Invasion of the Spiny Water Flea

[Billy Bones]

Recently got back into fishing on Lake Ontario. Encountered the spiny water flea for the first time earlier this year. Terrible little critter, (absolutely ruined that first trip.)

My fishing time is valuable to me, and being just naturally stubborn, I decided to do the test for myself. After some research and a bunch of opinions I decided on three of most recommended fishing lines. Ande line 30 lb., Berkely Big Game 30 lb. and Flea Flicker 20 lb. by Cortland. Ran all lines off Downriggers and Dipsy’s

Although the Ande Line and the Berkely Big Game were much improved over the 20 lb. fluorocarbon that I had been using, they would still have a string of fleas just above the swivel. The Flea Flicker although it looks terrible on the reel because of its elliptical profile would have only a tiny glob of fleas, about half the size of a dime, right at the swivel. This can be overcome by adding a leader of 20 lb. fluorocarbon, 4 to 6 feet at the bottom of the line. Or will be stopped by a flasher or dodger.

All three lines were run at the same time in the same area to keep my test as fair as possible. I have since respooled my reels to the Flea Flicker and have not looked back. I have had no trouble with the line breaking as long as you wet your knots before tightening them up.

Billy Bones

[Yankee Troller]

Nice report Billy. That took some grapes to buy 3 lines only to find one that worked. You can go on a site like this and ask guys what to buy to avoid the fleas, but you will get 100 diferent answers. If you dont run a test like yourself then you will realy never know. Some guys on the west end have no clue how bad the fleas get on the east end, and other guys just arent on the water as much as others to see peak periods. Good job, thanks for the results, and good fishing.

[chinook]

Billy, as Y.T. mentioned good report- Yankee, I don't think it really matters whether one fishes out East or West. I can assure you that most of the western basin guys have seen many days when the fleas are downright thick and nasty. I made mention that this year, the Oak was loaded by the third week of July. Having to check the rigger rods every 15 minutes or the rod would be loaded with over a foot section. The worse I've seen since their invasion, at that time of year. As mentioned as well, I believe hopefully that off the Oak we have seen the peak for this year. Irregardless of where one fishes, any connection, terminal tackle, use of pinned cheaters, sliders, even probe connections let alone wired swivels to dipseys, etc, there will be somewhat of a buildup. The very fact that the stainless rigger cables on occasion have a tendency to "load" bares testament to how bad the fleas can be on a particular day out of any one port. They are a pain in the @$% at times. Are there ways to reduce the hassle of having to deal with them? Absolutely. Hate to say it, but they are here to stay. Year after year. Figure from July on. That is why I have 2 sets of rigger rods loaded with the appropriate mono # test for any particular day. Sure is nice to fish from April thru June without having to worry about them though.

[Billy Bones]

Thanks Guys

when you take into consideration time invested, money invested in gas, boat, tackle, and all the peripherals, three spools of line was a cheap investment to keep my lines in the water longer. I'm a Canadian that has fished out of Henderson and Oswego (a few years ago). Now I fish the North Shore simply because it is now a hassle to cross the border, either way.

Billy Bones

[Yankee Troller]

My reference basing that there were more fleas for longer on the east end was becasue they have warmer water for much longer than we do on the west end for the most part. However, its just my opinion. No one can actually prove it.

[SkeinMachine]

Flea build up :?: :?:

Check this out from the western basin this past Thursday morning.

5 ft string on 30 lb wire diver(1 hr accumulation).