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Conference wahoo::fishing

Title:Fishing Notes- Archived
Notice:See note 555.1 for a keyword directory of this conference
Moderator:DONMAC::MACINTYRE
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Sep 20 1991
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1660
Total number of notes:20970

961.0. "Livewell Aerators" by DECWET::HELSEL (I'm the NRA) Thu Jan 26 1989 17:51

    I did a few searches and couldn't find anything in here about aerators
    for live wells.  If there is something that I missed, perhaps Mr.
    moderator can move my note.
    
    I have a live well on my boat.  It has no aerator.  This is something
    I observed after having owned this boat since last July (see they
    canceled our project and gave us a month off with pay so I bought
    a new boat.....who wouldn't?)  Anyway, I usually purchase live herring
    and drop them in the livewell.  Then I dump a bucket of ice in ther
    to keep them fresh.  
    
    The opther day I was paging through the latest Cabella's catalog
    and saw the aerators in ther for live wells.  A bolt of lightning
    streaked through the window, hit me in the head and the light came
    on.  "Why not buy an aerator and use the livewell?????"
    
    So, what do you experts recommend?  Does the $29.00 model from
    Cabella's that clips onto your 12 volt cut the mustard?  My boat
    has only one 12 volt, so I don't want to wear it down.  I usually
    move the boat frequently, so it gets started at least every 20 minutes.
    
    What do you think?
    
    I also saw where they (you don't know who "they" is?) make a timing
    panel that turns the aerator on for 30 seconds every 3 minutes or
    so.  Does this work?  How long should the water be aerated and how
    frequently?
    
    Thnaks for your help in advance.
    
    Brett
    
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961.1MIGHTY::DILSWORTHFri Jan 27 1989 09:5817
    Brett,
    
    There are two type of aerators.  One pumps in fresh water from the
    outside and has an overflow and the other pumps air into the water.
    Neither one draws enough current to be a consideration. 
    
    I have a pump for fresh water and DonMac has an aerator.  Don doesn't
    loose many fish, but he does add catch and release to keep them alive.
    Before I bought an automatic timer, I had to remember to turn on the
    livewell.  I lost several fish during one tounament in hot weather.  I
    promptly went out and bought a timer after that and have only lost one
    fish since.
    
    One consideration you have may be salt water. Herring and DECWET sounds
    like Seatle. 

    keith
961.2RAINBO::MACINTYREFish are rising up like birdsFri Jan 27 1989 12:0917
    Keith, I've been having luck using the aerator without catch and
    release also.  After loosing a couple fish at a  l o n g   h o t 
    tournament while using catch and release formula and having to just
    throw them away (because you can't eat them after they've been in
    catch and release), I decided to try and stop using c&r.
               
    Instead I've paid closer attention to the water temp in the livewell
    and if it warms up I'll change the water.  Granted, this does take
    a few minutes of valuable tournament time, but it works.  And if
    a fish does die, it may be eaten rather than wasted.  
    
    So far that happened only once - and I'm pretty sure it was due to 
    the fact that the bass had swallowed the worm and the hook was set 
    down deep in his throat.
    
    donmac - who's not as big on c&r formula as he used to be...
                                                       
961.3Please continueDECWET::HELSELI'm the NRAFri Jan 27 1989 14:0129
    re: .1
    
    Correct.  I am using herring to fish for Salmon in Puget Sound.
    When I get the herring, they are live.  I keep them on ice so
    they look their best.  Just prior to rigging them up, I cut them
    so as to produce spin on a double hook called a "hook up".  This
    is called the "cut plug" method.  Although i don't use live herring
    in the water, they look better if they have expired more recently.
    
    So now, if I used a live well that exchanged water, wouldn't I have
    to cut through the hull (shiver)?  This sound like the best way,
    but more complicated.  
    
    re: .2
    
    I assume you just have an air pump with a tube that aerates the
    water.  I suppose you could always scoop out some water and pour
    in some fresh from time to time.  Temperature is something I hadn't
    considered.  The water temp in the Sound is a constant 53 degrees.
    
    What do you mean by catch and release with regard to a live well?
    
    Is this actually some type of water conditioner or are you actually
    catching and releasing your bait.  Sorry, I'm a tad confused.
    
    Brett.
    
    P.S. We don't get ice and I limited with three nice blackmouth salmon
         last Saturday.  My partner also limited.  Beautiful sunny day.
961.4keep'n em aliveRAINBO::MACINTYREFish are rising up like birdsFri Jan 27 1989 14:1613
    Catch and Release is powdered treatment that is added to livewells
    in order to keep your catch (nto your bait) alive, so that they
    may be released in good condition after the weigh-in.  It is primarily
    used by tournament bass fishermen.  
    
    It relaxes the bass, helps them replace their slime coat, helps
    fight fungus, etc...
    
    The aerator that I use is a pump that circulates the water.  It's
    sucked off the bottom and sprayed out a tube with about 10 holes
    from the top of the livewell (in my case a large 55qt cooler).
    
