livewell help!!

[chris21]

lately Ive been very annoyed with having good amounts of my live pilchards dying on me in my livewell, I understand that netting them can cause more damage but for example yesterday I sabikied about 2 dozen pilchards that were about 3 to 3 and a half inches in length and put them in my standard 5 gallon bucket with aerator, I even went the extra length to dehook the baits with a baitfish dehooker so i dont risk grabbing and injuring them. all the baits were lively and frisky then after a quick trip home to grab my other rods and gear only about 10 of them were alive the rest were dead, its very frustrating since I put in that effort only to have them die. Is my 5 gallon livewell to small?? Im not sure what to do cause the last several times ive had many pilchards die on me, does the ride from one place to another stress them too much and kill them? Ill take all comments. Im also looking for a local place that sells plastic drums/barrels and buckets to consider a new livewell option possibly a plastic bucket or drum between 5 to 10 gallons, need to have enough room on my cart. thanks!!!!

[Rare]

Warm water contain less oxygen compared to cold water. Small bucket, $hit, 24 white bait, warm water, stress etc...You gonna have some of them die. Change out the water as PB said cause they can foul that water fast. Freezing a few bottle water as well helps keeps that water cooler.


You best bet is to hold a dozen in this cause its hard to get the 10g bucket. Then keep adding a few more to see where you can get it off dont go crazy cause you will end up like the 5gal bucket
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-C ... /205954155


Or you can get the brute 20 gallon if you have the room. Brute is strong and you want to make sure that these trash can are not thin.

[chris21]

thanks for the tips guys, I did not change the water and that prob didnt help my cause too much, I noticed that some sites online sell a 7 gallon bucket, Id love to get my hands on one to give the pilchards some extra room.

[Sandbar]

You don't need a barrel or a bucket. What you need to do is jerry rig your bubble aerator to a 48+ quart ice chest cooler.

Two bubble aerators would be better, 12v lead acid deep cycle battery with bilge pump plumbed to a spray bar would be best.

[Rare]

Not the 2 air pump or cooler, but i have done the spray bar cooler and only used it twice. I did like the "Bait Saver Livewell" as a better option.


Hell, go all out

[chris21]

that looks pretty neat rare. yeah I cant really do the cooler livewell cause I need it for my catch and drinks

[Sandbar]

I don't know how you transport your gear but you can have two coolers. One for ice, drinks, and fish. One for livewell duty.

If using a hand truck dolly, stack both coolers on top of each other. Pier cart same thing.

Nothing beats it for cost and performance. Lots of water. Lots of Aeration. Lots of room for bait.

[Green Tide]

lately Ive been very annoyed with having good amounts of my live pilchards dying on me in my livewell, I understand that netting them can cause more damage but for example yesterday I sabikied about 2 dozen pilchards that were about 3 to 3 and a half inches in length and put them in my standard 5 gallon bucket with aerator, I even went the extra length to dehook the baits with a baitfish dehooker so i dont risk grabbing and injuring them. all the baits were lively and frisky then after a quick trip home to grab my other rods and gear only about 10 of them were alive the rest were dead, its very frustrating since I put in that effort only to have them die. Is my 5 gallon livewell to small?? Im not sure what to do cause the last several times ive had many pilchards die on me, does the ride from one place to another stress them too much and kill them? Ill take all comments. Im also looking for a local place that sells plastic drums/barrels and buckets to consider a new livewell option possibly a plastic bucket or drum between 5 to 10 gallons, need to have enough room on my cart. thanks!!!!

Your situation of having to travel back to get your gear is obviously not good, but so is trying to keep two dozen Pilchards in 3-4 gallons at the most is not a good Idea unless you have a super aerator and endless clean water. (at one time saltwater flowed thru the hoses and sinks on piers, so you could keep the water fresh). I don't usually have more than 4-6 in that small of container using a ratio of 1/2 gallon per bait.
The best design for your live well is to not have corners. For that reason you should stay with a round bucket or the brute garbage can thing.Both are fairly easy to find. Try pool supply stores or restaurant supplies. I have the 7 and 15 gallon but generally use a 5 gallon that is blue.
Temperature is another part that you can effect by using frozen bottles like was mentioned. The bait is cold blooded so their heart rate slows as the water cools. But if you cool them too much there will be a shock that can kill bait when you try to use them in an extreme change of water temp so be careful of that.
Fish don't always want to chase a live bait for food so I usually have plenty of others on ice. The main thing is FRESH