Keeping Herring Alive While Transporting - Suggestions Wanted

[BobEver]

Suppose my friend and I go up about 25 miles away and each catch our limit of 35 Herring(NJ Limit). What suggestions for keeping them alive on the trip back until the time we put them into our bait pen?

We are both VERY new to catching and keeping live herring, so ANY suggestions would be welcome, including: what kind of tank, what kind of oxygen system, what kind of chemicals, etc. Again ANY suggestions anyone has would be appreciated.

For example would a rubbermaid stock tank like






work?

Thanks
Bob

[rockfisherman]

Get a portable aerator system, that is a must. There is the kind that pumps the water thru a bilge pump and sprays the water thru an aerator head.

Unfortunately, the herring lose their scales easily and this will clog the filter, so you need to be vigilant in cleaning it out. Aerators that pump air thru an aerating stone will avoid this problem. A couple of these that run on D batteries and a 48 quart cooler will keep the herring happy for short runs, I dunno about 25 miles, tho.

Ordinary Saltine crackers crushed up and thrown in the tank will keep the foam down.

[BobEver]

Rockfisherman:

Thanks for the reply. I should have been clearer, we will be transporting the herring via truck.

Bob

[Fishpart]

Don't have one myself, but several members here use the keep alive bait tanks quite successfully. mikecc has them and posted something under sponsor specials a while ago.

[MAC]

Mikecc has them. He is a sponsor of this site and has a link on the main page. He carries the KeepAlive system and from what I have seen they work great. Or see the sponsors special page. I think he has them on special

[fishaholic18]

I use a 55 gallon plastic barrel cut down to about 2/3's its size with a recirculating bilge pump setup. Last year I was able to keep about 30 alive for hours. I bought a Keep Alive aerator from Mike at Cape Cod Tackle this year. It will be better and easier with that system. Mike sells complete setups at a reasonable price too.http://www.capecodtackle.com/

[Bob Thomas]

I use a 55 gallon drum tilted on its side. Also have the KeepAlive system and the LARGE filter. Works great. I can keep about 30 herring for maybe 2 days with good upkeep.

I use Foam Off which keeps the foam ... well... "Off"
I also use "Pogie Saver" which calms the fish and helps keep their color. Believe it or not, 2 years ago, prior to pogie saver, I was having a little luck, not much, with my "Faded" herring. I stopped in and saw mike for more supplies and he gave me some Pogie Saver to try. Heck of a lot better....eyes stayed nice & clear. Without it, they eyes fogged up and looked very unnatural.

Just keep up with them and you'll be fine. I rotate water every few hours......12 hours maybe. Drain some scales out and add some new water.

[mikecc]

For example would a rubbermaid stock tank work

It will work fine but you should go with a 9 amp DC turbine airator.
Make a cover cut a hole and attach pump ,make sure that you charge your battery every night .

[Mr. Sandman]

Quite frankly they are a bit of a pain to keep alive. It requires a lot of equipment, and time. And unless you live really close to the water and enjoy babysitting them...they die pretty easy. You have to keep the water just so and not crowd them and remove the ones that do die. They also can get a fungus and pass it off to their tankmates if held longer term dockside. They like clean cool, moving airrated water .

I plan to catch, flash freeze then vacume pack them in packs of 6 and use them for 3-waying throughout the season. I do plan to use them live on a few trips but the they will go directly into the boats live well within a couple minutes and fished within minutes from that. I am not real enthused about carrying 30-50 gal's of seawater around in my truck .

I know the work great live and it is a fun way to fish, but it requires a commited effort to keep this bait alive esp long term. (eels are a hell of a lot more hardy then herring. )

[fishaholic18]

Yeah, it is a real pain in the a** to keep them alive. I have a big livewell in my yard where I've been able to keep them going for a couple of weeks, but the maintainance is like having a second job. It's worth it though. There have been days when a bass wouldn't even look at a dead herring, but put a live one in front of him and whamo, your on. I have a sump pump rigged on an aerator bar made of pvc pipe that is on a timer to run for 15 min. every 2 hours. i also change some of the water every few days.

[redcrbbr]

when and if it ever gets warm out.....putting a block of ice in the tank won't hurt em, and will help keep the temp down from running the pump