spiny water fleas

[Boomer]

last week I had the worst trip of the year for the line "goo". I've been told it's spiny water fleas, I noticed it the worst on my braided lines, especially one rod that I had been running on the rigger with a braided line. thinking the little aqautic pests can hang on better to the braided lines what do ya think? Very frustrating when you have to stop three times to pull them off the line because they clog the last eyelet. Boomer

[BenLubbs]

Yep, they can be a problem, though we haven't had them too bad this year out of Holland. Is there a particular reason you are running braided line on the downrigger? If not, Cortland make a line called flea flicker that works very well for keeping the buggers off. Otherwise, slapping the tip of the rod on the water works well for dislodging them, although you can't do that when you have a fish on the line.

[Nailer]

Mono on riggers, and wire on divers. The flies love the braid.

[Boomer]

Thanks for advice I got the extra braided line as a gift. And it was a better reel than what I was using as my second rigger set so I just used it. think I'll change it to Mono. thanks again

[Boltman]

Is that fuzzies on the end of the rod that I had last night ????? Damn it smells too!!

[Paulywood]

That's it Robert. The fleas really stick to the braid, I put it away when they show up. Wire is great and besides the Flea Flicker line try going to larger diameter mono. I started using 30# for my flashers and plugs on the riggers when the fleas got bad this year and it worked much better.

[Turfwrench]

And I thought the fleas are a bad enough problem as we encounter them frequently in lk Huron but what did get to me was the algae that attached to the lines in Frankfort a couple weeks ago. Would much rather deal with the fleas than the algae as it was on the riggers and the wire divers.

[fishy1]

Spray you braided line with wd40 before you use it for the day and the fleas will hardly stick to it.

[SUPERTRAMP]

Yep, they can be a problem, though we haven't had them too bad this year out of Holland. Is there a particular reason you are running braided line on the downrigger? If not, Cortland make a line called flea flicker that works very well for keeping the buggers off. Otherwise, slapping the tip of the rod on the water works well for dislodging them, although you can't do that when you have a fish on the line.

What Ben Said, I bought a bulk spool of Flea Flicker and have never had a problem on riggers rods since. U can usually get a bulk spool for under $50.00, I think I paid 39.99 at D&R sports when i got mine. I keep 6 spare reels loaded just for the time the fleas show up. Not too many problems this summer but they have shown up at times. Good luck.