Dead bass = out of the money

Fished a tourney on Minnetonka last Saturday. The fish bit good on one of are spots we ended up catching all are fish there that day. One being almost 5lbs. But with about 2 hours left in the tourney I checked the fish in the well and the big one didn’t look good. A short while later my cousin went back and started moving fish around to give the big girl some more room but nothing would work. The fish was not gut hooked or nothing. Hooked right through the upper lip in about 8ft of water. And was brought in quickly so she didn’t get wore out. We had the second best bag out of 25 boats but with are one pound deduction it not only costed us 2nd place but also costed us big bass. And we dropped into 4th which was out of the money. That bass costed us close to 700.00 we would of taken home. My question is what do some of you guys do to help keep your fish alive in the well all day?
I’ve heard of the clip on the lip trick. And it has nothing to do with the livewell in my cousins boat it’s a brand new ranger z518c.
The good news is we gave the bass to a oriantal guy fishing on the pier and he was very thankful of it.to take home and feed his family. I bet he said thank you 50 times in 2 minutes.

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Aerator running? Add some ice to the water in the live-well. I know there are some oxygen generator devices on the market, I have one for my minnow bucket and it makes a huge difference with a little ice added.

Strong bilge pump hooked up to a sparge bar in a 5-day cooler.

Oxygen and temperature.

Livewell running all day. And some ice as well.

I Have an oxygenator installed in my livewell. It puts oxygen into the water. I think it helps. Sometimes just the shock of being caught and handled is enough to do them in. Catch and release always has mortality. You did everything you could do to ensure its survival. There are also some products you put in livewell that claim to have electrolytes and slimes savers etc. I have never tried them. I have read you could pump out some of your water periodically during the day. That will get rid of any build up of urea etc. Also you have to be careful with ice as you can make to big of a temp difference and kill fish. At least it got eaten and not wasted.

Mwal

mattgroff wrote:

he good news is we gave the bass to a oriantal guy fishin

You sure he wasn’t asian?

mwal wrote:

I Have an oxygenator installed in my livewell.

Is it one of those that split water into separate hydrogen and oxygen?
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Keep the water circulating. If you had other fish that were fine and not stressed out, it may have just been her time and/or had underlying issues?

As stated above, keep the livewell pump running. As the water temps rise, the oxygen level goes down. When I’m in doubt, I leave one pump running and let the excess water flow out the over-flow. Makes a huge difference over the occasional burst of fresh water. Especially when you have a limit in there.

The Ranger Z518C should come with the OXYGENATOR BK3 pucks stock in the live well. did you have it on recirculate all day? you need to pump a little fresh water in every few hours to help remove Nitrites and Ammonia. also are you using the G-Juice / U2 Pro Formula in the well? We have never lost a fish in the last 5 years even in the hottest days and having a few gut hooked fish using this system. I NEVER use Ice because its a double edged sword for two reasons. commercial ice almost always contains chlorine and if you are not using G-Juice you don’t have any way to remove it. also the temperature swings from adding Ice just adds even more stress to an already stressed fish increasing the need for more oxygen. also NEVER add salt to a Live well that has an OXYGENATOR in it. it will produce Chlorine. Rejuvenade has salt in it. and Sure-Life has ADBAC quaternary amine under the used to control the spread of zebra mussels reason, what it is actually in there for is it increases the fishes ability to absorb chemicals/drugs into the body so they can dumb them down decreasing the need for more oxygen. and if you do a little research on it you wont want it in your live well especially if you plan on eating the fish later.

Oh, also maybe it was bad to see such a quality fish die….

Maybe it’s not just about how “bad” it was for you…

You don’t think we thought of that of that ew6. We ass bass fisherman respect and handle these fish as careful as we can and we also respect the fish much more than the average angler. People like you that want to be a smart ass should not Evan comment. O sorry you have never had a dead fish I bet.

As not ass hahaha damn auto correct

That’s fine I just didn’t hear that. I heard, how could I keep it alive to weigh in so I could get my money. I need to be called out sometimes too.

EW6 wrote:

That’s fine I just didn’t hear that. I heard, how could I keep it alive to weigh in so I could get my money. I need to be called out sometimes too.

Lol! You must not be married or you would be called out more often.
DT

“That bass costed us close to 700.00 ” Your words. That’s what’s wrong about tournament fishing. The bass lost its life, but you’re whining about money you never had. Sorry, no sympathy from me.

