Newbie/Herring Livewell - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Smitty's Ice Cream · 05-06-2003, 11:17 AM

Hey,
Another Newbie just registered after lurking...
Now, for my question:
I was at my favorite herring run on Saturday night. I managed to capture about 15 of them and stick them in my new 30 gal keepalive livewell. I filled it w/ water from the run, turned on the aerator and went home (about a 20 min drive).
I popped open my trunk and looked in at a pile of dead herring in the bottom of the tank. There were 3 still gasping for air near the bottom, so i held the 3 livies to the aerator oulet and revived them. Then i dumped the 3 livies into my herring pen.
What did i do wrong? Why did only 3 survive? This was the 1st time i tried the livewell, so i was kinda wingin it. Any advice?

smlcare · 05-06-2003, 11:30 AM

I have a livewell that is a cooler with two bildge pumps connected to a 1" hose w/holes that spalsh on the top of the water to cause airation and current... Peanut system....

I have been able to keep herring alive for 6 hours, changing the water on the hour (add a fresh 3-5 gallons works)

Maybe you had some nasty in the well?? Did you use it to keep the keg cool over the winter?

jettyjockey18 · 05-06-2003, 11:40 AM

check your air control valve on the keepalive system...if the valve was closed then all you were doing was recirculating the water without aerating it...the fish should have been alive and frisky when you got home...

NilsC · 05-06-2003, 11:47 AM

Nice to meet you.

As for for your keep alive I have no Idea. Let us(me) know if you find out what was wrong so we can avoid the problem you had.

I'm holding off on buying a livewell now...

Nils

jeffsod · 05-06-2003, 11:52 AM

Herring require lots of oxygen.

Rip Runner · 05-06-2003, 12:09 PM

I have a keep alive system as well. I will be at the Mashpee herring run bright and early Saturday Morning. I can take a look at for you, if that's the run you go to as well.

BigFish · 05-06-2003, 12:50 PM

I,ll bet you were so mad you could bust

when you opened
your live well only to find them dead

. I had the pleasure
of meeting SMLCARE down at the Canal on Monday and he had
a great live well hooked up. I would try to pick his brain, he
knows his live wells from what I could see.

Also a pleasure
meeting you SMLCARE, I had no luck myself but that won't keep
me from trying. Hope you caught a few.

Smitty's Ice Cream · 05-06-2003, 12:58 PM

Big Fish: Yeah I was DEFINITELY aggravated when i saw my tank o dead herring, esp. after running back to my car multiple times with 3 herring in a 5 gal bucket to keep them alive.

Rip Runner: Thanks for the offer, but i gotta work Sat morning. I don't really like the Mashpee run, I've always had better luck in Falmouth...Do you put any addatives in your livewell water?

Smitty's Ice Cream · 05-06-2003, 01:03 PM

SMLCARE: were you at trunk river on Saturday night? There was a guy who had a livewell/ cooler similar to the one you described in his trunk FILLED with livies...No beer in the livewell, although i did find my cat asleep in there one day

Rip Runner · 05-06-2003, 01:29 PM

No, you don't really need to add anything to the water unless you are keeping them for a long time. I would suggest filling your livewell with saltwater to monitor the bubbles. You can see the bubbles with saltwater much better than in fresh, you want to adjust your regulator to make sure you have as many tiny bubbles in the tank as you can. Then dump the saltwater and do exactly what you did last time. Also, always make sure your filter is clean.

smlcare · 05-06-2003, 01:30 PM

Not me Sat night... I was at the canal Sunday to work out the bugs.

179 · 05-06-2003, 03:02 PM

Smitty,
Get a basket or a bucket with holes and keep them in the stream until you have your limit and are ready to leave, then load them into your keep alive system. The less time they are out of the stream the better.

Last week I grabbed 24 and loaded them into my container, the wire for the rigged pump broke off and I didn't even know it, you know what after a 20-min trip to my slip not a single one of them died...

Clammer · 05-06-2003, 04:24 PM

I,m old & lazy==========I fill mine with tap water, go the run or runs// get my buckies & drive like hell , I usually have around a couple of dozen & seldom lose any ////////

GBOUTDOORS · 05-06-2003, 06:07 PM

Smitty I also have a 30Gal. keepalive I bought last year. I can keep as many as 30 herring alive all day to fish at night with out fresh water added in. I just keep the air turned up at full and keep the tank out of the sun as heat is also a no no for herring. Check to see that you are getting LOTS of air and you shouldbe in good shape.