Livewell

[castle]

Had 60 crappie in my livewell drove home 1 hour away and a bunch of them died. I have this problem a lot. What do u guys do to keep large catches alive longer???

[wilbur]

I take em out and put in a 5gal. bucket with ice and keep it in the truck.

[Cray]

You can take some 2 liter bottles and freeze them. Put in a cooler. Then when you get ready to go home put a couple in the live well. The bottles cool the water down slower than just dumping ice in and let's them acclimate better. I run a 12 volt power bubbles in my boat with one leg of it to live well.

[CrappiePappy]

34qt Gott cooler with ice



... cp

[kickingback]

Fish stays fresher by putting them on ice once caught. Do not store in cold water with ice. Empty the water and use only ice as the water does not keep the fish fresh as much as ice alone. Immediately after fishing empty the live well into a cooler or empty the water in your live well and poor in ice. If the eyes start to "film" over and look cloudy them the fish is no longer good.

[huntinslabs]

Fish stays fresher by putting them on ice once caught. Do not store in cold water with ice. Empty the water and use only ice as the water does not keep the fish fresh as much as ice alone. Immediately after fishing empty the live well into a cooler or empty the water in your live well and poor in ice. If the eyes start to "film" over and look cloudy them the fish is no longer good.

This^^^^^^ if I have any question of them staying alive for the trip home.

[skeetbum]

The 2 liter bottles are a good idea. Dumping ice frequently adds chlorine to the water and I don't hold much hope for them after that if they are still swimming. If you have a good ride home and don't like them being lost along the way, I think they need to ride in a cooler or live well with the drain open. I feel the filets get a bit mushy sitting in water, warm or cold.

[wannabecrappieking]

That many crappie in a live well would be hard to keep alive. That many fish in a live well takes up all the oxygen regardless of running aerator or not. You can try to add some keep alive additive and a cap full off peroxide.

[usafret99]

my experience is that once I get past 30 in the live well its hard to keep them alive so if its going to be awhile before cleaning i empty the water out of the live well and fill with ice.

[SeaRay]

my experience is that once I get past 30 in the live well its hard to keep them alive so if its going to me awhile before cleaning i empty the water out of the live well and fill with ice.

The fish are easier to clean as well if they are not flopping all over the place.