Not asking for sympathy Ron and the money is not why we tournament fish it is cause we love the sport of bass fishing and competition that goes along with it. Ok I guess I should of not put the money part in there but that’s just what happens in tournament fishing and it goes to show how one one thing in your day can change the outcome in the results. Plus if this sport was about the money I better go find something else to do cause a lot of tournament guys would be broke. So not asking for your shoulder to cry on my post was about what do people do to help keep there fish alive all day in the well. We did everything right aeriators running all day changed water and oxygenators running as well no clue y she died. We feel horrible about it.
I make plenty of money the 700.00 has nothing to do with it that’s just what happend sorry you took it this way.

deertracker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>EW6 wrote:</div>
That’s fine I just didn’t hear that. I heard, how could I keep it alive to weigh in so I could get my money. I need to be called out sometimes too.

Lol! You must not be married or you would be called out more often.
DT

You’re right DT. I need to get called out sometimes. And I get called out many times more than that!

To be honest, I wouldn’t be so quick to conclude that it WASN’T the livewell in the Ranger.

I see it all the time, boats are being built with the absolute bare minimum the manufacturer can get by with both in terms of livewell and bilge pumping capacity AND with the wire size running to these pumps.

The pump might be labeled 500 GPH, but by the time you run that through crappy corrugated hose (which cuts down the flow rate) and then use undersized wire, which limits the current flow to the motor, you end up with vastly less flow than is desirable. I’ve seen tests where a 500 GPH bilge pump could barely pump 175 GPH in actual use due to undersized wiring and corrugated hose.

I would absolutely look at your livewell pump as a possible culprit and if necessary upgrade. Personally, I’d say if you’re fishing tournaments, I’d be looking at a 750 or 1000 minimum and that would be per livewell. You might think you’re giving the fish enough fresh water, but if the pump isn’t pumping, you might only be turning over a fraction of the water that you thought you were.

Grouse

Thanks grouse. That’s the kind of input I was looking for as well. I’ll link this to my cousin. Thank you.

Running the pumps pulling in fresh water all day can be just as bad as not running them at all. the key to making the OXYGENATORS work is letting the oxygen build up in the livewell water and only running the pumps on recirculate to remove the nitrates. then every few hours pump in a little fresh cool water when you’re out in the main lake.
the one thing I can advise is get some G-Juice and use it because it flat out works.
sometimes you can do everything rite and a big fish will still die. it could have been old and just the stress from the short fight could have done it in..

Don’t beat yourself up over it because it happens to everyone at some point.

Thanks mrwalleye.
I’ll get some G juice. It sucks the fish died we did all we could to try and take the best care possible of all the fish. Thanks for all the great info everyone.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

The pump might be labeled 500 GPH, but by the time you run that through crappy corrugated hose (which cuts down the flow rate) and then use undersized wire, which limits the current flow to the motor, you end up with vastly less flow than is desirable. I’ve seen tests where a 500 GPH bilge pump could barely pump 175 GPH in actual use due to undersized wiring and corrugated hose.

Grouse

Most livewells are 36 to 45 gallon – give/or take. So on a 40 gallon livewell with 1 pump producing 175 gallons per hour still rotates fresh water 4.X times per hour. Add in that most have a spray type end on the top of the livewell, and you have a cooling affect as it mists/sprays into the tank.

Was this the only fish that died from your livewell? Yes – then hey, crap happens and unfortunately you caught 1 nice bass that couldn’t take the stress. Already had health issues??? Old age??? I wouldn’t beat yourself up over the loss of one fish. It sucks and no one wants to have it happen to them. Had you experienced 3 or 4 dead fish…..then you have a serious problem to identify and resolve.

I’ve caught fish and released them with absolutely the most minimal handling. Little while later, see it kicking around and knowing it was going to die. Didn’t even see a livewell. Why did it die??? I will never know. Hated to see it, but thats just life.

Used to fish a lot of bass tournaments and saw more big fish die then little fish. I just don’t think they can take the stress that smaller fish can. Don’t beat yourself up. Happens all the time with every fish species. People can talk crap because it didn’t happen to them. Let the haters hate. Bass tournament fishing is some of the most fun fishing. Especially when you are on winning fish. Good luck in future events!

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

I just don’t think they can take the stress that smaller fish can.

