how to keep fish alive on stringer

[JacobK]

just wondering how you guys keep fish alive on a stringer? and what kind of stringer do you use and how you put them on? or is there a better alternative to a stringer?

i'm entering a off-shore tournament and theres a 8oz per dead fish penalty so i'd like to avoid that as much as possible.

[Grey Wolf]

A stringer???? You serious ????????

[senile1]

JacobK, its best to use a livewell for fish in a tournament. If you don't have a livewell, I wouldn't use a stringer. It is my understanding that a stringer damages the fish's gills.

[mdmaynard]

Your best bet is a fish basket, you may need a couple because if you get a PB there is not alot of room in them for more than a couple fish.

If you will be doing this long term on a regular basis you may look into an ice chest on wheels, rig up an small aerator and make a portable live well.

All my fishing is from the bank and have thought about doing this.  However since I am not fishing tournaments right now I just catch take a pic and release.

[JShrock07]

I wouldn't use a stringer unless you are going to be keeping your catch. It is very hard to keep the fish alive on a stringer.

If you are going to an off shore tournament you should have a live well availible.

-Nitroman

[roadwarrior]

I wouldn't use a stringer unless you are going to be keeping your catch. It is very hard to keep the fish alive on a stringer.

If you are going to an off shore tournament you should have a live well availible.

-Nitroman

Stringers and baskets are for "keeping" fish.

8-)

[Uncle Leo]

I would be surprised that the tournament director did not make a live well mandatory.

[Hooked_On_Bass]

I would be surprised that the tournament director did not make a live well mandatory.

x2

[fishizzle]

A private lake I fish has a 5 hr. big bass tourney and people keep bass on stringers that usually die by the end.

It is an elec motor only lake for canoes and rowboats.

I keep mine in a styrofoam cooler and keep replacing the water throughout the day.  It usually doesn't work well.

So I am gonna buy an aerator and see how it works.

[LCpointerKILLA]

just wondering how you guys keep fish alive on a stringer? and what kind of stringer do you use and how you put them on? or is there a better alternative to a stringer?

i'm entering a off-shore tournament and theres a 8oz per dead fish penalty so i'd like to avoid that as much as possible.

It is much more of a moral thing than the 8 ounce penalty...

[CFFF 1.5]

Just buy a cooler and drill two holes in the top then go and buy two of these http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_95041____SearchResults fill with water stick tube through put bubble stone back on and turn on. will keep a limit bass alive all day in the hot sun.

[WRB]

You can make a good stringer that will keep bass healty by using D type stainless steel safety clips, size 1/0 370 lb swivels, 300 lb test marlin leader and a 1 lb topedo sinker.

Make the stringer about 8' to 10' long and use dog lease snap swivel on each end to clip onto the boat and add the weight on the opposite end. Use the large barrel swivels on the 300 lb mono line to attached the D clips onto. To keep the bass down on the bottom 24" of the stringer, add a large plastic bead with a rubber band for a stopper to keep the barrel swivels from sliding up the main line.

You attach the bass to the stringer D ring by piercing the thin membrane close behind the lower lip and this doesn't harm the bass any more than a catch & release tournament culling clip/float.

I have been using this type of "keep alive" stringer for over 35 years without loosing any bass. Putting big bass into a livewell causes tremendous stress, clipping onto to a stringer that keeps them down into cool fresh DO water is far better.

The reason stringers are not used in torunaments is because fisherman stake out a stringer full of bass before the event, it's called cheating. Lakes that have alligators or other fish eating critters, a stringer isn't a good idea.

You must also remember that you have the stringer in the water before operating your engine so you don't cut the stringer or harm the bass.

WRB

note; the D clips are sometimes available on a good quality stringer from Cabelas, look at thier Pro series. If interested PM me with your email and will send you a photo.

[detroit1]

LIVESTRINGERS? Just curious WRB- where is it that you put the bass while you're running to your next spot? I find it very hard to believe that fish on a string can survive "better" than one that is in a box, floating upright, breathing more naturally, in water that can be cooled with ice. I thought stringers were for keeping, not releasing. It just sounds like a dumb concept to me. Any bass competition should require LIVEWELLS, unless you plan on eating it.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

try a large cooler with an aereator

[Terex]

A stringer is good for keeping fish alive for about an hour or so.  And it pretty much means you are keeping them.

A live well is your best bet.  Or a simple large basket if your boat doesn't have a live well.

[bass wrangler569]

just wondering how you guys keep fish alive on a stringer? and what kind of stringer do you use and how you put them on? or is there a better alternative to a stringer?

i'm entering a off-shore tournament and theres a 8oz per dead fish penalty so i'd like to avoid that as much as possible.

It is much more of a moral thing than the 8 ounce penalty...

Couldn't of said it better myself.

