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Thread: What do you bassboat guys think of not having a front livewell for crappie?

  1. #1
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    Default What do you bassboat guys think of not having a front livewell for crappie?


    This is the only real knock I have against newer bassboats. Seems none of the mainstream boats offer forward livewells on their boats which is a huge inconvenience and I wonder how you guys cope or if you ever consider it a big enough point to change boats? I know there's always the cooler option but that's just a big cooler in the way taking up space.

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    I leave the lid of the live well open and make an underhanded toss.

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    I hate not having a front line well here in kansas the wind is always blowing.If I'm meat fishing tossing into the live well works if I'm in a turnament not so much

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    CrappiePappy is offline Super Moderator - 2013 Man Of The Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Hasn't really been a factor, for me ... or, at least not enough of one to consider getting rid of one boat to purchase another, because of it. I've been the TM man in my boats (w/rear livewells) AND in my buddy's boats (w/rear livewells) ... so I've had plenty of practice at flipping a fish into the livewell from the front seat Rofl But, even on the one boat I used to have, that had twin (front/rear) livewells ..... I still had to turn around & bend down and open the front livewell, to put the fish in, so my time/effort and attention was still diverted for about the same amount of time.
    The only times a front livewell made a difference to me, was when fishing alone .... but, since I'm mostly a one pole at a time jig slinger, the couple of seconds it takes to put a fish in the rear livewell & get back in my seat isn't enough of a negative to make me consider another (or bigger) boat.

    If I was "concerned" about it, I'd probably just keep a 5gal bucket half full of water, either on the front deck behind my seat or in the floor at the step down ... and drop them in there until I had a lull in the action long enough to go dump them in the rear livewell But, since I prefer to keep them alive until I'm sure I'm going to keep/clean them ... I'll just continue to use the rear livewell, and give my partner something to do or sacrifice a few seconds of my fishing time.

    ... cp

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    Only having the wells in the back is no problem to me. I had a hawk back in the late 80s that had a front well and every time getting on plane the water would run out of the lid soaking the floor. So the front well quickly became a dry storage area, also reduced the bow weight resulting in getting on plane quicker. We dont spider rig so getting up is not a problem.

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    Quote Originally Posted by crappiepappy View Post
    If I was "concerned" about it, I'd probably just keep a 5gal bucket half full of water, either on the front deck behind my seat or in the floor at the step down ... and drop them in there until I had a lull in the action long enough to go dump them in the rear livewell
    ... cp
    Agreed; I have a front livewell and never use it. If you move around alot in heavy water, a front livewell tends to beat the fish to death.

  7. #7
    keeferfish's Avatar
    keeferfish is offline Crappie.com Legend * Crappie.com Supporter
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    If you never catch any it's not a problem at all! Rofl

    No I do the underhand toss also or a small plastic bucket works. Put a few in and when you have four or five just dump them in. Doesn't take up much space.

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    gabowman is offline Super Moderator * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Dont really like tossing 'em to the back of the boat but my rig is paid for and I aint looking for any boat payments.:rolleyes: Besides, I mostly longline from the back of the boat so it aint really a problem. What few times I spider rig I can deal with it.

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    My front "bait well" is now my cooler.
    "I'll live and die a fisherman."Calling John the Fisherman.."

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    Make your fishin partner fish in the back, net your fish, unhook them and put them in the live well for you. Problem solved.

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