make shift live well

[kennsandy]

myself and wagabons are planning on our first tourney july 20th, but our 12 footer does not come equip with live, althugh you would think it would, it has everything else, lol. so there are no penalties for dead fish in this tourney, but we dont like killing them while just out fishing, why start now. anything we should keep in mind while putting a live well together? please, any info would be helpful.

ken

[MrPhotographer06]

for jonboats we've always seen a good sized igloo cooler. If you want i think even walmart sells the areator kits for coolers. Just get one of those and you'll be set. My great aunt had a jonboat with a livewell built into the seat. it was just sealed all the way around the edges and had a lift up top and a plug.. worked great

[kennsandy]

cool, we do have an aerator that we got at BPS when they were having spring sales, just in case. i just wasnt really sure about the water temp being to warm from sitting in the boat, if its a sunny day. wasnt sure if i should have some ice nearby, or if it should be fine. i think the tourney is only 6 hours. could we use like a tote of some sorts also, if cooler isnt available? just curious, trying to cover all options.

ken

[MississippiBoy]

Ice is a good idea, also might want to change the water in the cooler every now and then. Maybe take a tea pitcher or something like that with you, and every so often add some "new" water and take out some "old" water.

[Jigger]

Both of the responses you got above are exactly what I would recommend. I have a bass boat and a jon boat with a 25hp motor, Trolling motor etc. When the Bass boat goes down for repairs, I have fished tournaments out of the 14 ft jon boat.

I use a 100 quart igloo cooler. You could go smaller, I'm sure. I also use the aereator made for these coolers as described above. Clip it to your 12 volt battery. I carry a gallon rubber bucket with a handle on it to fill it up with. Go to your farm supply store and get the gallon rubber bucket horse people use. They are very handy, durable and heavy enough that they won't blow out. Definitely change part of the water at least 2 to 4 times during the tournament, especially if you have a lot of fish or large fish and especially if the water's warm.
Good luck. Let me know how you did and how the live well worked.

[Jigger]

Originally Posted by kennsandy

wasnt sure if i should have some ice nearby,

ken

Be careful with ice. Too much of a change in temperature too fast can shock a fish. Also, when I used to striper fish with shad in the summer, if I added ice, I'd usually add something to take the chlorine out of the ice. I don't know if the chlorine remover made any difference but I didn't want to take any chances. But I can tell you for sure you can put a fish into shock by dumping a bunch of ice into 80 degree water. Go slow if you add ice.

[Buzz Wing]

You mentioned "keeping some [ice] nearby". How will that help if it's hot out? It will melt like hell in ten minutes.

As long as you keep it shaded and circulating freshwater every half hour or so you should be fine.

[WTL]

Dry ice......

[BassAddict]

We used to have tournaments on a trolling motor only lake. I would use a 48 qt. cooler with an aerator. In the summertime we would only have a 3 fish limit. I take a few 20 oz. gatorade bottles and fill them with water and freeze them. Keep them in a cooler with ice (and drinks). Every so often drop one in the cooler with the fish to cool the water off. I actually do this in the bass boat too. If you don't do this or at least change the water often you'll cook those fish on a hot day.

[Fishbear]

Another thing to do is get a bottle of Please Release Me! Use it according to the directions, I have actually seen fish jumping out of the live well and almost to active to weigh when this is used. Works wonders!!!