Heard a rumor that artificial worms will dissolve leaders if left on for sometime, can anyone confirm or deny this?
Well there is certainly a problem with hootchies and other soft plastic baits melting - I have heard its typically caused by the mineral oil used to coat the molds they are poured in? It seems keeping everything separated, either in their original packaging, or ziplock bags, or whatever you prefer (Someone around here uses an old CD wallet) is the best method.
On SportFishingBC forum I saw this same sort of discussion, but it was about pre-tied hootchies melting. People would tie them up, and then wrap them around a piece of pool noodle. This was fine for some amount of time, but not advised for storing over the winter or anything particularly long term.
I think you are best off to just tie up what you'll need a short time before fishing (a few days or weeks before, not months) and untie anything you've got left before storing it long term.