the woods and try your artificials against my buddy. come on I dare ya.
Another point that has been broughten up is that artificials catch bigger fish. That's not true for the north but I don't know much about southern fishing.