Keeping fish alive in the well longer.

[Mark Gross]

I was reading an earlier post about keeping fish alive in the well longer. A lot of good info from everybody. I was looking at the local PRO/AM site here in Minnesota and found one of their sponsers which is a local company sells a product to take O 2 from the water.Interesting technology .


http://www.aquainnovationsinc.com

 

[Greg Meyer]

Mark,



They are becoming sponsors of the GNWC circuit next season and will be installing systems in our boats at a favorable cost. It does work and works well... It does not solve the temp, ammonia, and other issues that only fresh water can solve... but it does substantially increase the available oxygen...

 

[Bruce Freeman]

OK this is the first I have ever seen of this product so I am not judging there product just there add. "works on batteries no cord" Then what is the yellow cord with the battery clamps for?

BF

 

[Mark Gross]

Bruce F. They have a model that operates on batteries but is only good for up to 5 gal. The live well model operates of your battery in the boat. Hence the clamps!

 

[Mike Harrison]

A really cool built-in design I've seen was in Charger Bass Boats. Of course, this could be in others, I haven't researched it in depth, they are the only ones I've seen it on. Anyway, they have these tubes, and I'm not sure if they are filled with some gas or liquid, but they run back and forth like refridgeration coils on the side of the livewell while also running along side the built in cooler. So, the ice you put in the cooler to keep your beverages/food/etc. cold, also transfer cold temps to your livewell via these "coiled" tubes. I thought that was a good selling point, that plus Chargers are good priced and I think are located here in Missouri...I like to ramble on, most of the time making no sense.



I know months ago I talked about my own livewell project in my old Tracker, well, to inform you guys, after 3 months, I'm almost done. Haven't had much time to actually do the work, been too busy keeping the new girlfriend happy. Anyway, don't hang me out to dry with my longwinded no sense post.



Mike

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Looks neat. Don't know about an extra drain on my battery though. I still like the idea of an O2 tank and regulator. You mount it under the console using a fire extinguisher mount, get the tank and regulator from a medical supply store, also the only ones that can refill them for you that I know of, buy some surgical tubing (pet store kind is fine) and at the pet store a couple of those larger bubble stones. Run a line off the tank back to the livewells, oh yeah, need to buy a Y junction too, maybe $1.50, run into the Y, then 2 tubes coming out, one for each livewell (if you have duals) drill a small hole at the top of the livewell to get the tube in, silicone it watertight afterwards, run the tube down to the bottom, (this is where I get lost trying to figure out a way to secure the stone to the bottom without drilling another hole), anyhow, attach the stone and your done. You could let it hang in there I supposed it the weight of the stone is enough to keep the tube down. I plan on doing this in the 896 as soon as I can buy it. Mrs. Buzz has medical connections, so I imagine she can get the tank and regulator for me.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Rob,



Just use some marine epoxy to "glue" the stone to the bottom.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Will it hold on the smooth finish of a livewell?

 

[Jim B]

Rob there are companies that sell a whole system you can install. Myclub is going to buy one of these for our release tank as soon as themoney is avail. i put in a link to one of them
http://www.oxyedge-chum.com/

 

[Jim B]

heres another one
http://www.keepalive.net/

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Holy cow, expensive! $550 + S&H on the first and $470 + S&H on the last one. I will try my way and see if it's cheaper. Thanks though Jim, that system is just what I was thinking.

 

[Jim B]

Rob

The oxygen-edge people have one thats 350 as well. To me that sounds more reasonable. I really like the idea but my question is how much is it really needed? or is better livewell design and better fish care a big part of the answer? What i did in my boat i upgraded both my pumps to 750gph and like i stated before i pay constant attention to the fish and i have never had a dead fish. When i see dead fish its because the person didnt pay any attention to the fish and didnt make sure the water was changed/recirculated enough,add ice and catch and release etc. seems like a lot of guys dont care and around my parts it seems like the same guys come in with dead fish often. I dont think the dead fish penalty is big enough, mosttouramets its 4oz, i think ity needs to be more and mabye people will pay attention to thier fish better. Another thing i have noticed is some boats dont have a big enough livewell, in my opinion thats a problem. Last fall i was fishing the mass state tourney on champlain and i heppened to be a non boater. the boat i was in was a 521 ranger. its a nice boat but i wasnot impressed at all with the livewells. they were too small for 10 fish. we both had over 15# and the thing only had a 20 gallon well. needless to say the fish were hurting at the end of the day, even though the guy didnt agree with me i ran the pumpin and recirc all day long on full not auto to try to keep these fish alive. they did make till the weigh in and seemed better after some time in the hospital tank but i was concerned abotut them dieing later. it wasnt hot that day so it had nothing to do with heat it was simple lack of oxygen in this case. 20 gallons of water simply isnt enough for that much fish ranger should have thought this one out better. i wonder if an o2 system would have helped in this case? had we been in my boat i think things would have been a lot different, my 882 has a 35 gallon well. it can and has supported 30+ pounds of fish plenty of times. because of the extra size of the well tere is more available o2 for the fish and less ammonia saturation. Wehn i have that many fish in my well i run the pumps constant and dont ever shut them off, i also plug the overflows when im running so i dont loose any water. People think im crazy to run the pumps that much but theres a reason i have a 27 size deep cycle for all my accessories, they will run all day and still crank the motor. I dont like seeing dead fish come to the scales, i think you think the same way i do. I just with more people did.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Exactly, that's one or maybe even five nice quality fish that won't be there next tourney! Eventually as tourneys increase, this WILL take a toll on the population. It could take years on Champlain due to the relative size and shear number of fish, but it does have an impact nonetheless. It could mean in 5 years that instead of having a 60 fish day you might only get 40 fish. Still an awesome day, but not what it could have been. Plus when locals, and weekend anglers go to the ramp a day or two after the tourney and see all the dead fish laying on the bottom, it becomes increasingly more difficult to get local support to bring a tourney back. The FLW last year here on Champlain really dissappointed me with the release format. We lost LOTS of quality 3 and 4 lb smallies in those 4 days, and I know dozens of them came from my flats that I take clients to. I will know soon enough, what kind of impact it really had.