Tourney livewell tips – warm weather

I have a bass tourney this Wed. evening. With the water temps at 85 degree’s out there yesterday and 2 more really hot days on the way – My guess is that water temps will be in the upper 80’s by Wed. The good news is that this tourney is only a 4 fish limits so that helps some. I would like to hear any tips or tricks that others here use to help keep fish alive and well during hot weather. One trick that I learned and have used sucessfully in the past is to use a clip on weight ( Like the old one’s used to set the depth while ice fishing )If the fish is having trouble staying upright I clip this weight to the front edge of the anal fin. This helps keep the fish upright and prevents the bladder from displacing.I’d like to hera anyone elses tip and tricks. I like to do everything I can to try and make sure all fish are released and live to be caught again another day.

We just finished in a walleye tourney this past weekend and or water temps were in the high 70’s. We put block ice in the livewell and filled it up. We them put switch on recirculate, monitored and pumped in fresh water every so often. Make sure to remove block ice when making runs.

I use a few different methods for keeping my fish in good shape:

First, I start by filling the livewell right in the morning, when water is coolest and setting the livewll to recirculate. Once I get a fish in the box, I add U2 livewell treatment and replenish every few hours. I also use a pool thermometer in my livewell to regulate the temperature, and I add frozen jugs of water accordinly to keep temperatures at a desired level. As mentioned before, take the jugs out when your running.

I’ve fished during some pretty warm water temps and I rarely have fish that are belly up when I use follow this system.

dont used block ice it actually removes o2 from the live well as it melts. instead use frozen milk jugs and U2 live well treatment and keep your recirculate running all day

I run the recirculate and use both livewells instead of putting all my fish in one which would deplete the oxygen quicker.

If the fish seem to be struggling I will run my livewell until they come around then flip it back to recirculate.

Fish are cold blooded right?? Although water temp has some to do with it, In my opinion it’s all about the oxygen. Get yourself some bubbles (as seen below) and it’s crazy how lively the fish will be all day long. I use these and throw my livewell on recirculation. Your only problem will be catching them with your hands when it’s time to weigh in. Good luck in the tourney!!

A couple of thoughts. The warmer the water, the less oxygen it will hold. But too cool and it will shock the fish. I’d try to maintain temps at 5-15 degrees below the current water temperature. I like Please Release Me as a live-well treatment. I’d go out away from shore every hour or so, pump out, refill and then switch back to recirculate. This pumps out waste material like ammonia and nitrogen.

But if this is a catch and release event, the critical thing with summer events is to keep the fish in the livewell at the weigh-in as long as possible and not in a plastic sack with little water for more then a minute or two. Then back into the livewell to rest or released in 6-12 feet of water.

Call the Tournament Director and suggest a PAPER Tournament, Catch, Measure, record and release. Measurement verified by boat partner and maybe a photo on the Ruler too.

Delayed mortality in hot weather is a concern, especially this year with HOT Temp’s. and very warm surface water temps. July 4th I had 87f-91f on Lake Auburn. Sunday I had 81f-83f for surface temps in the North Metro where we had a small club tourney.

With today’s (Monday’s) HOT weather the temp’s are going to be back up and the Heat Stress may alone kill them, especially is sitting in a warm livewell. As others have suggested using Ice, this may also harm them with Temperature Shock (going from warm to Cold to warm again.

PM me and I’ll send you an Excel file for Paper Tourneys or you can use the generally accepted calculation of “Length (Inches) x Length x Length / 1600 equals weight in pounds”.

Quick catch, measure, record, release looks good to lake shore owners vs. dead fish washing up later.

Carroll

PS: Wisconsin DNR was talking about enacting a catch & kill rule, No Live Release during the hottest part of the summer, Don’t know if they did not not.

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Call the Tournament Director and suggest a PAPER Tournament, Catch, Measure, record and release. Measurement verified by boat partner and maybe a photo on the Ruler too.

Delayed mortality in hot weather is a concern, especially this year with HOT Temp’s. and very warm surface water temps. July 4th I had 87f-91f on Lake Auburn. Sunday I had 81f-83f for surface temps in the North Metro where we had a small club tourney.

With today’s (Monday’s) HOT weather the temp’s are going to be back up and the Heat Stress may alone kill them, especially is sitting in a warm livewell. As others have suggested using Ice, this may also harm them with Temperature Shock (going from warm to Cold to warm again.

PM me and I’ll send you an Excel file for Paper Tourneys or you can use the generally accepted calculation of “Length (Inches) x Length x Length / 1600 equals weight in pounds”.

Quick catch, measure, record, release looks good to lake shore owners vs. dead fish washing up later.

Carroll

PS: Wisconsin DNR was talking about enacting a catch & kill rule, No Live Release during the hottest part of the summer, Don’t know if they did not not.

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A paper Tourney may work well for a club tourney, but I don’t think to many who participate in a tourney where there is $ on the line would be willing to do it. I myself am a rather trusting guy but come time to determine a winner I’d trust someone I don’t really know who says we caught 4 5 Lb. fish – Would you?

Thats where date/time stamped photo’s would help.

Are you partners with the guy in your boat or fishing against them?

Good Luck

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Thats where date/time stamped photo’s would help.

Are you partners with the guy in your boat or fishing against them?

Good Luck

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OR a medallion or something given to each boat that morning that needs to be in the picture with the fish on the stick.

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Thats where date/time stamped photo’s would help.

Are you partners with the guy in your boat or fishing against them?

Partners

Good Luck

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Thats where date/time stamped photo’s would help.

Are you partners with the guy in your boat or fishing against them?

Good Luck

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OR a medallion or something given to each boat that morning that needs to be in the picture with the fish on the stick.

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Nothing there to stop a person / Team from taking a picture of the same fish several times – I really just don’t think there would be a foolproof way of doing a paper tourney when there is $ involved.

There was just one of these tourneys a couple weeks ago on Otter tail, the lund mania. It was a pro only tourney and they had spotters in each of the boat that would take pictures and measure the fish.

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Nothing there to stop a person / Team from taking a picture of the same fish several times – I really just don’t think there would be a foolproof way of doing a paper tourney when there is $ involved.

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Good point..

adding a few ice cubes throughout the day has worked for me in past hot weather tournaments…

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A couple of thoughts. The warmer the water, the less oxygen it will hold. But too cool and it will shock the fish.

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Having raised aquarium fish, this is my thought too, although I know drastic water temp changes are more lethal the smaller the fish. I think that putting them in cooler water and then at the end of the tourney dumping them back in warmer, oxygen depleted lakes water would be very stressful on a fish. It is easier for fish to adjust to cooler water with more oxygen than the physiology associated with going from cooler water to warmer water.

The analogy I would use is a person living in Denver doesn’t show many signs of stress going to a city at seas level, but it is not the same for a person to go to Denver.

These are just my thoughts and something to consider. I have no proof nor have read any studies. Just me from my armchair.

I’d imagine if you brought a cooler around and dumped a little bit of some ice in the well. That may help.

-thought comments of @Matty_X_Ice

How did the Tourney go?

A bit cooler weather and some rain/thunder showers should have helped.