Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

Livewell Management

Just wondering about other peoples normal livewell management practices during tournaments. Do you have any special measures that you take? Is anyone using the new oxygen injection systems yet?

My normal day starts with having the auto timer set to come on for 30 seconds every 4 minutes with 1 or 2 fish in the well. I boost it up to 30 seconds every 2 mintues with more than two in the well, or later in the morning, which ever comes first. Then to end the day, I'll have it on steady for the last couple hours or so, during the heat of the day.

Recirculation or fresh water intake is dependant on what king of water I am in. If it is warm dirty water, I will mainly use recirulation. But if I am in cooler clear water, I will bring in fresh water more often. If it is in between, I will use my best judgement.

What do you guys do?

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Posted by Paulie D on 2002 PM:

Noel, nice topic! I wish I could get the members in my club to consider better livewell management. Some do, but others dont !!! I think as Secretary of my club I will have a meeting devoted to this topic soon!!!

ciao

paulie

Posted by Bass Rat on 2002 PM:

1- I run it on auto as high as it will go

2- I use stay alive additive (follow directions More is not More)

3- I freeze water in 2 liter soda bottles & use 4 or 5 during a "T"
Adding cube or block ice directly to water will add chlorine to
water. The bottles keep the tap water from mixing with livewell
The melted water is also handy for washing hands and equipment

4- Change out water 2 or 3 times a "T"

p.s. don't clean your livewell with chemicals especially bleach. You cannot remove all residue.

Try this, after a "T" drain live well untill 2" of water remain. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda. Drive home with this sloshing around. When you get home rinse thuroughly. This will eliminate that skank odor and slime residue. And it will be fish freindly.

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Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

Oh yeah!! Forgot about that. I use the "Please Release Me" livewell chemicals according to the directions. I feel this is a big help in maintaining decent oxygen levels in the livewell.

I also clean my livewells out about once every two weeks with a garden hose and a sponge. Mainly getting out craw parts and any grit thats in there. Also removes the "ring around the livewell" that tends to form.

Great idea with the plastic bottles Nick, I'll have to give that a try. Where do you keep these bottles in the boat before they get used?? I have a cooler compartment, but it ain't that big, and I don't know if it would carry a 2 liter, but maybe 1 liters.

Posted by bobn on 2002 PM:

why can't you use those re freezable plastic ice blocks that they sell for coolers--you can use them over and over again forever -- they are pretty cheap, easy to keep clean, non toxic and made in a bunch of different sizes--i've had them for years for my small cooler--better than ice-last a long time-bobn

Posted by Bass Rat on 2002 AM:

Noel 1 liters would work.
bob, the ice packs really aren't big enough, when you put them in 75 degree water your lucky to get 10 min out of them befor they melt back to liquid. The 2 lt bottles last 30 -45 min.
The ice packs are gonna get banged around, and if they crack open you got a nice DEAD well set up.

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Posted by JPBass on 2002 PM:

I believe the water change is the most vital (more often in warmer weather). Gets the contaminates out. I don't use the additives till the end of the day, after the last water change and before the weigh-in. Helps replace some of the lost slime coat and calm them down a little.

I know a lot of people smarter than me(scientist types) say use ice but I've used this simple system for a long time with a very low mortality rate (even in the summer).

Nick, You mention Ice AND water changes. I'd stick with one or the other. Raising and lowering the water temp. numorous times during the day can't be a good thing( gonna send those poor little fisheys into shock ).

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Posted by Dean on 2002 PM:

Guys, very good topic to start discussing, especially with the new season coming in. I used to have a great link on fish handling guidelines, I'll see if I can't find it and post it here. It was to a research article out at the University of Oklahoma I believe. Surface water temperature was a critical factor in determining how you run your livewell. It was felt that over a certain temp.(70-72?) you should fill the livewell early, recirculate constantly, add ice blocks to cool the water temp a few degrees and drain and refill about half the water every couple of hours. They also talked about adding salt and please release me to help the fish. When you do the refills, compensate and add sufficient amounts to get the concentration of the additives back to the right level. They also made a rough estimate of having a livewell that would have 1 gal. of water per pound of fish. So, if you and your partner have 15lbs. of fish each, you need a livewell of 30gal. or more. Another thing on livewell timers, the authors suggested running continuously. The only difference was whether to recirculate or run the lake water in constantly and as I stated above that was dependent on water temp. I'll go look for the link and I do have a hard copy of the article if any one wants it, email me.

Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

Dean, I would just like to make mention about the adding of salt. It does need to be a specific kind/grade of salt, not just any salt. I am not sure what exactly it is (someone help me out here) becasue I don't use it personally. I know the State Federation handed out salt baggies to every boat in the tournaments for a couple years, but didn't do it last year.

Posted by Dean on 2002 PM:

I am pretty sure that it CANNOT be iodized salt. Which is your regular table salt. If I can get this article linked it will provide the answer to that question. I emailed the author tonight, so hopefully he will have an answer for me. The author is Gene Gilliland and he is currently linked up with another fisheries biologist and they have produced a handout for BASS that should be available soon as far as I could tell, if it isn't already out.

