Homemade Cooler Livewell

[Surfnsnowboard3]

I've done a TON of research on homemade livewells out of coolers. Does anybody use one and what do you think? It's purpose will be to hold striper and kitties alive to take home. All LMB will be C&R.

The used boat I am getting does not have a live well, hence me making one.

After the research, I've decided on this...http://www.cabelas.com/aerators-bait-keepers-fish-lights-super-fish-saver-kit-1.shtml?type=product&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleBaseUSA&WT.z_mc_id1=699706&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=5CFF87CC-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA

Does anybody use a kit like this?

[Viejo]

I must not get around much but I can't figure why you would want to carry around fish until the end of the day and then let them go. If you are C&R fish, why not let them go when you catch them?

[Surfnsnowboard3]

I must not get around much but I can't figure why you would want to carry around fish until the end of the day and then let them go. If you are C&R fish, why not let them go when you catch them?

Let me clarify, I re-read it and didn't explain myself clearly. I will be keeping and taking home striper and trout and catfish. Hence the need for a live well.

[mudbuster]

I think if you get caught with live trout you'll get a ticket

[Surfnsnowboard3]

I think if you get caught with live trout you'll get a ticket

WTF are you talking about?

[blackberg]

WTF are you talking about?

its VERY illegal to move live trout,
its generally illegal to move most live gamefish fish
-bb

[Surfnsnowboard3]

You guys have me all confused. Why are there livewells in boats if it's illegal to put fish in there?

[CraigH]

From the DFG website:

1.63. Movement of Live Fish.
Except as provided in sections 4.00 through 4.30 and 2.30, live fin fish may not be transported alive from the water where taken.

and

4.00. Bait-General
Legally acquired and possessed invertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians (except salamanders), fish eggs and treated and processed foods may be used for bait, except:

(e) No trout may be maintained or possessed in a live condition in any container on or attached to any boat;

[Ifishtoolittle]

All these guys think that you will use a cooler live well to take live fish home and possibly transport them into another body of water. They're all just Kooks! No but seriously there have been some cases of illegal transport of fish to another body of water that ruined a fragile fishery there. Anyways, I personally think that your cooler live well idea is neat. It would be a great way to keep stripers and cats as fresh as possible before you decide to take them home to eat. Just make sure to not have live trout in the cooler or someone may think you're using them for live bait. You just gotta love Socal people are just paranoid as F**k.

[Surfnsnowboard3]

So if I catch a trout in my bass boat at DVL, I can't put it in my live well? I have to kill it right away? This doesn't seem logical to me.

[Sparky70]

Hang em high and watch em DRY !

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Everybody on this site now has a smart *** cliche thing to say. Is there anybody out there that wants to respond INTELLIGENTLY to my questions?

[Ifishtoolittle]

I usually just put trout in the livewell. Most of them if not all of them end up dying after a few hours.

[karlow]

I think the cats are the only one likely to survive.
Trout, and stripers don't do well on a stringer.
Trout don't do well in a basket, not sure how well stripers hold up in baskets.
You are better off just putting them on ice.

KP

[Nessie Hunter]

So if I catch a trout in my bass boat at DVL, I can't put it in my live well? I have to kill it right away? This doesn't seem logical to me.

Its not very logical to the average angler, but they have been used as live bait.
So now we all have to suffer. Kill em when Ya get one in the boat.. Then throw it in the live well (or on ice) to keep it little fresher??? But it must be DEAD....

Live well can be used while on the water for other fish, But do Not get caught transporting them LIVE from the lake or body of water where caught.. Big Fine....!!!!

This is a good example of the thinking (or non thinking ~ uneducated or just criminal mind set) that ends up costing us all in the long run..
This is telling the man to break the law.

I usually just put trout in the livewell. Most of them if not all of them end up dying after a few hours.




.

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Its not very logical to the average angler, but they have been used as live bait.
So now we all have to suffer. Kill em when Ya get one in the boat.. Then throw it in the live well (or on ice) to keep it little fresher??? But it must be DEAD....

