Stinky livewell

I have a stinky livewell and worry about what I should clean it with. I don’t want any harmful residue leftover that could injure either bait or fish. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

Shawn

Arm and Hammer baking soda has been used for years in refrigerators to control odors. Using a box of this and fill with water should help do it. There is definately nothing harmful in this product.
It also works good as a battery corrosion neutralizer. I keep some around the garage all the time.
Dino

A good shot of vinegar will work also.

I would go with the Arm and Hammer too.

A couple of years ago we caught 15 bluegills and we only cleaned 14. Accidentally missed one taking them out of the livewell. After one week of the boat sitting in the hot garage in August, I started smelling something in the garage. OH MY GOD can one rotting fish smell!!!

Anyway, Arm and Hammer, alot of water, and some elbow grease got the smell out after some work.

PS, a bluegill turns to skeleton and mush after one week in a 90+degree garage.

I’ll third the baking soda. You can also get a good deal of the smell out by just letting the lake water do its thing but that only help below water line.

Clorox Bleech. One nice side effect is the bleech will kill off any zebra muscle larva that may exist in there.

J

Thanks fellas. I don’t look forward to the job, but I do look forward to the results. Notice I said fellas. Anyone ever see a post from a woman on this site? I’m not trolling for a girlfriend (got one that is my fishing partner), just pointing out an observation.

Well guys I’m a woman and use to own a bait shop. Had lots of minnow buckets brought in for to put minnies in that had the smell of dead minnows. That can be pretty awful too. I use to keep bleach on hand to scrub and clean the buckets up. Worked great and the guys thanked me many times over for showing them they didn’t have to buy a new bucket but just clean the old one up. Bet it would work in the live well also. Just make sure you rinse it really good regardless of what you use. Good luck with your fishing. Mary

Once you get it cleaned a good way to maintain it is to rince it out with a garden hose in the drive way when you get home from fishing, and when you put the boat away leave the livewell door open, this will keep it clean.