River smallies.

[chrisvmo]

The last two tournaments I've fished on the Grand River I've caught two smallies and both of them died in a matter of a couple  hours. I don't get it because it's well aerated, I change the water out several times,  I started using peroxide, and clean them out after every tournament. I haven't had any issues with Largemouths, they stay fresh all day.  I can't recall ever having a smallie die in any other tournaments accept on the Grand. Just wondering why this may be and if anyone has any tips or advice!?  I think next time I will just throw the smallies back and let them live.

[32eml24]

I had a similar experience except with largemouth on the Grand.  My two biggest died very shortly after I caught them.. Obviously smallies are more lively but I now keep my livewell pump running almost all the time.  Whether that is correct fish care or not I have not had a fish die since.  Last tourney on the Grand culled through about 20 smallies and all of them lived so maybe keep your pump on?  I know some guys use ice, I have always tossed a little "Please Release Me" into my livewell not sure if it helps or not but I don't think it can hurt much...

[thedude]

freeze a couple gatorade bottles of water to help keep the water cool. even if you change the water, you're pumping hot water off the surface and then its warming up in the livewell

[Team houston]

Its never a bad thing to have the pumps running constantly. I know some guys are worried about draining the batteries.

[Mike S.]

My first thought was temperature in the livewells. Every tournament I have fished, once a fish goes in the box, I keep the pump/pumps running. We haven't had one die yet. I have watched my partner shovel ice from the cooler to the livewells on several occasions as well.

[Lightningboy]

Anybody ever get worried about pump heating?

I've often wondered if running recirc pumps constantly will heat the water?  I know fill pumps wouldn't be a problem since the water is being replaced as they run, but wouldn't the recirc pumps "recycling" the water cause the water to heat up?

[Waterfoul]

Anybody ever get worried about pump heating?

I've often wondered if running recirc pumps constantly will heat the water?  I know fill pumps wouldn't be a problem since the water is being replaced as they run, but wouldn't the recirc pumps "recycling" the water cause the water to heat up?

Recirc pumps run at such low amps they don't really generate any heat themselves.  Simply running the same water back thru the livewell will allow it to warm up over time though... solar heat on the lid would be enough to do that.

About the only time my recirc pumps are on is at the ramp waiting for weigh in so I don't pick up all that nasty, muddy water when putting the boat back on the trailer.  Otherwise it's aerator pumps (usually on the timer... 3 min. on and 3 min off) cycling new water thru the wells all day long.

[Team houston]

All the really good sticks on St. Clair and Erie recurculate the water and cool it down with ice. And I mean ALL of them. Then they use Rejuvidade or Please Release me to help with the Chlorine from the ice as well as the other things these products are supposed to help the fish with. Some of them have Oxygenators as well.

[djkimmel]

It could be where you are catching the smallies verses where you fish later?

Fish in a livewell are stressed and in a limited space so they can contaminate water more with released chemicals.

Warm surface water holds and can hold less oxygen the warmer it gets. In hot water, aeration, bubblers and similar methods are less effective at keeping dissolved oxygen levels in livewell water high enough to sustain stressed and bigger bass. Hot water does not absorb oxygen as well as cooler water AND is not able to hold as much dissolved oxygen. Hot water requires lots of aeration and possibly an additional true oxygen source design to put oxygen in the water; or exchanging livewell water with water that has enough oxygen in it (lake/river water) often - maybe every 20 minutes.

You may need to change water out a lot more of than you think you do considering these things? In my tournament days, I rarely put my livewell valves on recirc, preferring to pull in new lake/river water during the day. I would do it if I went from moving/cooler/deeper water into shallow/hotter/still water and/or water of questionable quality. I tried to keep recirc to a minimum, especially if a mix of smallies and largemouth bass were involved from different water types.

On inland waters, I would either set my pumps at minimum setting - 1 minute on, 1 minute off (only if the surface temp was mid-70's or lower) or I would leave them running all the time. If your batteries can't handle that, you need new batteries.

