Keeping Bass Alive During Transport Need Help

[gall]

The one pond i fish at is owned by my friend and the problem is the food chain is messed up and theres an overstock of 8-12 inch bass all very skinny big head and i know what that means selective harvest to get the whole order back into control but the problem is i dont have the heart to kill them i love bass probably more than my own grandmother and well the good thing is i have other ponds that are low on bass and the blue gills are starting to over run those ponds so i was going to transport the fish and put them into the ponds to equal out other food chains so i can have multiply ponds in good condition without killing any but the problem is transport i wont have a boat since the size of the pond but i do have a jeep so i would have room for plenty of tubs i was thinking maybe those large plastic storage tubs with an arieator pumping in them since the drives would all within a 20 minute drive max but i do need help with any other ideas to keep them alive during transport or if anyone has a safer better way to get them from point a to b

[webertime]

Dilute some Hydrogen Peroxide into the water (there's a video on this on youtube). Add Ice to the water and get a jar of Rejuvinade to add to the water as well. Doing those things in addition to your big tubs (A big cooler would work better) and air pump should work well for a 20 minute trip.

Try to fill the tubs with water from the ponds and not tap/hose water.

[Sfritr]

you should first check with local DNR officials as it is illegal to transport gamefish in some states. Without having the benefit of livewells I would suggest modifying a large igloo type cooler and installing an aerorator

[Sfritr]

Dilute some Hydrogen Peroxide into the water (there's a video on this on youtube). Add Ice to the water and get a jar of Rejuvinade to add to the water as well. Doing those things in addition to your big tubs (A big cooler would work better) and air pump should work well for a 20 minute trip.

Try to fill the tubs with water from the ponds and not tap/hose water.

If you use ice you may want to place it in a plastic bag. Chlorine and fish do not mix.....

[james 14]

Ice, rejuvinade and h2o2 shouldn't be necessary for a 20 minute trip...especially if the water temp isn't above 75* or so. Once the temp goes up the oxygen goes down. Be mindful of the number of fish you have as well as that decreases oxygen. I use a 120qt cooler as my livewell and I don't like to put more than 6-7 fish in it depending on size. We put two limits in it during a tourney this fall...probably 30-35lbs of fish and they started dying. We promptly took the time to stop and let all of our culls out and will always perform our culls immediately after the 6th fish in the future.

You'll also have to factor in how much time the fish will be sitting while you catch them before you make the trip to the other lake. I suspect this will be much more than 20 minutes. If you can exchange the water in your tubs a time or two with fresh lake water while fishing you (or the fish actually) should be fine. A little ice wouldn't hurt in this case. If nothing else it make them a little more lethargic and less likely to jump out on you. Just don't overdo it.

The most important question, however, would be - Why no fish fry?!

[NCbassmaster4Life]

you should first check with local DNR officials as it is illegal to transport gamefish in some states. Without having the benefit of livewells I would suggest modifying a large igloo type cooler and installing an aerorator

Check with your local state district wildlife officer or the wildlife game and fisheries rules and regulation...the reason being is that some bass may have different mercury levels or be very sickly from bacteria or be very unhealthy and could mess up the next water chain you put them in and it's very hard to get the habitat healthy again.

[slonezp]

Check with your local state district wildlife officer or the wildlife game and fisheries rules and regulation...the reason being is that some bass may have different mercury levels or be very sickly from bacteria or be very unhealthy and could mess up the next water chain you put them in and it's very hard to get the habitat healthy again.

X2

[Fishing-Vol]

# 1. If it is legal, #2 I don't think it is needed for a 20 min ride this time of year, # 3. But if you want a good recipe for keeping fish alive for this or anytime, here is my good friends formula, that has been proven over and over to keep bass alive and well.

#1 Ingredient ICE!!! (don't buy it, make it.) Make Blocks of Ice in your freezer I went to Dollar store and bought two sets of plastic mixing bowls. Fill them with water and freeze them. All you do before you leave the house is run tap water over the bowl bottom and the block of ice slips right out. Put them in the livewell before you leave the house.blocks,I make 6 blocks, 3 for each well 3. Along with the ice when you get to the lake you add. (now I know I am going to hear the frozen bottle deal alot of folks will say they use. There is two downsides to putting frozen bottles in wells. (1)They take up a lot of space.

(2) once the water in the tank reaches a certain temp it equalizes with the water that has formed in the bottle and the water in the bottle even though has ice in it quits producing cool water and your livewells warm up

Catch & Release or Rejuvinate, I prefer C&R

add 2-3 oz of Hydrogen-Peroxide to promote healing and oxygen in live wells

add about two table spoons of Sea salt or Rock salt.

Fill both live wells 3/4 full soon as you launch the boat to melt what ice is still in wells. The first run will mix all the chemicals. At the end of your day your live well water should still be about 76-78 Degrees.

Then go catch fish. Once you add the first fish you turn on Pro Air and recirculate timers and DO NOT under any conditions add anymore lake water all day. Your fish will be fresh and lively and full of excitement when your trying to get them out of the wells to weigh in.

Good luck.

[Glenn]

I agree with all of this except Rejuvinate. I use Catch & Release exclusively. No other formula gets in my boat.

As for ice, break it up instead of using blocks. It cools the water faster. That said, ensure the temp doesn't drop any more than 10 degrees lower than the lake temp, as that could shock the fish and do more harm than good.

Will all that, I leave you this: Invite all your friends and neighbors over and have a big fish fry instead.

[NBR]

New law in NH. No live Fish may be in your boat except during permitted bass tournaments. Too many unauthorized and unknowing people doing unauthorized. I personally think the law is a knee jerk response. I on occassionally put a bass in the live well to see if it will recover. No chance now they go back. Worse yet on occassion I fish for perch to take home for a meal. If I didn't get enough for a meal and they were healthy I'd pitchem back - no more.

As for those who do illeagal stocking I am certain they will go right ahead law or not.

[RiverFisher13]

I really dont see what is wrong with transporting to a private pond. If the pond owner is willing to risk bring in contaminated fish, let him. Also not being able to put a live fish in a livewell seems kinda crappy to me. was there a big court case recently to cause this?

[Glenn]

One word: floods.

Floods move things around, including fish. You may think all is find and dandy in a private pond, and then along comes a flood. Suddenly some of your fish are missing, and new species appear (like pike, gar, carp, etc). Now those contaminated fish you once had, are now contaminating public waters.

Just ask any pond owner. Many of them have had that, "Now where did THAT come from?" moment.

[Gatorbassman]

Also Herons and any other wading birds can and do transport fish eggs on their legs to other bodies of water. Crappie eggs are very sticky and get moved around all the time by birds.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

Glenn, great post! And Riverfisher, you may not see it being a bad thing to release other bass or species of fish into another body of water but that's what water and wildlife conservation is and management just ask your local wildlife biologist.

[RiverFisher13]

man dont get me started with wild life conservation. Just because they work for the state doesn't mean they are right. In ohio we are currently trying to fight off an over population of coyotes that the state brought in to help manage an over population of deer, that the state brought in. Same happened with japanese beetles, the states way to feed turkey and kill mosquitoes.

[Nick]

I do it quite a bit. All that is needed is an aerator that has sticky feet placed in a decent sized plastic cooler and a battery to keep that aerator going. I've put as many as 30 12 in. bass into mine, but I do it when the water temps are below 65 degrees. Gone as far as 50 miles.