    Don Mac
961.5Great infoDECWET::HELSELI'm the NRAFri Jan 27 1989 16:4013
    Oh, I see.  I'm not cath and release fishing.  I'm more
    into kill and fillet with regard to the type of fish we
    hunt here.
    
    One of the things we've discussed is whether we would catch more
    fish if we lowered live herring down there.  The live well would
    be an essential component for this investigation.  Not sure I want
    to cut a hole in the hull so the aerator you describe might get
    me by.  Herring are allegedly sensitive to temperature, so I have
    to think about this.
    
    Brett.
    
961.6Shiners an live wellsDPDMAI::BEAZLEYFri Jan 27 1989 18:0831
    De bes live wells dat I've seen ar made in de boat, wit holes in
    de bottom. Dey move de water frum de outside thru de well. Course
    dose are wooden(cypress) boats. Chew don hab to change de water
    yousef, tho.
    
    Wit shiners, minnows, hearing, or whateber: put dem in a
    polyuterine(plastic) bag wit some oxygen, lak dey hab at de hospitol.
    Dey las a long time and stey healthy.
    
    DE live well look lak dis
    
    
                                     |
                                   |   |
                                  |     |
                                 |       |
                                |         |
                               |           |
                               |           |
                               |           |
                               |           |
                               |-----------|---------boards across(sealed)
                               |  o  o  o--|---holes
                               |-----------|
                               |           |
                               |___________|
    
    
    I don now if it wud wurk on dem fabergloss boats.
    
    Coonass
961.7If it's just bait....VICKI::DODIERMon Jan 30 1989 12:378
    	If your just keeping bait you can get a bait bucket that you
    throw over the side. It has holes in the top half big enough to let
    the water flow through without letting the fish out. When you move
    you just lift the bucket out of the water. It has a spring loaded
    door to get the bait out through but keep them in there. They cost
    about $8-$10.
    
    	RAYJ
961.8More info on bait bucketsVICKI::DODIERMon Jan 30 1989 12:509
    	On page 298 of the 1988 full Bass-Pro catalog they have 3 listed:
    
    	Flow-troll $8.94 -  Plano 800 troll $8.99 - Bass Shuttle $9.97
    
    	I have the Flow-troll which I bought years ago for Killies (3"
    minnows used for fluke fishing). It's simple, durable, inexpensive,
    doesn't use batteries, plastic (won't rust), and it works.
    
    	RAYJ
961.9Force Flow?PACKER::GIBSONFri Mar 24 1989 16:1622
    I'm getting into this live bait thing also. I just bought a Rule
    general purpose pump but don't want to keep it constantly running
    for bait. It would run down the batteries. 
    Has anyone tried setting up a forced flow system that rams water
    into a piece of PVC pipe up into the live well? 
    
    If so how does it work? I know the priciple of it but wonder how
    much it reduces the boat speed and/or increses gas consumption by
    dragging the pipe in the water?
    
                                   
                    --------------
                    |            |
                   / \           |
                   outlet        |
                  Bait Well      |
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                 |
                    Water        ]
    
                               inlet
                            
961.10No idea's ever wasted !HPSTEK::CYGANWed Feb 28 1990 09:5626
    Seems like you'll run into all kindsa stuff like air-locks, varied
    rates of flow dependent on status of boat at time 'x', etc. etc.
    
    How ya gonna design an overflow outlet big/small enough to handle 
    a variety of inlet pressures/flow rates?
    
    I suggest that if your idea were plausable, EVERYBODY'd be doing it, 
    and somebody would be making a FORTUNE on it already.
    
    By the way.....those fancy live-well timers are nothing more than
    one of the widshield wiper timers you can buy (on sales) for about
    $9 at many department stores.   Just fancied up a bit.
    
    Seems like if you set the time-on interval to a wide time off, the
    battery use will be negligble.
      
      ** FUNNY to note how few boats out there have battery condition
         meters on them.....seems like a good idea to me!
    
    Couldn't help but notice that the 8" of snow we just got has slowed
    down them there night-crawlers that were starting to come out of the
    ground already, here in MASS.....sure makes em EZ to CATCH....but how
    do ya thaw em out???????
    
    'catch-as-catch-can'
    
961.11Mag-Air BubblerCSSE::SANDERWed Mar 07 1990 12:4020
    I've been meaning to put this note in here for some time.
    
    My wife fishes for bass with minnows. Especially during the summer many
    would go belly up, but some would die at other time too. I tried some of
    the ideas in this file and they helped. But last spring I bought a 
    Mag-Air Aerator from BPS. I think the price was 29.99. I also went for
    the "million bubble hose" and the adapter package for AC or DC. Last
    year I could count one one hand the number of minnows that died without
    seeing a bass. 
    
    The unit is slick. You can adjust the level of aeration you want depending
    for example if the minnows are in a large or small bucket. The unit can
    be used with batteries or AC. It will also charge the NiCads while the 
    unit is plugged into the wall and supplying air to the minnows. Or can
    use regular batteries. It had an adapter cord to run off the battery or 
    the cigerette lighter in the car. 
    
    I am happy with the investment. Just thought I would pass it on.
    
    Ed