Keepin' fish alive in live well

[BigB]

I have a nice fish and ski boat that has a live well. Went to guntersville last year and had a couple of nice bass die on me. My boat doesn't have the nice live wells with built in areator or any way to move the water around. Usually what I do is plug the live well and fill it up with water. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do or what they do to keep the water moving with out haveing to keep running fresh water in the live well.

Thanks
Brad

[SSKY]

If you want to eat them and keep them alive until you get home then throw some ice in there and they will be fine, i doubt that is the solution that you were looking for, but if you use lake water to do the same thing you might be able to realese the fish if that is your objective.

[BigB]

Thanks

I am a catch and release type person, More so for braggin right is why I want to keep them alive.

[flippinstick]

Brad all you have to do is plug the livewell and fill it up all the way. When you want to add fresh water to the livewell just turn it back on, there should be an overflow at the top of your livewell that flows back into the lake. In other words you could leave your livewell pump running at all times and it wont (if there is a overflow) fill up into the boat. This works really good and the fish will stay very active.

[kc]

If you are into catch and release then I recommend capturing your bragging rights on the spot and releasing the fish quickly. I find the longer you keep fish -- especially in warmer water -- the greater the chance of killing them even if you run an aerator often. What I do when I catch a good fish that I want to remember is first thing unhook them, put them in the live well quickly to recover for a few minutes, record the moment, and then quickly release the fish. I have even gotten so into releasing good bass that I quit using nets and I "hand land" every one.

Large bass are especially vulnerable to being out of the water for too long and that is why I like a "recovery period" in the live well. Plus if I just caught a good fish sometimes there are more waiting in the same spot so I like to get my lure back in the water. Finally, I will optionally weigh, measure, and/or take a picture with my digital camera for keepsakes.

I tend to take a lot of kids fishing and when they catch their first 10" bass (or crappie, white, catfish, etc.) it is something special and deserves a picture. A digital camera is perfect for this because you can see the image on the camera before releasing the fish to make sure you have a decent shot. Before digitals I can't tell you how many pictures we got a thumb over the fish, cut of it's tail, or cut off the guy's head holding the fish. Real bummer when it's a special fish and picture taking at night can be tricky.

Hope some of these ideas help...

kc

[BigB]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-06 AT 11:09PM (EST)[/font][p]Thanks for you response, I am also planning on fishing some local tournaments and would like to be able to keep the fish healthy during the day.

[jmwldcat]

buddy it would only cost about $30.00 to put in an pump if you do it yourself if you cant then you can have one installed for about $75.00.

[kc]

A pump is the only way then. To refill the water manually several times during the day just won't get it done during a tournament. Installing a pump wouldn't be hard. You would need to purchase a pump, mount it, wire it, run a hose from the pump into the well, and install an overflow which amounts to another hose to drain excess water though an in-hull fitting. Don't know how handy you are but it sounds like an afternoon's undertaking to me.

kc

[BigB]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-06-06 AT 06:38PM (EST)[/font][p]Thanks

I had even tought about a quick fix to buy a battery powered one and attaching it to the lid inside the live well. I had thought about buying an additonal pump. That is what I will do when the weather clears. I don't think it will be much of a problem to install an additonal pump with a switch.

Thanks

[flippinstick]

This works very well kc, my uncle has to do this in his boat and we fish several tournaments a year. We have even had the guy weighing the fish in tell us that, "Must be a good livewell" because he couldnt get the fish to settle down on the scale. I would reccomend a pump too but until then this works. Also a 10.00 pump at walmart that clips to your batteries would do just fine.

[kc]

That's true. I didn't think about the portable pumps. Could be a quick, easy, fix over installing a permanent pump. Good advice!

kc

[fishin350]

Try please release me just put a little in the water. It is pretty good stuff use it when I fish T's.