Tru dat

As far as helpful ideas I have several that may help. You said something about a clip on the lip. This may be the same as what I’ve done in the past with a depth weight ( like those used to check bobber depth ) if a fish is having trouble staying upright I’ve clipped a a depth weight or sometimes even 2 to their pelvic fin. If a fish stays on its side for to long their bladder inverts inside their body and they will most likely die. The other thing I’ve done is if you have 2 separate live wells or one with a divided live well. Keep the big bass plus the smallest on ( next to be culled ) in one by themselfs. Big fish need as much room as possible to move and turnaround. Plus this makes locating the smallest fish to cull real easy ang quick. As far as the comments of those about the bass dying I’d not even give them another thought. They have probably killed more fish in their last few Outings than you have in your life of tourney fishing. You did what you could to keep the fish alive to be released to be caught again by someone else ( including asking what more you could have done to help ) at to that the fish did not go to waste and someone got a meal out of the deal. As for the comment about missing out on 700.00 plus $ due to a little bad luck I know how you feel. In a tourney several years ago I missed big bass bu less than 1 oz. and finished 3rd, missing 1st by less than 2oz. The last 2 hrs of the tourney my live well keep overflowing. Did not find out why till I got home and went to rinse out the livewell. There lodged in my overflow hole was not just 1 sunfish but 2 that the big fish had spit up. Together they weighed well over 2 oz. had the big fish keep them in till the weigh in I’d won almost $800.00 more than I did. Oh well just a little bad luck as well. Best of luck to you in the remaining tourney season

Fish dying are like spilt milk…

I catfish…even at times a catfish will die. I had one die on me, shallow hooked on roof of mouth. It happens.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Or I meen most of you. Lol

I’ve been using Frabil G-Juice additive this year along with frozen water bottles. Seems to help. I’ve noticed the fish are calmer throughout the day and not freaking out in the well. They are very active when grabbing them for the weigh in, my thumb could show you the proof!

I’ve used the ice fishing depth weights clipped to a bass’ pectoral fins as well to keep the fish upright. Helping them stay upright like that has certainly helped me out in the past when a fish started doing that sideways losing color thing.

mattgroff’s question, “My question is what do some of you guys do to help keep your fish alive in the well all day?”

I bet your tournament officials certified your boat livewell a “Functional Livewell” before you blasted off that morning, your livewell water pump was humming perfectly right? And you thought everything was fine, yet your fish suffocated in that livewell from lack of oxygen and cost you some bucks and disappointments… you simply failed to insure minimal safe oxygenation in your livewell water and failed to keep your fish alive, your water quality in your livewell was deadly – not enough oxygen, right?

This may sound elementary and silly to a seasoned tournament fisherman, but let’s pause and go back a moment and begin here because here is where your problem begins.

What is a livewell, specifically what is a “functional livewell?” Answer to that is right here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell

The short answer is “fix you deadly livewell water quality problem and don’t suffocate your fish in your livewell. If your fish need oxygen well, how about giving them more oxygen.”

Or don’t give them more oxygen, give them more water or more air and repeat the suffocation problem that changed you from being the winner to a loser because 1 fish died in tour livewell.

If you’re really interested in fixing your bad livewell water quality problem, do it. If you don’t want to fix your water quality problems, don’t – it always your personal choice to fix it or not to fix it; so here’s some fishery science for you:

Oxygenation of Livewells to Improve Survival of Tournament-Caught Bass by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers and Jason Driscoll TPWP, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 6/2011
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/didyouknow/inland/livewells.phtml

Livewell Oxygen Injection Systems by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 6/2011 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/livewell-oxygen-injection-8773301

AquaInnovations Oxygenator – How Effective is It – by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 2-14-2012 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/the-oxygenator-how-effective-is-it

Hydrogen Peroxide for Bass Boat livewells – by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 2-14-2012 – A total of 12 one-hour experiments were conducted with oxygen levels measured every 10 minutes.

Hydrogen peroxide for bass boat livewells from Randy Myers

There’s all different kinds of fishing oxygen systems – “Compare Oxygen Systems” http://oxyedge-chum.com/compare-oxygen-systems/

So consider spend a buck or two to keep your catch alive, make better choices of livewell equipment that insures and guarantees minimal safe oxygenation for all your fish in summer tournaments all day, eliminate your summer livewell water quality problems that cost you money and convert you to a loser… Minimal safe livewell water quality is always your choice, there is no “chance or hope or luck” to it, it pure fishery science.

So what are you going to do now that you have learned how to fix to your low oxygen livewell problems that killed you fish and cost you big bucks?