Live well vs cooler

[silverside]

I have always used my live wells to keep the fish alive/fresh. Lately I have been seeing videos of fish just being tossed into an empty or partly filled cooler. Not sure how I feel about that. Maybe I just stay on the water too long to feel comfortable doing that.

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[Kevmc]

I have always used my live wells to keep the fish alive/fresh. Lately I have been seeing videos of fish just being tossed into an empty or partly filled cooler. Not sure how I feel about that. Maybe I just stay on the water too long to feel comfortable doing that.

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cooler with plenty of ice for me in the hot times, livewell when cooler temps...

[Special K]

cooler with plenty of ice for me in the hot times, livewell when cooler temps...

I agree with Kevmc but, would add a comment: livewell in tournament or any type of culling situations, but cooler with ice for any other more basic meat collecting missions.

[CrappiePappy]

I generally use the livewell unless the lake I'm at does not have any fish cleaning facilities available at the ramp I use, then I'll have a cooler with ice (or frozen water jug) to transport the fish back home in. And if I do use the livewell during warm water times, I'll usually have a frozen water jug to place in it if I start getting enough fish to consider keeping. And I won't fill the livewell but once, and don't run the pump to add more (warm) water. (then again I don't do a whole lot of fishing during the hot Summer days)

So far I have not lost any fish to livewell death spoilage, but I also do not keep fish every trip I take.

[tenncrappie]

We tournament fish in a aluminum boat and when water temps get above 70 we never use the live well. We use a cooler with 1/2 gallon frozen jugs and a bubbler with gator clips. Had pretty good luck so far. Think we've lost 1 fish in the last year.

[zig zag]

Don't have live well in boat so fish don't have a choice -----> cooler with 3" ice at bottom.

[huntinslabs]

I use the livewell for crappie but they go in large quantity of ice when back to ramp. Saltwater fish go immediately in ice brine. Fortunate to have ice machine at work and pack coolers full of ice in Fridays. I cringe on some of the pics I see as well. Many fish posted I wouldnt eat or stick a knife in.

[Central Minn]

Colder water, live well and put in the cooler covered with ice for the ride home, hot water, skip the live well,cooler with 10 lbs of bagged ice, catch a fish drop em in the bottom of the cooler set the bag of ice on top of em and repeat. Ice cold firm fish clean nicer then warm mushy fish in my opinion.

[1187mg]

In the winter I use the live well. Summer I put them on ice in a cooler. I always put them on ice before I clean them to most of the time.

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[IkenI]

I'll use the live well in cooler weather but really prefer to ice down all the fish I keep. I rarely keep crappie in the hot summertime, or actually anytime if I have a few filets in the freezer. I guess it's from my old days of trout and bass 'catch and release.' I like to eat crappie as well as anyone but am constantly amazed at seeing pics of 20 or more caught and cleaned day after day after day by some folks. Can't imagine eating that much crappie.

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