I added my own tiny bubbles bubbler and kept it running. It did seem to have some positive affect at times when I actually tried to test having on or off with bass in the livewell during practice. If I was still fishing tournaments, I would probably add some type of oxygen system. I'd have to do more research since I'm not up on the latest since I'm skeptical of the real value of some of the known systems that don't actually pump oxygen from a tank into your water (see links at the end). I have talked to some of Great Lakes smallmouth pros who use oxygen tanks and still have some concern about having an oxygen tank in a bass boat that may be bouncing on big waves?!? (See links at the end.)

I used the correct amount of Please Release Me or Catch and Release throughout the day. I would sometimes cool the water just a little if the surface temp was really high. I did not want to change the water temp more than 5 to 8 degrees. Some fisheries biologists do recommend cooling the water - I kind of like the frozen bottle method mentioned above if it won't bang into the bass. Also, rather than buying expensive additives, many fisheries biologists recommend non-iodized salt in the proper amounts instead. It is what they use.

When I fished lots of tournaments in Lansing on the Grand, I had some great spots near the cooling towers for a while. Sometimes, near the cooling towers water temp would be in the high 90's to even over 100 degrees but I was still able to keep largemouth and smallmouth bass alive and healthy. I wouldn't stay in that water for very long and usually started in the hot water area so I only had bass in the livewell that came from it first before going elsewhere.

I have never used hydrogen peroxide. It is a caustic substance capable of harming and/or killing living tissue. I would say the main reasons I have recommended against using it is that I don't have personal experience, I usually did not put my livewells on recirc only and I see too many bass tournament anglers dumping excess of whatever additive they use into their livewells. If you're going to use it, make sure you don't use too much - use the correct dose.

That's always good, general advice coming from my previous long work life in the medical field watching the human condition of improper medical dosage. There's some conflicting information on the Internet about H2O2 but you can find decent resources fairly quick that seem to know what they are talking about. Of course, as in all things, you have to evaluate possible bias or ulterior motives that might color presentations and information (just a disclaimer like the disclaimer I have on this site so you can take that into consideration in the links I put at the end).

The keys to keeping bass alive are enough dissolved oxygen in the water - many livewell studies have demonstrated terrible, extended deadly low levels throughout the day even in livewells the angler felt he/she was doing a good job with; 'clean' water - not contaminated with stress and natural fish chemicals that buildup; and no temperature shock - generally more than a fast 10 degrees F change in temp from where the bass came from.

In addition, studies have shown that for some, as yet unknown reason, bass that spend longer than 6 hours in a livewell can have a drastic drop in survivability so those bass you catch first thing in the morning in a regular 8 hour tournament are the ones you really need to watch and take care of.

Don't just put your bass in the livewell and 'forget' about them. Every half hour or so, take a quick look at them. Some anglers don't like to do that because it can aggravate some bass when you open the lid and look at them. Just pop the lip up no farther than you have to to put in a little more chemical and see if they look relaxed, upright and fairly normal. Make sure you hear or see your pumps running, and that the water level is high.

If your livewells tends to drain quite a bit when you run, causing you to have to bring the level back up every time you stop, that can really increase the stress on your bass. Find a way to cap off the overflow when you make longer runs and/or in rough water.

I hope everyone understands that I do NOT think I know everything about everything. I built this website to help improve the ability of anglers to share, discuss and debate their ideas, knowledge and information they are wondering about or looking for. These are the kind of topics that are very helpful to improving things for anglers, and more importantly, for the resource we all love so much!

[djkimmel]

Links:
Doug Hannon video for Sure Life Laboratories (makers of Catch and Release and other fish care chemical additives) recommends adding store bought Hydrogen Peroxide:


Texas Parks & Wildlife slideshow study - Hydrogen Peroxide - Does it increase oxygen in livewells?
http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/hydrogen-peroxide-for-bass-boat-livewells

Texas Parks & Wildlife slideshow study - The Oxygenator - How well does it work?
http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/the-oxygenator-how-effective-is-it

Texas Parks & Wildlife slideshow study - Livewell Oxygen Injection
http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/livewell-oxygen-injection-8773301