Confusion on the Fishing and Boating Guide

[KYCatfish]

I'm reading on page 18, right hand column, under the second bullet: "Stress can be released by continual operation of the aerator in a closed livewell. Do not pump hot lake water into the livewell".

If you don't get water from the lake, where are going to get it? Secondly, my aerator just pumps in water from the lake. If it ran continually, it would start overflowing...had it happen several times (I don't have an overflow). I'd like to keep my catch alive as long as possible but is confusing to me. BTW: I have an 2008 Tracker Grizzly 1860. Can you anyone clear this up?

[sglass]

Summer months I add ice to the livewell and run the aeration more than I would in the spring and fall. If I need to keep them alive (tournament fishing) I also will not run the boat as hard to rattle them around in the livewell. This can kill them on long rough rides. Does not hurt to add some livewell meds like release me or rejeuvenate. I have never added anything other than lake water. I guess they are talking about running the aerator constantly and not the water pump for the livewell.

Shawn

[KYCatfish]

My aerator switch just turns on my pump...so I guess I don't have an actual aerator then.

[roughscott]

Reminder ice contains city water . Chlorine !!!! Freeze lake , spring water . :d

[aceoky]

IMO the easiest "solution" is to freeze smaller water bottles at home, place those in livewell as needed to keep fish cool, no risk of chlorine or anything else this way.

[sglass]

IMO the easiest "solution" is to freeze smaller water bottles at home, place those in livewell as needed to keep fish cool, no risk of chlorine or anything else this way.

X2 gatorade bottles work best

[RoadToad]

My aerator switch just turns on my pump...so I guess I don't have an actual aerator then.

Exactly.

[KYCatfish]

Exactly.

but the rest of you guys with a bass boat actually have just an aerator right? Might see if I can put one on if it's not a whole lot of trouble

[stripernut]

hey catfish, im pretty sure what they are saying is dont continuously pump"HOT" lake water in to the livewell. fill the livewell with lakewater prior to catching any fish, cool the lake water with frozen gatorade bottles (avoid cooling the water too much as this will result in temperature shock a good rule of thumb is 6-8 degrees gradually) and use the "recirculate" switch to keep the water moving and "aerated" (mechanical aeration is what most livewell have as opposed to diffused oxiygen aeration).
keep in mind cooler water will saturate at a higher parts per million of dissolved oxygen than warmer water which in turn dramatically reduces acute stress in traumatized fish/bait.
if you dont have a recirculate button on your livelwell the fix is simple, you can buy a recirculating pump that has suction cups and a "spary-bar" that will simply hook to a deep cycle battery and recirculate the existing water.

also as mentioned in the other posts, medicate the water, the medication does alot of things including balance ph, adjust water hardness and harden the scales and keep the scales from falling off which in turn often get stuck to the gill surfaces further traumatizing the fish.
i use a hand full of bait salt , it works just as well as the meds but is a little rougher on pumps over time, i avoid the corrsion by circulating a little freshwater at the end of the day, a 2 minute fix.
the salt will "slow" the negative impact of ammonia build up in a contained environment as well.
i havent used mechanical filtration for a couple fo years now as the only effectvie methods for "removing" ammonia involve expensive complicated filtration systems, in turn i use a "dissolved oxygen" system for my bait and th results are incredible. getting back to your question i have "revived" fish i wish to return to the lake that were severely stressed by "supercharging" them in this dissovled oxygen system, i am sure the fish would not have otherwise survived.

im out of breath......

[HURRICANEBOB]

but the rest of you guys with a bass boat actually have just an aerator right? Might see if I can put one on if it's not a whole lot of trouble

You know you're boat better than me, so please take no offence. I checked the Grizzle at the Tracker page in teh boat desription it says it has "An aerated livewell in front of the console ensures that everything you catch stays healthy throughout your trip. "

Page for reference is http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/?boat=3307.

You may want to check the live well real good and see if it has an overflow that is just restricted or clogged. In my boat, the aerator head is adjustable by screwing it in or out. If I open it all the way open, like you, my stuff overflows. But if I screw it in, it reduces the flow somewhat, then the overflow can keep up with it.

When I look at the side pisture of the boat at the bottom of the page, it seems to show a port. That might be the intake. In the photo section, the picture of the livewell seems to show the same aerator head I have, and something black behind it I take as the overflow.

Last bit, if its not an overflow, but....you do have a drain plug in teh bottom of the tank. You can create an overflow by finding a piece of pvc tube that will fit into the drain snuggly. Then cut it off so that its about 3 inches shorter than the total depth of the livewell. I had to do this on a boat I put a tank in, but didn't have an overflow and it worked just fine.

[Jbyrd]

I'm reading on page 18, right hand column, under the second bullet: "Stress can be released by continual operation of the aerator in a closed livewell. Do not pump hot lake water into the livewell".

If you don't get water from the lake, where are going to get it? Secondly, my aerator just pumps in water from the lake. If it ran continually, it would start overflowing...had it happen several times (I don't have an overflow). I'd like to keep my catch alive as long as possible but is confusing to me. BTW: I have an 2008 Tracker Grizzly 1860. Can you anyone clear this up?

They are talking about after you fill up your live well to run the circulator pump only , not your fill pump MOST (not all boats have just a circulator pump Add frozen milk jugs ,but if you use ice add rejuvenade or please release me they BOTH remove chlorine from the water....

[KYCatfish]

You know you're boat better than me, so please take no offence. I checked the Grizzle at the Tracker page in teh boat desription it says it has "An aerated livewell in front of the console ensures that everything you catch stays healthy throughout your trip. "

Page for reference is http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/?boat=3307.

You may want to check the live well real good and see if it has an overflow that is just restricted or clogged. In my boat, the aerator head is adjustable by screwing it in or out. If I open it all the way open, like you, my stuff overflows. But if I screw it in, it reduces the flow somewhat, then the overflow can keep up with it.

When I look at the side pisture of the boat at the bottom of the page, it seems to show a port. That might be the intake. In the photo section, the picture of the livewell seems to show the same aerator head I have, and something black behind it I take as the overflow.

Last bit, if its not an overflow, but....you do have a drain plug in teh bottom of the tank. You can create an overflow by finding a piece of pvc tube that will fit into the drain snuggly. Then cut it off so that its about 3 inches shorter than the total depth of the livewell. I had to do this on a boat I put a tank in, but didn't have an overflow and it worked just fine.

I take no offense at all....don't worry about it. I just went out in the dark at 10:30 to check it out again. I have 2 holes in my tank (it's a 2008 model just so you know)....one whole where the water comes in through the pump and spout and the drain hole. The port you mentioned on the side of the boat is the drain for the livewell.

I looked at the link you pasted and that livewell also had a hole either even with or slightly above where the water comes in...mine doesn't (yet). If it's not a whole lot of trouble I may try to add one...still playing with the idea right now. I had a 2072 Grizzly that had the PVC pipe in the drain plug but didn't work worth a crap when you put 5+ lb catfish in it. They kept tipping it over and draining the livewell.

thanx for everyone's help so far.