livewell gallons / fish ratio?

[Bruce Yeaton]

Looking for some help, hoping you guys can shed some light.



My partner and I are fishing all Opens this year and there is an 8 fish limit on all tournaments.

During our regular club tourny's there was a ten fish limit if you had a non-boater along for the day. I usually carried my 68 quart cooler as a second livewell just incase.

Knowing my livewell holds 26 gallons full, am I pushing the limit in trying to keep 8 fish alive, worst case scenario... all day?

Does anyone know how many gallons per fish is needed? I realize a 7 lb fish needs more room and water... just wondering if anyone ever ran across a ratio.



I do plan on building a second livewell someday, wondering if it should be before the first tournament.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Bruce,



I'm not sure, but am certainly interested in the responses. My new boat, has smaller livewells (especially the front one) than my old Targa did. Five decent size fish looks like they will be somewhat crowded.



Tex

 

[Jim B]

From what i have read the best practice is no more then one pound of fish per gallon of water in the livewell. With 8 fish you may exceed that and 26 gallons might not be enough. I put up a link to bassmasters guide to keeping fish alove. Its a good read and may give you some ideas.
http://espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/s/b_cons_bass_alive_launch.html

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Bruce, the main reason is O2 parts per million and the amount that each fish uses. This along with the amount of ammonia and other waste materials replaces the O2 that much faster in packed livewells. You CAN get away with it, but ONLY if you keep you fresh water pump on at least 3/4 of the day constantly pumping in fresh water and getting rid of the bad stuff. Also use some form of catch & release formula. It is better than a cooler as the cooler has no fresh water or recirc without you manually doing it. If you choose this route, just be sure to watch your cranking battery so you don't drain it too low and can't start to get back to weigh-in. Bring along jumpers in case you need to use a TM battery to start it. Good luck.

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

Thanks guys. Looks like I will start construction on the second cooler / livewell. I do use the Release Me formula and check it often through the day. I actually run the cooler pump off and second battery so as not to drain the cranking battery, so no problem there. Initially the back-up well is used for those "smaller" fish that can be culled out, so a 20 gal. or smaller unit is ok to use.



As far as pound of fish / per gal of water.... hard to say that our 8 fish will ever reach 26 lbs , though it would be nice to see every tournament, haha!

 

[Bryan McDonough]

I think the key would be to keep fresh water rolling into a smaller tank.

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

Well the deck has been constructed, and it's HEAVY! I'm going to have to eliminate half my gear just to compansate for the extra weight.



Anywho, my next thing is to paint it and glue the rug down. I am stuck on the cooler / bin area though. I have a bin that fits but it's not insulated.... I also need to build a lid. Anyone know where to get the hinges that are in the boat already? MO????



Never mind the lid, just ordered a custom hatch from Cabelas