Posted by bobn on 2002 PM:

the salt must be a non iodized salt to be used with any fish kept in captivity--kosher salt is about the cheapest and can be found in most super markets--if in a pinch you can use aquarium salt sold at most aquarium stores-more expensive-they are all the same--as long as the package reads "non iodized", it should be ok to be used with fish----bobn

Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

Yep, I thought so. I just didn't want guys putting the wrong stuff in their 'wells.

Posted by bobn on 2002 PM:

salt in the past, and probably to this day has been used to treat certain fish diseases in the aquarium-i won't go into doses because we are not talking about tropical fish--salt will affect the gills and kidneys if not used in the proper doses--it can also be very beneficial if used in the correct amount--best check that out--another product used in the aquarium for stressed fish with damaged slime coats is called "stress coat"--it contains aloe vera and is supposed to prevent disease from damaged fins and slime coat--i am not telling you to use this product but it may be worth a look--relatively cheap at your pet shop--8 oz. treats 480 gal--check with an expert before using on cold water fish under your conditions--bobn

Posted by JPBass on 2002 AM:

quote:

Originally posted by Dean
add ice blocks to cool the water temp a few degrees and drain and refill about half the water every couple of hours. .

Are you adding ice every time you refill the well? I guess that could work but you'd need a lot of ice or frozen bottles. Even so that would cause a lot of temperture changes.

Again, I'm no scientist, but that doesn't sound like a good idea.

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Posted by Sean Heitman on 2002 AM:

Just a question here..

WOnt those frozen bottles you guys weere talking about beat up the fish on a bumpy run??? Seems that would cause more harm than good.

HEres a thought on Ice cubes

Fill those empty bottles with lake water t the end of your day...bring it home and pour it in empty LABELED ice cube trays and freez them...

Any thoughts???

Posted by Dean on 2002 AM:

First, here's the reply to my email to Mr. Gilliland with a web link that contains the guidelines I was talking about :

Look at:

www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishcare.htm

This has recommendations for anglers and tournament directors. The BASS booklet is being printed now and should be available within a month (I hope). Feel free to forward questions to me about tournament fish care.

Gene Gilliland
Oklahoma Fishery Research Lab
500 E. Constellation
Norman, OK 73072
(V) 405-325-7288
(F) 405-325-7631
(E) ggillokla@aol.com

As far as the bottles beating the fish up, when I am fishing with nick, we put the fish on one side of the divider and the bottles on the other. They also float, so you could easily remove them for the run. Nick and I are totally devoted to trying to keep the fish alive and will take time away from fishing to care for them. Please check the above link it has all the guidelines on water temp, adding ice, salt, etc. It is good stuff!

Posted by Bass Rat on 2002 AM:

Ice cubes will last about a heart beat in the summer.
Plus if you DO put in enough to make a differance you will cover the top of the water with ice making the aerator ineffective.

The bottles are round and smooth, that coupled with the resistance of the water make it difficult to result in a blunt hit to a fish.

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Posted by Meg on 2002 PM:

I use the "Please Release Me" formula in the livewell, always before the weigh in, and several times throughout the day, depending on the amount of fresh water being cycled in. Usually by mid-day, the livewells are being refilled and cycled continuously, esp. during the hot months. We refill in deeper water before fishing water with higher surface temps.

I haven't ever used ice.

I learned the hard way that minimal handling (weighing during culling) was essential.

My club keeps 2-5 boats in the water to take the fish out to deeper water for release in July-Aug.

Posted by Dean on 2002 PM:

I like Meg's point about leaving 2-5 boats in the water to release fish to deeper water. How many guys walk right down to the bank or off the dock and empty the bag right there? I think I'll have to bring that up at our club meeting.

Posted by Bass Rat on 2002 PM:

Dean, why don't you ask Warren to do it. Oh, I forgot because he'll already be on 95 befor the weigh in's over.

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Posted by Cancatchbass on 2002 PM:

Is ice really necessary?

I've fished tournaments (avge. maybe 12/yr.) since 1984 and have had ONE dead fish in all those years. I have never used ice, but concentrate on keeping a regular flow of fresh water to the livewells AND using my Pro Air system. I recirculate only when the outboard is running or if I'm in "dirty" water. Otherwise fresh water is coming in and oxygen is being added by the Pro Air. At weigh-ins my fish are as fresh as when they were caught.

Maybe in Louisiana, Texas or South Florida, but I can't see the need for ice here- we have enough of it in the winter.

Just an opinion...

Posted by Scully on 2002 AM:

I NEVER turn mine off during the course of the tournament day. A few years back I left mine on by accident after the completion of a tournament. When I got up the next morning to clean out the boat, I heard it running and shut it off.

Upon reflection I realized that both pumps had been running for over 24 hours. Besides the fact that they had not burned out, I was quite surprised by the fact that my battery had not run down.
I hooked up a set of "ear muffs" and cranked the engine and it started with little effort.

When I spoke with a friend he stated that a typical live well pump draws only 1.5 amps which will not place an undo load on a fully charged battery.

Since I began leaving the aierator running all the time, I have never had a fish go "belly up" in the live well. (5 Years) You dont need to keep it running all the time when water temps are below 60 degrees.

I never use a chemical additive because I dont close off my wells, I constantly take in new water. I never add crushed or chip ice because of the chemicals in the ice, but I have used frozen water bottles with good results.

Great post......

Scul