How Do You Keep Your Catch Alive?

[butlerrd]

I am curious as to how you folks are keeping your fish alive when the water temps are hot? I don’t have a recirculating function on my livewell and would like to keep fish alive in the summer. Not interested in tossing them in a cooler on ice. I want to keep them alive for tournament fishing. I’ve seen some aerators that say they are rated for 35-50 gals but wondered if any of you have tried this or maybe come up with something different.

As always “Thanks” for the info.

[Grainraiser]

I have never tried to keep them alive in the summer. I just throw them on ice. If I did want to keep them alive I would take a cooler and add a 12 volt aerator to it. Add ice to keep the water cool. Depending on how long your going to be out you can add a recirculating pump to keep the water fresh. I have a 50qt cooler with Marine Metal Power Bubble aerator attached I use. If i'm on the water for a while I dip out the old water and add new water. As long as I don't allow the ammonia to build it works fine. I have thought about adding a automatic recirculating pump but i'm fishing for tablefare so put them on ice is much easier.

[vbottom]

I installed one similar to this in my last boat that had just on off switch.. Pretty easy install. Adjustable frequency of cycles helps keep them alive.

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[Locator79]

Yep.. install a timer and throw frozen bottles in there


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[slabbandit]

There's a science to keeping tournament fish alive and healthy. Most use like a heavy duty 128 qt. cooler. Water treatment and ice to keep the temp a constant 70 degrees.

[bbrown549]

V-T2 livewell vents and Please release me additive has worked well for me

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[butlerrd]

I have an aerated live well but it only pumps in fresh water. This works great in cooler water temps but when the surface temps get into the 80’s pumping hot surface water in on them kills them. I’m trying to come up with a way to keep them alive in the live well without pumping hot water in on them. Been thinking of some type of 12v aerator/oxygenation system like the Frabill AquaLife. Just looking for options.
Thanks for the info.

[gabowman]

When it gets hot I'm done fishing for the day. Dont like sweating in the boat trying to catch fish. My walleye boat has a big livewell so they pretty much stay alive until I get them home. Ill sometimes add a few frozen water filled gatorade bottles to the livewell for the ride home.

[slabbandit]

Water temperature is probably the main thing to control. If you can keep it in the 70 degree range the water can hold a lot more dissolved oxygen. My aerator has a recirculation timer so it keeps reusing the same water so you wouldn't loose too much of your cooler temperature. Just using the recirculation feature in my boat last summer I didn't loose many fish thru the hottest part of the summer. I still prefer to ice them before cleaning. That way they're not a bloody mess and I can eat and take a short nap before running down to the cleaning station.

[wannabe fisherman]

I just throw them back, most of them are 2 small anyway