bass care in livewell

[buzzbaitfool12]

hey guys got a question..today Craigaria and I fished in a tournament at st mtn park in georgia and caught some nice fish..We finished 3rd place and we are currently probably in  2nd or 3rd for the points race..Heres my thing im asking, my 87 tracker has a livewell that has two sections in it and a flow system that constantly pumps fresh water into the tanks..the fish are just covered with water and I put Release me into the livewell about 3 or 4 times a day..Craig caught a 7lber that just barely fit into the livewell..the fish had no room to move..When we got to weigh in the fish looked all healthy and alert..We put a little releaseme into the bag and put the fish in..Now the water was really greenish blue with the release me..We put fish in the weigh in box weighed our fish, took pictures, and proceeded to release fish..They were all moving and jumping like crazy..When I put them back into the lake the all seemed to be lethargic..The big girl, violently tried to get away, and I put her in water and she kept going belly up.. ..Im getting sick to my stomach now because all fish are acting funny, and will not swim away.. :-/..Can anyone tell me if I did something wrong..Man i just finished 3rd in a pretty tough tourney, but Im bummed because I feel i killed all these fish..Any advice would be appreciated..

[buzzbaitfool12]

Can you put too much release me in livewell thanks..buzz

[Gatorbassman]

Yes you can put to much of the stuff in there. It has a natural seditive and with the right amount it should only take 45 seconds to wear off. When you put to much in it takes a little longer for them to recover from it. But after that she should be fine. How long did you have her out of the water?(Weigh-in, pictures, ect.) Did she eventually swim away?

[bighed]

That's a lousy feeling for folk who live by the catch and release ethic, been there too.   I don't know much about the additives for live wells but wish there was one for fish brought up from deep water.  I've got a bad track record on trying to vent fish so I don't do it any more.  

[buzzbaitfool12]

Fluke, she was probably out of the bag for 4 to 5 minutes tops..she did go belly up..i of course tried to move her back and forth to get going..she slowly went to the bottom and went out of sight..will the release me cause them to not react or go belly up for a moment..you know me, I just hate killing fish..

[Gatorbassman]

The release me will cause them to be be calm and relaxed. Too much will relax them to the point of not being able to swim. I would suggest next time you not add any to the bag. Just use the water that is in the live well for the bag. That should be enough.

[Rebbasser]

That's a lousy feeling for folk who live by the catch and release ethic, been there too. I don't know much about the additives for live wells but wish there was one for fish brought up from deep water. I've got a bad track record on trying to vent fish so I don't do it any more.

bighead-I read this article in BASS Times-I haven't had to try it but it sure makes it easier than the traditional method of fizzing:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/columns/story?page=b_col_bt_1106_fizzing_procedure

[Doghouse.]

don't worry about the size of your livewell buzz i know it will take care of 40+lbs of fish with no problem ;D.and you don't realy need the release me in the livewell this time of year IMO the fish around here are very strong and the water temp is just right

[ABA CAST CHAMP 2006]

Why do so many people bring dead bass back to the weigh-in???  I have a '99 BassTracker with a livewell that looks about as big as a 10 gallon aquarium (not sure if that's correct, but it looks about as big as a fish tank I've got).  A bass has never died in my livewell in almost 10 years and over 60 tournaments.  I never use the products that claim to keep the bass alive.  When a fish is in the livewell, the livewell is always filled to the brim with water.  As a co-angler, I've noticed that too many of the new bass boats' livewells do not fill more than halfway to the brim and the timing systems do not put enough water into the tanks to push out the used water.  Whenever my boat is used in a tournament though, I run the aerator very often, especially during the summer period (for about 5 minutes on every half-hour) in order to push out the used water.  I feel that my constant monitoring of the fish's conditions keeps them alive.  I feel that there are too many people out there who rely too much on these new products and kill many of their fish in the process.  Part of being a good fisherman is taking care of your fish and continuing to learn better ways of fish care without the use of chemicals, and the new "keep-alive" products are not the best way to care of the fish.

[buzzbaitfool12]

The fish were fine in the livewell...It was from the livewell to the weigh in and back into the water that they started to act funny..I will certainly not use as much for now on.. :-/

[Gatorbassman]

and the new "keep-alive" products are not the best way to care of the fish.

I am going to have to disagree with that statement. Your opinion is based entirely on your own experiences and I respect that and you are to be commended for taking good care of your fish, but the keep-alive products success is based on many scientific studies and chemical analysis. Some are designed to make the fish look alive in the livewell and others are designed to prevent delayed mortality in bass.  There is a big difference between the Sure Life products and the Rejuvenade.

Rejuvenade is designed to make the fish active by the addition of natural additives that irritate the fish, causing them to be very jumpy and stressed. The jumping around in the livewell causes injury and stress on the fish. Most of the fish will live for the length of the tournament but after they are released the delayed mortality rate is somewhere around 60%. I have compared fish that have been exposed to Rejuvenade after a weigh-in and I observed that the main parts of the gills were pale and the tips were white. This is caused by the lack of blood in the gills.

