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Would It Be Dumb To Sign Up For A Tournament Without A Good Livewell? 2024


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 

I really wanna do a tournament coming up in early May on the lake I fish a lot, we have a livewell in our boat but it doesn't have an aerator. It just has a hole where the lake water goes in and fills it up when you put the boat in the water, what If I bought one of those portable aerators from the store and put it in there? Would that be good enough?


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 

It also isn't a very large livewell so If we caught 5 big fish they would be kinda cramped in there shoulder to shoulder....


fishing user avatarAlonerankin2 reply : 

It will work.. If they croak, then can you say.. Catch & Grease? Lol.. I think you can get by just fine. Good luck & post your earnings at IRS. Com


fishing user avatarCRANKENSTIEN reply : 

Cabellas has a live well aerator kit that would most likely work for you. It is made to fit into a cooler but I'm sure it would work for your situation. Believe it is about 40 dol. you should fish the tourney. Good luck.


fishing user avatarRAMBLER reply : 

I have a follow up question to that.  Will most tournament officials let you fish in their tourney if your live well is not adequate?


fishing user avatarWIGuide reply : 

That should work for you as long as you throw in some fresh water every now and then. You could add a permanent install to it for not much more than the cost of the cooler setup.  


fishing user avatarJ Francho reply : 

Rambler, every tournament I've been in required s working live well, and they always check. Though, I figure they're making sure you don't already have fish in there.


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 

I bought something called a "bubble box" this morning because a friend recommended it... It wasn't very expensive, hopefully it'll do its job.


fishing user avatargardnerjigman reply : 

My buddies boat that he had before he got his new one was the same way. Natural fill livewell with no aerator. It worked well, even in the summer months. Just be sure to keep an eye on the fish, keep them covered up and you should be fine. Like others have said, you could turn your existing livewell into a permanent aerated/recirculated system for pretty cheap.  


fishing user avatarMike L reply : 

The bubblebox will help, but I'd be sure to bring a bag of ice especially if the day is hot.

It will help with any bleed and with keeping the water "fresher" without a recirculater.

Mike


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 
  On 4/29/2015 at 12:23 AM, Mike L said:

The bubblebox will help, but I'd be sure to bring a bag of ice especially if the day is hot.

It will help with any bleed and with keeping the water "fresher" without a recirculater.

Mike

How much ice should I put in the livewell? And how often?


fishing user avatarMike L reply : 

A 10lb bag will be more than enough.

Not knowing how big your box is, I'd put just enough in so that no more than half of the surface is covered at one time.

Put a little in at a time so as to keep the temperature as consistant as you can.

Mike


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 

Well I went ahead and signed up for the tournament today... Wish me luck!


fishing user avatarAlonerankin2 reply : 

Have fun and do report back! Best of luck & catch em good!!


fishing user avatarBluebasser86 reply : 
  On 4/29/2015 at 12:41 AM, Catch and Grease said:

How much ice should I put in the livewell? And how often?

Be careful adding ice. A lot of times it has chlorine in it that can kill the fish in heavier concentrations. I like to freeze gallon milk jugs and just put those in the livewell so they're kept cool but none of the ice water gets into my livewell water. 


fishing user avatarBrownBear reply : 

You might want to contact the tournament folks and ask if your setup will allow you to fish in the tournament, before you waste a lot of money and time.


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 
  On 4/29/2015 at 7:31 PM, BrownBear said:

You might want to contact the tournament folks and ask if your setup will allow you to fish in the tournament, before you waste a lot of money and time.

All the lady that signed me up could do for me is give me an info packet and all it says is you need a livewell and aerator.


fishing user avatarcorn-on-the-rob reply : 

In any tournaments I have fished an aerated live-well was required. Be sure to check regulations.


fishing user avatarAlonerankin2 reply : 

Taking what bluebasser said, 20oz soda bottles frozen make nice big ice cubes..


fishing user avatarJ Francho reply : 

FYI, when you freeze chlorinated and fluoridated water, you freeze those chemicals in the water. You want use a treatment like Sure Life to eliminate them, since they're bad for the fish.


fishing user avatarCatch and Grease reply : 

Yeah I'll probably just freeze some water bottles like bluebasser mentioned


fishing user avatarTeam9nine reply : 

Water bottles are good, as is having some type of conditioner which will help offset any chemical impurities, but the bit about chlorine levels in bags of ice is a bit overblown, IMO. I've never heard or seen of a livewell full of dead bass in 25 years of tourney fishing from a bag of ice in these parts, and the Maryland DNR actually did a test on local suppliers many years back and found no issue with bulk produced store bought ice: http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Documents/IsChlorineinLiveWellsaProblemdoc.pdf

 

-T9


fishing user avatarJ Francho reply : 

Probably not from a bag of ice purchased, but some of the municipal water up here can be pretty bad, so homemade ice may be an issue. Like a lot of things, it depends on the source.


fishing user avatarCDMeyer reply : 

I have used those portable ones before, they work just fine and have kept all my fish alive..... You should be fine


fishing user avatareverythingthatswims reply : 

You can also bring an old cooler in case you get 5 big ones and need to move a couple so they aren't too crowded. 


fishing user avatardam0007 reply : 

Get some of that blue powder stuff too, that helps keep them alive.


fishing user avatarBig C reply : 
  On 5/1/2015 at 12:50 PM, everythingthatswims said:

You can also bring an old cooler in case you get 5 big ones and need to move a couple so they aren't too crowded. 

 

That's a great idea. 




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