Tiger Leach Strategies??

Hey guys,

The kids and I did some panning west of Oberon, and experienced Tiger Leaches for the first time! I've never know a leach to hurt when it bites! And they swim fast - its like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, watching them zero in on the splashing of the pan.

My first strategy was to simply lift the pan out of the water intermittently, but the suckers (pun intended) wizened up to that strategy, clinging onto the bottom of the pan and then crawled over to my hand and bit me again! By this stage, the girls were not keen, with my son opting to hop from spot to spot, relying on the fact that they take time to swim to the new spot.

So what do people do? Pan out of a secondary tub? Super Duper Aeroguard? Put a sacrificial lump of meat up stream (none of my kids volunteered...)? Chain Mail?

Cheers

maybe try a thin pair of cotton gloves, i have a mate that used to wear stockings when in the water he swore that the stocking stopped the leaches, i couldnt bring myself to cross dress in the scrub, but i never heard him complain about the leaches either

take a friend use as bait easy :lol:

I bought a pair of thin (Rashie type) dive pants and reef shoes to combat them.
Spray aeroguard on you and then tuck a pair of nylon tracksuit pants into your socks and have sneakers over the socks this stops them. Relentless little buggers those tiger leaches, they prefer still water to running water.

Gotta see some photos of those little suckers in action next time !

Shove a stick up their klaker turn them inside out cook over hot coals,delish.Not the ones that have just bled your mate dry though. :lol:

silver said:

Gotta see some photos of those little suckers in action next time !

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Little!

I do this. A pair of stockings under the top garb. Pair of socks and cotton gloves.
We got the buggers down here and when they come calling,
Who cares what you have underneath the Hard Yacka's. :lol:
It is quite funny to see a bloke ripping his shorts off with a leach hanging on to the tackle. :lol: :lol: :8
At that stage, You know who your mates are.
Always wear black sheer. It looks trendy.

jamie said:

maybe try a thin pair of cotton gloves, i have a mate that used to wear stockings when in the water he swore that the stocking stopped the leaches, i couldnt bring myself to cross dress in the scrub, but i never heard him complain about the leaches either

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Contact with an open flame works to get them off but trying to get it on the leech while its thrashing about on a child to avoid contact can be a mission, even more so if the child is in distress and panic so not a good idea unless it's your only option.

Salt has my vote on freshwater leeches and almost works immediately, the slimy buggers just drop off. I never leave home without it.

The leech experience can scar a child for life, perhaps even some adults too so I educated my little ones (not so little these days) before heading out, they just love sitting down with you on the PC while showing them pictures and reading a few links, good bonding time too. Following up with a bit more toolbox talk while at camp for further conditioning

Conditioning could be the difference between an first time leech encounter with the kids and the last time the kids ever get into the water with you again, particularly if the Mrs is over protective and she hears about it then your in strife big time, your on ya own next trip I recon

If you leave them on long enough then most of the time they just fatten up and drop off.

Oh I do remember one time driving home and feeling itchy every now and again on my calf and feeling moist so I pulled over and lifted my jeans up and there was a big fat one sucking in from the front end and squirting out from the rear end, my sock was soaked in blood and there was some on the floor pan too. I was almost home so he was on there for a good two hours and some, go figure 8)

More information bellow:

http://australianmuseum.net.au/leeches

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech

Cheers,

Ross

We had a similar problem at Ophire last weekend. They we attracted more to my wife then me.
She had a few that came to her pan and stuck on to the bottom or sides, they did this on several occasions. She put on a pair of rubber gardening cloves and they left her alone. They tried me once when i was panning like my wife near the bank. But once I moved to a large rock in the centre of the streem with running water, they never ventures out to me. Maybe thats the trick stay mid stream in flowing water. We always wear gum boots as well so wading in the water is not a problem.

My four year old son got a leach on his leg, just shook it off and tells the story to his school mates how big it was. I got one on my toe and pranced around trying to kick it off squealing like a fairy that just lost her pixie dust. I'm emotionally scarred for life, but salt and a bit off composure may help next time.
Jon

silver said:

Gotta see some photos of those little suckers in action next time !

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Here you go silver compliments of Grabben Gullen

Edit: size 9 boot

Ahh...can't stand those things. Iv'e had too deal with a few...but it always ends up better for them if they leave me alone hehee.

Ha blisters, reminds me of a time on the Turon despite all this conditioning I preach. I was chest deep popping rocks like a possessed demon and both boys were in and out of the water having a blast when all of a sudden I heard a curdling scream so when I turned around my youngest boy Constantine was walking backwards in hysteria and I thought oh boy here we go. I approached him on the bank and the boy was all white, distressed so I grabbed him and asked where was he hurt and he couldnt respond nor look at me but was pointing so I looked over at what he was pointing at and his brother Christopher was sitting on a tree root sticking out of the bank in complete harmony playing with the tail end of leech while it waged its tail which was attached to his inner thigh. That yarn comes out every trip in front of the campfire, GOLD!

Back on topic: I also keep pantyhose in the kit with legs chopped which my wife has sewn elastic top and bottom so it doesnt roll up or down so freely, the elastic looks like a garter up high on the thigh I use the modified pantyhose when Im moving material with the WalBanker. I dont use the pantyhose when test panning but always have the salt nearby.

There you go I'm finally out of the closet when it comes to pantyhose, I just needed time

If this helps there are these if your in the shallows if you cant knock up something yourself:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=leech+socks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=zpvFVvvhDc_gjwOQ85rADA

Cheers,

Ross

Thanks for the picky blisters,... never seen nor heard of them before,... makes me think I might be living a sheltered life (ha).
Funny story Ross,... still chuckling at that in our houshold. :lol:

Rusty_G said:

Ahh...can't stand those things. Iv'e had too deal with a few...but it always ends up better for them if they leave me alone hehee.

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Lets just say the kids were very inquisitive with their sticks and the sucker didn't make it. They spent more time paying it attention than panning.

And everyone laughed when we all saw the pic of RJ dressed for the rocky horror thing he went to, but we seem to have a lot of guys here with stockings/panty hoes in their kit, starting to worry a little bit feel strangely at home lol, joking guys

The other thing to use not mentioned here is the elbow length red chemical gloves. They help save your knuckles if your digging with hand tools around rocks and crevices that are below the water line.

Hmm... a man in stockings wearing red elbow length rubber gloves. I'm not sure I like where this is going :lol:

As long as no-one says they're going camping...