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.

Parker or lobster boat?

William Bruce wrote:
Parker or lobster boat?



crickets

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.

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. The spot I caught were intended as
live bait for livelining and were used that way. Where there are slot
limits for fish, some guys might "livewell" a smaller fish in hopes of
catching a larger one of the same species, and then dump the smaller
one, still alive, back in the drink.

Most livewells, at least the ones that are professionally installed,
suck up their water through a bronze through-hull fitting on the bottom
of the boat. A shut-off valve sits on top of the through-hull, inside
the boat. An electric livewell pump takes the water from there and pipes
it into the livewell. The livewell usually has a plumbed overflow pipe
so that water coming in pushes out the "dirty" water already in the
livewell. My livewell, which holds 30 gallons, is on deck and serves as
a platform for the two main swivel seats behind the center console. It
has a second pump to help drain it at the end of the day, though it will
also drain via gravity through an outlet on the transom.

There are several other ways livewells can be plumbed.

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.

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:14:51 -0400, "JimH" ask 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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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
...
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.