live well....what is it good for?

[forrest]

Catch em', kill em', cook em. I do not see livewell anywhere in that sentence. Best way too keep the meat tasty is to kill them right away and put them on ice (yeah, the saying doesn't have "ice" in it either).

 

So are livewells only good for bragging rights,baitfish, tourny's and kids amusement?

 

Forrest

 

pssst.....can anyone help with the baitcaster question?

[Greencoachdog]

Fish decompose quickly, the longer you can keep them alive before cleaning them the better... but that's just me...

[ccmtcanada]

I suppose you could fill it with ice and keep some drinks in there.

[Garry2Rs]

Might be a good place to keep your pop and water. If you're a live bait type of guy, how about a holding tank for minnows and leeches?

As a last resort, plug the inlet and drain holes and use it as a tackle box or storage bin.

There's also the chance that you killed all the descent fish in the lake last time out, so if you get a couple of dinks, you can keep them in the live well until you decide whether you have enough to bother cleaning.

I can answer your bait-casting questions and teach you how to set your equipment up.

If you're serious PM me.

Garry2R's

[Angler16]

good for

-keeping bugs off your fish

-IF your fishing for longer so it doesn't go bad in sun light

-If you catch more you wanna keep, i wouldn't want dead fish all over my boat

 

MY TOP 3 TADAAAAA

-Little Angler

[jace]

besides keeping bait alive especially for those who use big sucker "minnows" for bait, it's handier than a minnow bucket.

 

for storing fish you plan to keep, it's best to bleed and ice a fish as soon as possible. When fish are stressed out, all the flopping around releases lactic acid into the meat which begins to degrade it. Have you ever seen how the japanese handle their top grade tuna? They spike the skull and run wire or mono up the spinal column. same reason. Lactic acid buildup is the main reason fish die after catch and release also which can occur days after being released.

 

Me, i store the lawn chairs and salmon net in the fish hold. LOL I keep a cooler on deck to store fish, filled with ice and water. they're bled in the water immediately. Try it, you'll see the difference in the meat color. No more opaque, "chalky" colored meat. all translucent even after a full day. For bleeding, you can cut a few gills, but the easiet way is to push a knife right through the arch of the collar behind the last gill. There's a major artery in there and you should see heavy blood flow as soon as you hit it.

[Musky or Specks]

Might be a good place to keep your pop and water. If you're a live bait type of guy, how about a holding tank for minnows and leeches?

As a last resort, plug the inlet and drain holes and use it as a tackle box or storage bin.

There's also the chance that you killed all the descent fish in the lake last time out, so if you get a couple of dinks, you can keep them in the live well until you decide whether you have enough to bother cleaning.

I can answer your bait-casting questions and teach you how to set your equipment up.

If you're serious PM me.

Garry2R's

 

 

Thats what Ive done and Im glad I did that extra storage space is way more valuable than a brag box.

[forrest]

Great info guys!

 

The stuff about how its done in Japan is eye opening; gotta try it. I think a cooler will be my choice for space use, it is always good to store food and ice fish.

 

Forrest

[danc]

I use mine to revive a fish, and get things sorted out for picture taking. If the fish is a bleeder, I want to make sure it's not going to survive before just tossing it back in the water. The highly oxygenated water that a live well provides does wonders for a stressed fish. I can't count how many fish that I thought were gone and came back to life after an hour or so in the well. If I catch a real nice fish that I want to photograph, I'll immediately dump it into the live well. I'll let it catch it's breath, and get things organized for the photo. That may mean turning the boat so that the sun will be on the guy holding the fish (I've seen tons of shots on here where the photographer is facing the sun which = a wasted opportunity), getting the camera ready and general cleaning up. My live well is a valuable tool for catch and release fishing and photography. I don't know how I'd do without it.

[Greencoachdog]

I use mine to revive a fish, and get things sorted out for picture taking. If the fish is a bleeder, I want to make sure it's not going to survive before just tossing it back in the water. The highly oxygenated water that a live well provides does wonders for a stressed fish. I can't count how many fish that I thought were gone and came back to life after an hour or so in the well. If I catch a real nice fish that I want to photograph, I'll immediately dump it into the live well. I'll let it catch it's breath, and get things organized for the photo. That may mean turning the boat so that the sun will be on the guy holding the fish (I've seen tons of shots on here where the photographer is facing the sun which = a wasted opportunity), getting the camera ready and general cleaning up. My live well is a valuable tool for catch and release fishing and photography. I don't know how I'd do without it.

 

I do the same exact thing Dan!

 

... and if the fish doesn't make, he can go right into the cooler on ice!

[jwl]

I am with DanC on that one too, I have an older pic where I actually used my livewell to revive a nice musky.....mind you only about 1/2 the thing or so fit in the livewell, but with the water flowing and aerator bubbling the fish only took a minute of so to liven right up and be on it's way....it may not have been the most conventional way to C&R a musky but it worked like a charm on a fish that may not have made it otherwise...when put back in the water, that fish darted away like lightning

Edited July 21, 2008 by jwl

[FISHINGNUT]

I use mine for bait or extra tackle storage its very rare I keep fish for the table.

[Gerritt]

I know what a livewell was used for tonight.. bleeding out fish that were being kept for the table. A quick way to dispatch them.

 

went 2 for 5 tonight.

 

G

[modny]

where did u go tonight G ?

[Gerritt]

Lake O. out of Bronte, Had a blast with Spiel.. Seemed only my side of the boat was catching fish though

 

G

[modny]

poop

 

nice man

 

lets see the report

[bushart]

Cause when I'm fishin with all my friends I got nobody to take the picture while I hold the fish

 

 

[Spiel]

.....Leave the plug out of my front livewell, makes a handy latrine for the womens.

Oh wait that's also where Gerritt keeps his fish.....LOL

[Gerritt]

I call it Brine.

 

sick sick sick

 

G

[cranks bait]

.....Leave the plug out of my front livewell, makes a handy latrine for the womens.

Oh wait that's also where Gerritt keeps his fish.....LOL

 

I thought that's what the bailing bucket was for? Latrine that is, not Gerritt's fish.

[Spiel]

....Bailing bucket?

[Zib]

I use mine to revive a fish, and get things sorted out for picture taking. If the fish is a bleeder, I want to make sure it's not going to survive before just tossing it back in the water. The highly oxygenated water that a live well provides does wonders for a stressed fish. I can't count how many fish that I thought were gone and came back to life after an hour or so in the well. If I catch a real nice fish that I want to photograph, I'll immediately dump it into the live well. I'll let it catch it's breath, and get things organized for the photo. That may mean turning the boat so that the sun will be on the guy holding the fish (I've seen tons of shots on here where the photographer is facing the sun which = a wasted opportunity), getting the camera ready and general cleaning up. My live well is a valuable tool for catch and release fishing and photography. I don't know how I'd do without it.

 

Ya that!

[limeyangler]

I call it Brine.

 

sick sick sick

 

G

 

 

SICK.....but too funny.

[Rich]

Mostly for tournaments in the bass boat. However if we're going out meat hunting we'll fill the livewell with ice. It's really well insulated so it works great as a cooler.