oxygen for bass

[mhall]

>It is interesting to read about
>people aware of bass mortality
>with tournament fishing. The
>best thing that can be
>done is to not hold
>tournaments during the summer.
>Several posts here explain far
>better than I ever could
>as to what a bass
>is up against being caught
>in the hot months and
>surviving being held for hours,
>weighed in, and finally released.
> Larger fish (which are
>the one we want to
>protect the most) are the
>first to die. Study
>after study shows that even
>when the bass swim off
>after the weigh-in in warm
>water conditions up to 70%
>will die within a few
>days.
>
>I caught a 4 lb smallmouth
>last week end at night
>out of 6 - 8
>feet of water, did my
>usual of unhooking her quickly
>and putting her in the
>live well so she could
>revive and calm down a
>bit while I finish fishing
>the spot. About 10 minutes
>later I quickly measured and
>weighed her and she was
>not out of the water
>more than a minute or
>two and she wanted to
>roll on me when released.
> After working with her
>for a couple of minutes
>beside the boat she finally
>swam off and I only
>hope I didn't kill her.
> No way would she
>have survived a tournament experience.
> Fish have a hard
>time surviving the rigors of
>being caught when the water
>is warm and their best
>shot at survival is immediate
>release. I pray that
>tournament anglers will one day
>get the message and only
>hold tournaments during more favorable
>times.
>
>kc

Well put and you are dead on, but good luck it is not going to happen.

[artcarney_agr]

A few weeks ago, on a very hot day, my fish weren't taking to well to the warmer water in my live well. So, I bought a bag of ice and put it into the livewell. Ten minutes later it had melted, but the fish were doing better. The water temperature was still quite warm, so I thought since my livewell is huge and very very deep I would put in two bags of ice this time. Again, they melted quickly! But this time, I noticed in the bottom of the livewell the fish were laying on their sides! I freaked out! I stuck my hand down all the way to the bottom of my livewell to grab one of the fish. I then realized what was going on! The cold water sinks to the bottom of the livewell! Duh!!!! The water was so cold down at the bottom that the fish were in a state of hibernation! They would just barely move and seemed kind of mellowed out! Later that day, at the weigh-in, the fish began waking up once they were out of the cold water. They seemed just fine and were released unharmed. Has anyone else ever had their fish go into a state of hibernation like this?

[bullrdr6]

The fish weren't hibernating they were in shock. It is safe to drop the water temperature in your livewell 7-10 degrees. Anymore than that and you will chance putting them into shock.

Also the bags of ice you buy have chlorine and other chemicals in them that could harm the fish.

Next time take some water from the lake home in some of the empty soda/water bottles you have and freeze them. Better yet, add some Please Release Me or Rejevunate to the water before freezing. Then you've got ice from the lake thats been treated and can be added to the livewell.

Charlie