Please Release Me and Catch and Release by Sure Life Labs is designed to dramatically reduce the delayed mortality. Sure Life has done many extensive studies in witch they have supplied the anglers of a tournament with Please Release Me and educated them on how to use it. Then they collected all the fish from each tournament and transported them to large holding ponds and kept them there for a little over a month. Then they drained the ponds and counted the fish and the mortality rate was 2%. Sure Life Labs accomplishes this by providing an additive that has a mild natural sedative to calm the fish and several other additives that help speed the healing of any hook wounds and sores that may be on the fish. There newest product has an added antibiotic that fights any bacteria the fish might have including Large Mouth Bass Disease. It also boosts there immune system.  

 Studies have also been done on tournament fish that aren't exposed to any additive and the delayed mortality rate is around 50%. So yes you can keep them alive while they are in the live well without the additive but can you keep them alive after you release them?

 The one thing to remember when using any additive for livewells is to follow the directions. If you don't that's when bad things happen.

[Banor]

and the new "keep-alive" products are not the best way to care of the fish.

I am going to have to disagree with that statement. Your opinion is based entirely on your own experiences and I respect that and you are to be commended for taking good care of your fish, but the keep-alive products success is based on many scientific studies and chemical analysis. Some are designed to make the fish look alive in the livewell and others are designed to prevent delayed mortality in bass. There is a big difference between the Sure Life products and the Rejuvenade.

Rejuvenade is designed to make the fish active by the addition of natural additives that irritate the fish, causing them to be very jumpy and stressed. The jumping around in the livewell causes injury and stress on the fish. Most of the fish will live for the length of the tournament but after they are released the delayed mortality rate is somewhere around 60%. I have compared fish that have been exposed to Rejuvenade after a weigh-in and I observed that the main parts of the gills were pale and the tips were white. This is caused by the lack of blood in the gills.

Please Release Me and Catch and Release by Sure Life Labs is designed to dramatically reduce the delayed mortality. Sure Life has done many extensive studies in witch they have supplied the anglers of a tournament with Please Release Me and educated them on how to use it. Then they collected all the fish from each tournament and transported them to large holding ponds and kept them there for a little over a month. Then they drained the ponds and counted the fish and the mortality rate was 2%. Sure Life Labs accomplishes this by providing an additive that has a mild natural sedative to calm the fish and several other additives that help speed the healing of any hook wounds and sores that may be on the fish. There newest product has an added antibiotic that fights any bacteria the fish might have including Large Mouth Bass Disease. It also boosts there immune system.

Studies have also been done on tournament fish that aren't exposed to any additive and the delayed mortality rate is around 50%. So yes you can keep them alive while they are in the live well without the additive but can you keep them alive after you release them?

The one thing to remember when using any additive for livewells is to follow the directions. If you don't that's when bad things happen.

+1, +2, +3.....

B

[GobbleDog]

I used to fish tournaments in a '88 Tracker boat, so I think I know what your livewells are like.  You've got that recirculating system, where you can trailer the boat and the water still circulates, right? I love that!  The livewells on those old Trackers are pretty big so I doubt that's a problem.

I've never used any "keep alive" products and I must say... I've never lost a bass in my livewell, other than a few gut hooked ones. Even if I catch them early in the day and they sit in the livewell for 8 hours - in the middle of the summer.

Although unlike a lot of fisherman, once I put a bass in the livewell I run the livewell FULL TIME. I never switch it to alternate on/off mode.

[StatosDadRI]

Only FDA approved  chemicals should be used , After we release our fish they can be caugth at the ramp for human consumption.  Many livewell addititives are not approved and may be harmfull to humans or other animals that may eat  the fish at a later time.

 

BassRX is approved.  not plugging any brand but sat through a very intensive powerpoint presenatation at the workshops during the 2007 Classic.  Learned alot

[GobbleDog]

After we release our fish they can be caugth at the ramp for human consumption. Many livewell addititives are not approved and may be harmfull to humans.

[StatosDadRI]

Never been at a ramp and have a couple go belly up and the locals grab'm?  Or donate the deceast ones to a food kitchen.  

Thats what I'm talking about.

[GobbleDog]

Never been at a ramp and have a couple go belly up and the locals grab'm? Or donate the deceast ones to a food kitchen.

Thats what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I spose that's true.  :-/

[fourbizz]

Bighead, try this instead of fizzing.

Take a 6-10 oz  "torpedo" weight and tie it to 50 feet of 200lb rope. When you bring a fish up that is unable to dive back down, drop the weight into its throat. Put it in the water. The weight will overcome the added bouyancy of the over inflated air bladder and take the fish down to 30+ feet. Once at that depth the airbladder will be compressed to a normal volume. The fish will almost immediately come to life. At this point you will feel them trying to shake the weight. After a few seconds, the weight will come out and the fish will be able to swim off, right as rain. Never had one come back up.

[ABA CAST CHAMP 2006]

Bighead, try this instead of fizzing.

Take a 6-10 oz  "torpedo" weight and tie it to 50 feet of 200lb rope. When you bring a fish up that is unable to dive back down, drop the weight into its throat. Put it in the water. The weight will overcome the added bouyancy of the over inflated air bladder and take the fish down to 30+ feet. Once at that depth the airbladder will be compressed to a normal volume. The fish will almost immediately come to life. At this point you will feel them trying to shake the weight. After a few seconds, the weight will come out and the fish will be able to swim off, right as rain. Never had one come back up.

Wow fo'bizzle, if that's fo'shizzle, then that's a great idea!  How did you drum up that idea?  It really does sound like something that anyone could benefit from.  I'll have to try that sometime this summer.