Tips & Techniques
Livewell Management for the Summer Heat
As the summer fishing season heats-up , so does the water in your livewell . This time of year extra effort is required to maintain the health of your bait or tournament catch within your livewell . Dissolved oxygen is the single most important factor affecting bait or keeping tournament fish alive in the summer months . An understanding of the factors that affect dissolved oxygen levels in your livewell will better enable you as an angler to keep your expensive bait alive .
You want to begin each fishing day with a clean , rinsed livewell that has not been washed with any soap or bleach products , just water and a clean sponge . Fill your livewell early in the day to maximum capacity from an open-water location away from the marina or a large number of boats . If your livewell is equipped with a recirculation pump turn it on right after you fill the
“ Most livewells are 25-30 gallons in total capacity but after you add a large number of bait fish or two upper slot Redfish to that livewell you are displacing a large amount of the 25 gallons as the fish biomass displaces the water out of the overflow , thereby reducing the total amount of water available to hold dissolved oxygen relative to the biomass of the fish .”
livewell , then add your bait . If you are tournament fishing don ’ t wait until you catch your first fish to turn on the recirculation pump , do it as soon as you fill the livewell to maintain the dissolved oxygen level in the water . Water pumped into a livewell quickly becomes depleted of oxygen after adding a large number of stressed baitfish or a large redfish that is highly stressed after you just battled to get it into the boat .
Dissolved oxygen is measured in milligrams per liter dilution factor ( mg / l ). One hundred percent oxygen saturation at a water temperature of 70 degrees is about 8.8mg / l , however if you elevate the temperature of that same water to 80
degrees the oxygen saturation falls to 7.9mg / l ( -10% reduction ). As you can see temperature regulation is the key to maintaining high dissolved oxygen content in your livewell . As the day goes on and the water gets hotter , the dissolved oxygen gets lower and your bait or fish become stressed . This is why it is better to recirculate your livewell throughout the day with minimal water changes to help maintain a constant temperature instead of continuously pumping outside water through the livewell as the water temperature rises .
If your livewell does not have a recirculation function , or if you are simply looking for a reliable backup for a recirculation pump failure , Frabill makes the portable Aqualife Floating Aeration system . This is a floating powerhead that comes with alligator clips you simply attach to your house or trolling motor batteries , then plop the Aqualife into your livewell . It uses the venturi-effect to draw in air and create the dissolved micro bubbles that are necessary to by Chris Scheblie Marsh & Bayou Staff
( 504 ) 309-3446 cschiebl @ gmail . com
maintaining a high dissolved oxygen level in your livewell .
To help maintain livewell water temperature throughout the day I like to add ice but I make sure I ’ m not cooling the water too quickly and temperatureshocking my bait or tournament fish . Maintaining a water temperature of no more than 10 degrees below the ambient temperature of the water is sufficient , and as you read earlier , will help you to maintain a dissolved oxygen level of almost 1.0mg / l higher than if you don ’ t control the water temperature . Keep in mind that most bag ice we purchase at a marina is made with chlorinated water as the source . There are products out there which can be added to your livewell to remove chlorine , but why take the chance . I simply add ice to large Ziploc bags that I bring along and float them in the livewell to lower the temperature .
Another important factor is livewell displacement . Most livewells are 25-30 gallons in total capacity but after you add a large number of bait fish or two upper slot Redfish to that livewell you are displacing a large amount of the 25 gallons as the fish biomass displaces the water out of the
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July 2016 www . marshandbayou . com