Livewells

[CONCRETECRAPPIE]

Have any of you heard of this.....for years i have had trouble keepin fish alive during tournament,talked to a guy that fishes in the king cat trail,he told me that for years they had trouble with stressed catfish during tournaments,until a oldtimer said the reason the fish are streesn all the time is cause the inside of the live was black,so they changed it to white an havnt had trouble since..coincident or whatever my live wells are dark.my fish die all the time...what do you all think...

[coreymassey]

got me but hopefully someone knows lol

[beagle man]

well never heard of it, do not believe it, but having said that, anything is possible. I would think oxygen and cool temps would be the prerequsit to keeping your fish alive. I know the big boys always have the live wells filled and recirculating and add oxygen to the water.

[Hogster1]

I have heard of it.Also one of the big name boat makers went to blue livewells in thier new boats to cut down fish stress.Said it cut down on stressed dead fish 60 some percent.
But i have to agree with Beagle i would think good oxygen and fresh water recirculation would be more of a factor. Prolly just some gimic selling feature they came up with.

[CrappieMop]

i cant think of any biological reason but i may be worth a try. A tournament crappie fisherman gave me this advice which i did not know. He said dont keep running fresh water in the livewell once it is full keep the recirc or aireator on. He says this puts more oxygen in the water than fresh water.. Especially in the warm months.

[Jigging15]

Never heard it but does not mean it is not true. My livewell is a pretty dark grey in my boat and have had no trouble as long as I keep the air flowing to it and some Rejuvenade and ice in it. After thinking about this for a bit I look at it like this. When the lid is shut on the livewell it is completely dark or "black" inside the livewell. So who knows. How about sharp edges and corners? I have heard that can hurt fish when running down the lake.

[JFair]

When you shut the lid, doesn't the whole livewell get dark and turn black. A lot like a refridgerator light.

[badaxed]

found this online the other day.Keep Bass, Crappie, Redfish, Catfish, Baitfish, Walleye and Other Fish Alive and Healthy, Live Well Cooling System, Cool Live Well, Bait Fish Tanks, Home sound like a great idea. looks like radiator cooling livewell. This should do the trick.

[BlackWidow]

Why not save yourself the $269 dollars and just put the ice in the livewell. Or go to the scrap yard and get the coil out of an old 5000btu window unit. Go to walmart and get your own aereator and rig it up for $40 bucks yourself... Just a evaporator coil, rubber hose, aereator, thermostat and a switch....

[JTMavs]

recirculation and a little ice will keep your fish alive for quite awhile.