That LOVE / HATE relationship
 

Less than four months and our brackish water backways and estuaries will be alive again with silver bullets (aka Herring).

It's a love hate thing for sure, hate all the hours netting, transporting, changing water, scooping scales....AHHHHHHHHHH!

But how can you not love the sight of your bait flapping on the surface only to have him disappear into a boil 3 feet around. :)

So whats your tricks to keeping these saltwater shiners alive?

My number one trick is don't stuff the in the livewell. 12 alive is better than 50 dead!

TATTOOOOOOO, Is that a beer kooler

Dude.............................................. ................................
Wait till You get a Load of me......................................
whats that a kiddie pool?
I down sized, I can only keep 120 to 130 live for a day and night.
I will show ya the tricks to keepin them thangs alive for a long time Bubba....
Im mental:D

BASSMASTER, Didn't know you where a HERRING chucker.

Just make sure Your sorry arse is open for a week of hell in may John....

Buckys, Buckys, Buckys!!!
 

Bring the (fishing) pain Bubba!!!

I picked up one of those Keep Alives last year (capecodtackle & sportsmansden have them) and it works great. 24 is pushing it but there's other you can do. Temp is critical do using ice sporadically helps (especially on hot days). Another trick I started last year was using those anti-amonia pellets from pet shops. The big killer to live herring is the amonia buildup in the waater. That's why people change the water so frequently. Those pellets help control the amonia. I've kept buckies alive for several days with that stuff...


Buckys, Buckys, Buckys!!!

get them at night, do a complete water change in morning..
get to surf, water down slapem with salt water Anti shock for tossin in suds......... and ya good all day.
Use foam kill from whirlies and a little hydrogin peroxide to keep from scaling.........

..silver bullets?.....got beer ?
 

...:D ...I like that " anti-tipper-over " you got the bucket sittin in.


...but have you really had 12 herring in a 5 gallon bucket ?....how long do they last ? or is that just for transport maybe ??...

...I built one last year, out of a 55 gallon HARD plastic drum...if ya need the other half of drum, .......SCREEEEEEEAM!!!......aaaaaaaaHHHHHH.!!!

I have to agree with John, the ammo carb is very important. I also chuck some ice in the tank to cool em down.

The big thing is water temp......
keep the tank out of the sun

Its a 30 gallon bucket.......



AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....:D

yep , Keep Alive live bait system. Excellent. It pumps air to the water rather than water to the air. The battery lasts forever and it airates ten times better than a spray or trickle thing. Still don't want to overload it though. Ice helps and I'm going to try that anti ammonia stuff next year since you guys recommend it.

just wondering.. if i were to show up at the ditch with a small school of herring in the livewell in my truck. would the ditch police have anything to say about it? seeing i harvested the herring legally from my town.

Nope, no problem bringing them to the ditch if you want to - but there are better places than the Ditch not far from there ;) . Why would you want to stand shoulder to shoulder slingin' herring when you stroll down the road a bit and do some bucky dunkin' :D :D ;) :p :p :D :D

That's the key, don't stand shoulder to shoulder. I spend one full week and every other available moment in May at the Canal and never go near the run. There are rips literally miles from there that are full of fish at that time. Away from the run it became too much work to keep them alive and get them to the water. I haven't fished a live herring in probably 3 years down there. Stiffs don't know what's down in those rips and easily go there whereas live ones do and they don't want to go. ...mrpogie

I have used various ghetto herring tanks. Most of which were really good at holding water and dead herring :0 2 years ago I bought a Jeep Cherokee and needed something to fit and somewhat dry. I took one of the largest Igloo coolers, a 150 GPM pump and epoxied 3/4" pvc around the sides, just under to hood. The thing works frickin pissa. I can transport 30-40 from Watertown to the ditch, just add ice and some ammonia stuff and I'm good for most of a tide if the fish don't blow through them! Not quite water proof but with a little plastic and a old welcome mat to keep it from sliding and absorb the H2O I am all set.....

East Tide

Mr. Pogie,

Whats the phone number for them rips??? :D

1-800-GOT-HERRING

REdCRABBR, BOB if I were you I:d walk to were the fish should be!!! If not there the river to the West of you , for sure!!!!!!;)

John I:m going to set up right this spring,not 1/2 arsd like last spring, and I can hold more than two dozen, less the ones that were going to kick anyway, that set up we used ,always held two dozen of them 2 lb pogies/// I saw were someone posted about keeping them out of the sun, I disagree, If you checked out my tank closely there is a reason its made like it is ///by the time the water warms were the temperture comes into play, its eels time anyway//// later:eek:

I can only hold 120 for a day or 2....
what am I doing wrong?

mike, those spots will definately be recieving their attention, and i will make certain that we will work that place together again sometime:) who knows... we should have a new set of legs coming up for 2002.ya know something though, i'm thinking back and i can't recall having ever caught a striped one at the canal, couple of blues, then again i have probably only fished the canal 6-8 times in my life, mostly back when i was younger and carried more beer than anything else. so i feel the need to lose my canal bass cherry this coming spring.:D :D :D