Hard Lesson Learned Yesterday

[Fish Murderer 71]

Fished one of our local tournaments yesterday and it was one of those grinding out days.  My first cast of the day yielded a nice 2 pounder.   My partner and I managed to catch a decent stringer, doubt we would have gotten first, but I'm sure we would have taken second.  I have a boat that only has fresh water in pump, so I got an aerator pump at Academy and put in a second battery just for that pump.  I monitor that pump regularly because sometimes the fish will knock it over and it stops doing what it's supposed to do.  Well, the last hour I move us to a new location, I checked the pump, it was working just fine.  We fish for the allotted time and I catch a Spot, thats bigger than the one in the live well, on my last cast, I go to swap it out and find the pump is NOT working and all the fish are dead!  Talk about something that can make a grown man wanna cry.  So, now its back to the drawing board and try to come up with something that last for 8 hours for a continuous running pump.  Any suggestions?

[Catch and Grease]

Don't catch a fish on the first cast, lesson learned.

[Fish Murderer 71]

Don't catch a fish on the first cast, lesson learned.

LOL, 10,000 comedians out of work, and your trying to be funny???

[Bladesmith,]

What was the reason the pump was not working?

[Team_Dougherty]

Why wouldn't you just leave the fresh water pump run all the time?

[Sam]

Oxygenator.

 

Invest in an Oxygenator.

[Mr_Scrogg]

I only have a fresh water fill on mine too. I keep that on "Auto" and not put the plug in so tight. So it leaks and fresh is brought in.

Granted it's only been used a couple times. But its worked.

[Team_Dougherty]

I only have a fresh water fill on mine too. I keep that on "Auto" and not put the plug in so tight. So it leaks and fresh is brought in.

Granted it's only been used a couple times. But its worked.

 

 

my livewell only has a freshwater in as well. there is no plug, but a tube that that goes into a hole in the bottom that only allows it to fill 7/8ths of the way. I just keep it running and it always has fresh water. I do not understand why anyone would just recirculate the same water?

[Fish Murderer 71]

The problem with leaving the fresh water in pump on is that the surface water temp reaches 88 degrees or better here in Texas, once water reaches 80 degrees the O2 content and retention drops exponential as it get warmer.  I have several refreezable ice packs that I take and about every three hours I replace all the water in the live well to eliminate the ammonia build up...  It takes 3 ice packs to drop the temp below 80 so I have 9 ice packs in the ice chest- that doesnt leave much room for waters for me and my partner.  and I have an oxygenator- it's the aerator pump that killed a battery in less than 8 hours...  It advertise that it draws less than one amp, but it didn't last long enough.  I sure hate to have to buy another battery and run it in series but it looks like my only option.  Oh, the joys of tournament fishing in Texas

[Koofy Smacker]

Well your name on here is fitting!

 

I would invest in an oxygenator too

[jhoffman]

Ive read the oxygenator does nothing, i dont own one to know though

[starcraft1]

Oxygenator.

 

Invest in an Oxygenator.

X-2

[J Francho]

My Xpress has a fresh only pump. I run it on a timer. My Bullet has recirc and fresh, as well as pump out. I use live well treatments by Sure Life, so it's generally recirc on a timer. This system is easier to control temps and the treatments don't get diluted.

[EmersonFish]

Is there a space or weight issue that makes adding another battery and running them in parallel (don't run them in series) a problem? A good battery (and some jumper wires) is a relatively minor financial investment for the peace of mind (assuming this will eliminate the issue, which it may not).

Also, I assume you are using smaller cooling packs in the livewell because of space issues as well?