Hickory Shad Maintenance?

[Brian L]

Having the extra aerator definitely makes sense to me. I'd considered a modified livewell pump (we've seen them in custom shops) with a sponge/foam like material on the bottom that makes billions of small bubbles vs. simply recirculating the water through the livewell. I've considered this too. I've also considered the use of some type of bait treatment. From my days in freshwater bass tourneys, I remember a product that was made to put in your live well that kept the fish mellower/less stressed out, and protected their slime layer. I can't recall the name of the product, but it may also help get another half hour/hour out of the baits. Hickories definitely react poorly to being handled, and I've found that I can't put much more than 8 or so in my 35 gallon livewell without issues. I've tried constant fresh water flushes, high pressure livewell pump, etc. with varied success. There's got to be a few other things to get that extra 1/2 hour to hour out of them!

Biggest issue with my current livewell setup is that it doesn't recirculate the water. I've got a Todd leaning post with a 35 gallon tank. Tank is removable to create more room in the back of the boat. I run a Rule aerator pump off the cigarette lighter. I'll run the tank at 1/2 capacity with the plug removed and refill/flush it every so often with water directly from the ocean. Flushing helps because the hickories scum the water up pretty quick (Scales, slime, whatever). Converting it to a re-circ will help, too I'm sure, but that would mean permanent installation of the tank.