JimH wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
JimH wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:18 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:

Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a day
of
fishing?
You turn it on in either recycle, auto or constant circulation, prime
the circulator pump which on my boat means backing up a little to
force a little water into the line, then let it run.

When you are finished, put it in Empty or Drain position and it
empties.

Ask Scott how it works - works pretty good.

With respect to keeping a fish fresh, live wells will keep a fish
alive until you get time to bleed and gut it. Much better than ice.
Makes sense. Our live bait (minnows) die from lack of oxygen in the
water combined with rising water temps when kept in a bucket, even with a
battery powered air pump in the bucket. A dead minnow is easier for a
perch to steal off your hook than a live one as the dead ones deteriote
in body flesh integrity pretty fast and come off the hook easily.



There are kits out there that will turn a small igloo cooler into a
livewell. If you decide to take fishing seriously enough to keep your
minnows alive, check it out.

An extra cooler on my current boat for minnows is not an option. My next
boat will have a live well (or 2). I have narrowed my choices to these
Grady Whites (yes, my next boat will be a Grady):

265 Islander (dreaming)

226 Seafarer

205 Adventurer

232 Gulfstream



You ought to make a quick trip here next month. The local Grady dealer
has "Grady Days" right after the Annapolis Powerboat Show. You can ride
in and drive just about every Grady model.

Gradys are great boats.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:51:35 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:01 -0400, HK wrote:

I don't know of any reason to keep those fish you intend to eat at the
end of a day's trip in the livewell.

Culling. You keep the fish alive and well and at the end of the day,
cull for size.

There are folks who cull by simply throwing the smaller dead fish back in
the bay. Personally, I think that's why God made shotguns.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:04:37 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:00:15 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:51:35 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:01 -0400, HK wrote:

I don't know of any reason to keep those fish you intend to eat at the
end of a day's trip in the livewell.

Culling. You keep the fish alive and well and at the end of the day,
cull for size.

There are folks who cull by simply throwing the smaller dead fish back in
the bay. Personally, I think that's why God made shotguns.

Good for the crabs.

The crabs aren't dying due to a lack of food.

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:10:50 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:00:15 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:51:35 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:01 -0400, HK wrote:

I don't know of any reason to keep those fish you intend to eat at the
end of a day's trip in the livewell.

Culling. You keep the fish alive and well and at the end of the day,
cull for size.

There are folks who cull by simply throwing the smaller dead fish back in
the bay. Personally, I think that's why God made shotguns.

Good for the crabs.

Sometimes you cannot help it........most especially when the fish swallows
the hook. On Lake Erie these smaller (dead) ones become gull snack
food.........the circle of life.


I'm talking about folks who throw a dead 22" striper back because they just
caught a 24" striper. The limit is two fish. Some people just keep throwing
dead ones back when they catch a bigger one. Those folks deserve shooting.

"Good for the crabs" is no excuse.

On Sep 22, 8:02 pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:18 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:
Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a day of
fishing?

You turn it on in either recycle, auto or constant circulation, prime
the circulator pump which on my boat means backing up a little to
force a little water into the line, then let it run.

When you are finished, put it in Empty or Drain position and it
empties.

Ask Scott how it works - works pretty good.

With respect to keeping a fish fresh, live wells will keep a fish
alive until you get time to bleed and gut it. Much better than ice.

For those unfamiliar with Bluefish and fishing for them. Folks who eat
Bluefish like to keep them alive till they can can bleed and clean
them. If you are on a pod of Bluefish, you can catch them as fast as
you can catch, then you have to chase the pod. There is often little
time to tend to the cleaning so you keep them in the livewell till you
are ready to clean then and put them on ice.

Tom's well works great. He twsted a switch and it filled with fresh
water and recirculated it keeping one fish I caught alive and well for
hours, eventually decided to not kill him, so we were able to let him
go no worse for the experience. At the end of the day, he twisted the
switch back, and it emptied itself nicely.

On Sep 22, 9:04 pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:00:15 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:51:35 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:01 -0400, HK wrote:

I don't know of any reason to keep those fish you intend to eat at the
end of a day's trip in the livewell.

Culling. You keep the fish alive and well and at the end of the day,
cull for size.

There are folks who cull by simply throwing the smaller dead fish back in
the bay. Personally, I think that's why God made shotguns.

Good for the crabs.

yum, bluecrabs...

wrote:
On Sep 22, 8:02 pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:18 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:
Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a day of
fishing?
You turn it on in either recycle, auto or constant circulation, prime
the circulator pump which on my boat means backing up a little to
force a little water into the line, then let it run.

When you are finished, put it in Empty or Drain position and it
empties.

Ask Scott how it works - works pretty good.

With respect to keeping a fish fresh, live wells will keep a fish
alive until you get time to bleed and gut it. Much better than ice.

For those unfamiliar with Bluefish and fishing for them. Folks who eat
Bluefish like to keep them alive till they can can bleed and clean
them. If you are on a pod of Bluefish, you can catch them as fast as
you can catch, then you have to chase the pod. There is often little
time to tend to the cleaning so you keep them in the livewell till you
are ready to clean then and put them on ice.

