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Smokey and I have a great herring set up.
First , we have a big dip net. You want a big net with little holes. If the holes are too big , the herring get away. After netting , we keep the herring in our holding pen. Its a laundry basket with float material tied around the top rim. There is a plywood cover with a locking hatch. The holding pen floats in the run next to us and as we catch herring , they go into the holding pen. Just be sure to choose a laundry basket with holes that are not too big.
When we have netted and penned all we want , we pull the holding pen to the edge of the run and empty the herring into a 5 galon bucket filled with water. We dump the fish and the water into the holding tank and continue till we have all the fish out of the pen and into the holding tank. we top off the tank with more water till its about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Start the pump. The tank is in the back of my Blazer with a battery. We also have an extention cord to run the pump from the cigarette lighter. Its a Keep Alive holding tank and aerator which works great.
When we get to where we fish , we either just leave the herring in the holding tank and grab as needed or we bring the holding pen (laundry basket with cover and floats) down to the water and put the herring back in the pen using the 5 gallon bucket. We have a rope tied to he holding pen so that we can shove it out where its deep enough to float then we pull on the rope to bring the pen in close to grab a new herring.
Keep tossing ice in the holding tank and also periodically let some of the water out of the tank and refill with water from the river or ocean where we are fishing. This gets the dirty ammonia filled water out of the tank and adds new fresh river or sea water.
So , you need a net , a holding pen , a bucket , a holding tank , an aerater , and a battery. Use lots of ice and don't put too many in the holding tank at once. Where possible , get some of the herring out of the tank and into the water in the holding pen. that keeps the ones in the pen like new and also helps reduce the strain on the ones left in the tank.
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