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Gus, people fishing for bass generally want to get the herring quickly and get out, either to fish them right away racing of to where they will fish or home to sleep to fish them early in the morning. When you go to a herring run, just about everyone you see is looking to get the fish they'll need and move on. It doesn't make a difference whether it's a managed run where someone is passing out the herring or a run where you go and get them yourself. Nobody wants to hang around and shoot bull for too long ;P
If it's a managed run, show up with your bucket (and in some cases, town herring permit) and you'll be given your allocation or less if there are alot of people and the run is a little slow. You do need a frreshwater permit for taking of herring. The vast majority of runs are inland from the inlets and saltwater rules do not apply.
If it's a run where you can net you're own, use a dip net to get a few at a time and quickly get them into your airated live well (like the Keep-Alive tanks that Mike T has) or if wading a spot to net herring, into a floating container which allows water to pass through quickly to hold the fish until bringing up to livewell. Alot of people use a laundry basket with many small holes or slits smaller than the fish which the use styrofoam or those floating tubes (the one's the kids use to swim with) wrapped near the top to float the basket. Often people install lids with securable doors to the top of those baskets to keep the fish inside.
Chasing herring in a run can be trying at times as they don't always hold up in any one location. Sometimes you can get your limit in 10-15 minutes and at other times it might take hours to get a half dozen...
The hard part is to keep the fish alive and for that you do need a good livewell and to keep it clean. Some people build their own but it really isn't any cheaper than buying one. They run about $125-175 depending on models and quality. Keeping it clean means frequently checking the pump filter for scale buildup. Some of the newer pumps are desgined to pass scales through but I have not used them yet... Scales that do buildup need to be periodically cleaned out.
Another important item is water temp in the tank. Be sure to keep the water as reasonably close to the water temp you got the fish in. Especially when very hot out, add ice to the water before you put the herring in to get the temp close to the water of the run. It is often necessary to keep adding ice to cool the water... Nothing kills live herring quicker than poor air recirculation and hot water...
Very few people try to catch herring with rod and reel for the purpose of live-linning them for stripers but it is done occasionally, just not efficiently. Those that do are looking to have a little fun catching them too but for impatient people like me (and 80% of those live-linning herring to bass ;D )...
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and one I know by the airport... I'll be learning them soon. The place I've usually gotten them in Rhody is at Gilbert Stuart in No Kingstown...
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