Keeping fish alive

Was wondering if any of you guys have some tips on keeping fish alive without a livewell. I have a couple small arerators and a big cooler. Should I use some type of additive in the water? Any suggestion would be appreciated

Thanks

Keith

Hello, a person by the name of John W. who belongs to Walleye Searchers has a Fourwinns boat and has a big cooler that has a big areator set up in it that works great for keeping fish alive. I believe Fleet Farm sells it. John- if you read this please give us the info, Thanks, Bill

I know that down South chemicals have been used at tournaments. I am not sure what chemicals they are though.

I have found the key to be water temp.

I never fill my livewell up very long before I add the fish in preperation. I get the first fish and put it into the livewell while adding the water. In hot summer temps, the livewell water can become much warmer than even the surface water. Seems to me, that the warmer water holds less oxygen and for a shorter time. You do not want to shock the fish with a big temp change. In a lake situation, many times in summer these fish are comming from deep and much colder water than you fill up your livewell with from the surface.

Insulating your livewell is a good idea, this helps to maintain the water temp longer. Setting a timer to pump water regularly or pumping all the time can help too.

If you are keping fish to eat, forget the livewell and go right on the ice to a cooler. These fish are best to eat, that have been on ice and went in kicking!

Hawger

I am fishing in a small tournament and will be floating a small river. I am looking for a sure-fire way to keep my fish alive. I’ve talked to guys who have fished in this tournament before and they say the trick is to keep the fish alive all day.

Keith, I know some guys that use a weighted stringer… object being the fish can be lowered to a depth that is away from a top water warm layer and low oxygen. And the sun shining on the fish warms them up too.

I guess if I was floating a river I would go this route, and keep the fish in the water. If you play them hard to get thm in, then “jack-them” (once on the stringer) to get the oxygen levels back up in their blood and regain their stringth. Playing a fish too hard stresses them. It might pay too to have the fish free-swimming in the water on a stringer too so they can get the flowing water over the gills, instead of being in a livewell. Just my thoughts…. Hawger

Hey Keith! I recently fished a tournament with a small jonboat on the Horseshoe Chain which is a river system. I was concerned about keeping my fish alive too. I put my fish in a large cooler and ran my Frabill aerator thru the top. I didn’t have any large fish, but I kept a limit of 1- 2 lb bass very alive for the weigh-in. My fish were in great shape 3-4 hours after they were caught. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work and I checked them often, but it worked great. It was very warm that day also. I was using the Frabill Aqua-life and I changed the water about every 45 minutes. Vern

Thanks again for the info. About 4 or 5 months ago in Field and Stream they had an article on how to keep your fish alive. If I remeber right they said to put some kind of salt in the water. I saved the article so I could use the information for this tournament, but now I can’t find it. Did any of you guys read this article or have any old Field and Streams around? I believe the article was highlighted on the cover.

Keith, as Bill C. stated, I use a large cooler with a 12v aerator and I have found that putting a quart plastic jug of ice in the cooler when I fill it after I catch my first fish works great. By putting the ice jug in at the same time with the fish it cools the water slowly and lets the fish adjust to the temp change. I like using quart size plastic milk jugs and keep them in my chest freezer. Until I catch my first fish I keep the ice jug in my food cooler and that works great helping keep things colder. I have been able to keep fish alive and frisky for eight hours. I have not tried any of the chemicals but have heard they work very well.

When i take out my small jon boat,i use a cooler with aeorator,i dump a gallon milk jug that is pure ice(no i dont buy it-some have chem.)it lasts me 12hrs and most of my fish are still swimming,on my waleye boat i still use ice in the livewell.I have yet had any problems “maybe with shad”