Tom's well works great. He twsted a switch and it filled with fresh
water and recirculated it keeping one fish I caught alive and well for
hours, eventually decided to not kill him, so we were able to let him
go no worse for the experience. At the end of the day, he twisted the
switch back, and it emptied itself nicely.



Which one of you geniuses reaches into the livewell to grab the blues by
the tail? :}

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:04:00 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:51 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:18 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:

Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a
day
of
fishing?

You turn it on in either recycle, auto or constant circulation, prime
the circulator pump which on my boat means backing up a little to
force a little water into the line, then let it run.

When you are finished, put it in Empty or Drain position and it
empties.

Ask Scott how it works - works pretty good.

With respect to keeping a fish fresh, live wells will keep a fish
alive until you get time to bleed and gut it. Much better than ice.

Makes sense. Our live bait (minnows) die from lack of oxygen in the
water
combined with rising water temps when kept in a bucket, even with a
battery
powered air pump in the bucket. A dead minnow is easier for a perch to
steal off your hook than a live one as the dead ones deteriote in body
flesh
integrity pretty fast and come off the hook easily.

Ah - well, there is a cure.

Ice and rock salt. You take a bag of ice (baggie, whatever) properly
sized for the bucket and add a little rock salt - say 1/4 - 1/3
handfull for a 5 gallon bucket.

Now you may ask why the rock salt. Well, three reasons. It changes
the pH of the water just a little which the little minnows like. The
minnows, odd as this may sound, like the water a little salty (not a
lot salty). The ice keeps the water cool which slows down their
metabolism keeping them alive longer. The salt also helps lower the
temperature of the water faster and keeps it cooler longer.

Now Grasshopper, go forth and fish in peace and harmony.

For our next lesson, we will discuss the proper rigging of a minnow
for maximum hook up. :)

We normally keep a perforated floating pail in the water to keep our extra
minnows alive and add to the on deck pail as needed. We add ice to the
water of the ones on the boat but they eventually die if the fishing is
slow.

Try the rock salt.

Another issue, sometimes not always, is that minnows will descale and
their waste will contaminate the water. One way to avoid that is to
circulate and filter the water. I just looked for a bookmark I had
for a small circulator and filter kit, but it seems I lost it somehow.

I'll take the time tomorrow and find it again. Cheap too - only like
15/20 bucks, but it does a great job. Works like an aquarium filter.

As far a putting the minnow on the hook...........perch will normally go
for
the head. The minnow is therefore hooked through the back down through
the
belley and back up through the head.

I never do that. I usually hook through the nostrils right below the
eyes.

Then again, I seldom use live bait. I've seen more ways to rig
minnows than you can shake a stick at and every one is as valid as the
other.

I have a bait bag on my boat when I use live bait. Anchovies with maybe a
sardine tossed in. Hangs on brackets on the back of the boat and a small
500 gph bilge pump sets on a bracket at the bottom of the transom. Pumps
fresh water into the bag and the excess runs out of small holes near the top
edge. If you were in a lake, the surface water being very warm may kill the
bait. But in SF Bay and the ocean warm water is not a concern.

"JimH" ask wrote in message
...

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:18 -0400, "JimH" ask wrote:

Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a day
of
fishing?

You turn it on in either recycle, auto or constant circulation, prime
the circulator pump which on my boat means backing up a little to
force a little water into the line, then let it run.

When you are finished, put it in Empty or Drain position and it
empties.

Ask Scott how it works - works pretty good.

With respect to keeping a fish fresh, live wells will keep a fish
alive until you get time to bleed and gut it. Much better than ice.

Makes sense. Our live bait (minnows) die from lack of oxygen in the
water combined with rising water temps when kept in a bucket, even with a
battery powered air pump in the bucket. A dead minnow is easier for a
perch to steal off your hook than a live one as the dead ones deteriote in
body flesh integrity pretty fast and come off the hook easily.


What about a bait bucket that you drop in the water next to the boat? You
have to remember to haul it out before moving, but they work well. The
better ones have a weight* to keep the bucket oriented correctly. I've kept
minnows alive for an entire day with this kind of thing.

*Weight is known by the state of California to contain lead, which should
not be shredded onto food with a cheese grater.

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
JimH wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Just a nice semi-overcast day on the Bay. Caught about 15 spot on
Berkley bloodworms and very small hooks, dumped them into the livewell,
and went in search of big fish via livelining. Caught a few blues, one
decent sized striper, but he escaped. Neighbor who accompanied me caught
a keeper striper. May try again tomorrow if the forecasted wind doesn't
materialize. Didn't see Herring out there.

I understand keeping live bait alive in a livewell. I also understand
keeping fish alive in one when tournament fishing.

With that understanding........what is the purpose of keeping fish
intended to be on the dinner table in one knowing you eventually have to
put them on ice during the trip from the boat to home (knowing they will
die along the way)? I have no problem keeping my catch fresh on ice in
the cooler throughout a day of fishing.

Lastly....how do you start up and then shut down a livewell after a day
of fishing?

I never had a livewell so excuse the questions.

I don't know of any reason to keep those fish you intend to eat at the end
of a day's trip in the livewell.

Because 1/2 a day equals 12 hours. If you're out fishing that long and
bluefish are the reward, you keep them half a day fresher. Ice is fine, but
live is better. Your mileage may vary. Matter of fact, it WILL vary.