[32251]

I would think that the metal stringers that look like huge snap swivels might be less damaging  to the gills than the rope stringer.

[saint romain]

Well, when I use a stringer, I never go through the gills. I usually poke a hole through the bottom lip and run it through that like you would through the gills.

Still, an aerator would be your best bet.

There is a variety of them at walmart.

The regular Mr Bubbles which you put on the side of a bucket works good, and then I saw recently that they started selling the whole rig for an ice chest (except the ice chest).

[WRB]

LIVESTRINGERS? Just curious WRB- where is it that you put the bass while you're running to your next spot? I find it very hard to believe that fish on a string can survive "better" than one that is in a box, floating upright, breathing more naturally, in water that can be cooled with ice. I thought stringers were for keeping, not releasing. It just sounds like a dumb concept to me. Any bass competition should require LIVEWELLS, unless you plan on eating it.

Livewells in most bass boats have between 15 to 20 gallons of water at full level. Bass require approximately 1 gallon of water for each pound of bass, the water must be cooled below 75 degrees to hold the proper levels (no less than 3 or more than 12 mg/L) of dissovled oxygen to keep the bass alive. Bass boat livewells pump in warmer surface water than the bass came out of. The result can be thermal and DO shock. That is why I rarely put bass in my livewell, unless the bass need to be transported for tournament weigh in.

My livewell is 30 gallons, equiped with a digital thermometer and DO meter. I keep the livewell water temperature at 68 to 72 degrees during the warm water periods and DO at 7 to 9 mg/L. I target giant bass and occasionally fish charity or special event tournaments. Ohterwise when I catch a big bass and don't immediately release it, it goes on my stringer, lowered down 8' where the water is well oxygenated and cool. Being clipped through it's lower lip is no more stressfull then being hooked. When pulling the up the bass that has been on the stringer, it is swimming hard and very healthy. I will usually release the bass when moving to another spot.

Tournament bass fisherman must put the bass in a livewell to transport the bass for weighing and that is the only time I use my livewell, to offically weigh the bass.

WRB

[Muddy]

I Found this in an article in our site above, by a couple of biologists:

7. Don't use stringers for fish that will be released. Just as sticking your fingers in the gills is bad for them stringers can destroy their gill filaments. Regardless of where the stringer is placed in the fish, there is no good way to use one, all do damage to lips, gills, etc. How would it feel if someone stuck a stringer in your lungs? However, if fish is bleeding a little from gills because of a hook injury you have not necessarily killed that fish. Hold it in your livewell with Catch & Release treatment in the water for several hours until the bleeding stops. Much like you pricking your finger, a little blood does not signify death in all cases

Here is the link: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fish1.html

If you google the topic you will find many articles that show why this is not such a good idea.

[thetr20one]

I can't believe somebody would actually run a tourney like this. Let alone the state or owner of the pond or lake being cool with the idea. This sounds like a good way to kill a whole lot of fish.

[done]

    Along with the other recommendations here for you to use a live well. To do it on the cheap, Walmart sells a D-battery powered aerator you can use on up to 7 gallons of water. You can use that on a cooler, a sheetrock bucket, basically anything you can put 7 gallons or less of water into.

    Keep your fish alive for a long time with that and not spend a ton doing it. Get rechargeable D's and you can use it for a while. Probably end up costing you about as much as a good stringer anyway. I think it was like $12, they had a cheaper one for $7.

   

[WRB]

Lets see it's OK to remove a hook by working through the gills with pliers, hold the bass by it's lower lip, bounce the bass off the boats carpet, hook the bass with large hooks, but you will kill the bass by puncturing a .040 diameter hole in the thin membrane tissue behind the lower lip. It's somehow OK to put the bass in a small bucket or makeshift live box with an aerator stone designed to keep minnows alive, then in the lake water. Amazing, simply amazing.

I agree that running a rope type stringer or clip through the basses gills or clipping both lips together will kill the bass. That is why articles have been written to warn people not to use stringers incorrectly. The young man is fishing a tournament from a canoe or float tube and doesn't have any other way to keep the bass alive and asked a simple question. A good designed weighted stringer, used properly, works and is less stressfull to the bass. A makeshift livewell over heats and sufficates the bass, a basket removes the protective slime, which is like removing your skin.

WRB

[SuskyDude]

[detroit1]

WRB-i agree that dragging  or bouncing a bass on the carpet is an ugly thing. So is jerking & swinging them into the boat. These are some of the problems i have with tournements, no matter they be pros or the weeknight guys. I also agree that putting 5 fish in a livewell isn't that good of a deal either. I think that the redfish guys have it right with a 2 fish limit. Or how about a biggest fish tourney? That way you only have to keep 1 alive, and cull as you go. I know you tourney folks think that i am "a little" off on this one, but think it through for a little while. Anyways, as long as people follow the state laws, i really don't have a problem.