Live well can be used while on the water for other fish, But do Not get caught transporting them LIVE from the lake or body of water where caught.. Big Fine....!!!!

This is a good example of the thinking (or non thinking ~ uneducated or just criminal mind set) that ends up costing us all in the long run..
This is telling the man to break the law.





.

Thanks for the response. So long story short, I might as well not spend $150-200 on a portable cooler livewell and jsut throw them in an ice chest on ice?

I'd like to hear from other people that don't have a livewell on their boat and what they do with the catfish and striper they keep?

[TaperSteve]

Clean them at the lake as most lakes have a fish cleaning station and as others have said put 'em on ice.

TS

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Clean them at the lake as most lakes have a fish cleaning station and as others have said put 'em on ice.

TS

TS, my "home" lake is DVL. So can't really clean there due to you know why

[viperman100]

Everybody on this site now has a smart *** cliche thing to say. Is there anybody out there that wants to respond INTELLIGENTLY to my questions?

You know you should really try to not be offended by the advice people are trying to give you here, take this example for instance:
Your catching trout at the lake, get ready to head home and get met up by DFG at the ramp, they ask to see your catch and some of those trout are still alive, they then confisgate your boat, gear and hand you a nice hefty fine, you say "I didnt know that wasnt allowed" they say thats not a good enough excuse.

Its all in how you take it, you can see it as they are accusing you of criminal intentions or just take it for what it is, good advice.

As to your original question which I'm sure your tierd of everyone avoiding it, I have never used this kit but I do know that you can make your own, I'm not sure if you are going to use it recurculate water in the cooler or if you plan on pumping in fresh lake water and using some sort of overflow drain to keep the fish in constant fresh water. Either way I made a bait tank for my dads boat out of a trash can which was dirt cheap, but the pump I got at walmart was only like 15 bucks and I spent maybe another 15 on hoses and clamps from homedepot. I guess this would be much easier so it cost a little more, but like I was saying, this looks like it only recurculates water already in the tank, the one I made was a bait tank so it contantly brings in fresh lake or sea water and has an overflow to self drain before overfilling. I would think that using constant fresh water in the tank would keep any fish alive longer but it will ultimately come down to the amount of oxygen the fish consumes if it will survive in a recurculating system, by the way recurculation is how all aquariums produce oxygen for the fish in it so technically should work to a degree. Hope this helps.

[sweetfish]

Surfnsnow,

DVL is my home lake too. I too have to use the cooler too. I usually take 2 coolers since I have my 4 year old son with me, to store food and drinks. I keep 2 bags of ice in 1 cooler, and the other one I use for storage of the fish. Usually I fill the cooler with water to let my son look at the fish for awhile (usually LMB) then I release the fish unharmed. When I do catch stripers, I throw the extra bag of ice in cooler and toss the stripers on top of the ice. I want to convert the the cooler into a livewell (for bait at the river or ocean fishing), but I just didn't see a desperate need yet.

If you are converting the cooler for keeping fish fresh to eat, I say don't spend the money on it since throwing the fish on ice is good enough. But if you want to keep bait fresh and lively, spend the money on the conversion. BTW I had catfish live in my tub for 3 days before I processed it.

[viperman100]

you know something else i forgot to mention about keeping the fish alive is that when I float tube i usually keep the trout on a stringer in the water, I string them through the bottom of their jaw so I dont have the stringer running through their gills and the fish live alot longer that way, I have never been questioned as to why I'm keeping them alive, maybe keeping them alive while at the lake is not the illegal part, only if you try to take them off the lake alive like in a livewell which can be left running while you drive the car home. Maybe someone with more experience with interpreting the laws could chime in on this.

[Surfnsnowboard3]

You know you should really try to not be offended by the advice people are trying to give you here, take this example for instance:
Your catching trout at the lake, get ready to head home and get met up by DFG at the ramp, they ask to see your catch and some of those trout are still alive, they then confisgate your boat, gear and hand you a nice hefty fine, you say "I didnt know that wasnt allowed" they say thats not a good enough excuse.

Its all in how you take it, you can see it as they are accusing you of criminal intentions or just take it for what it is, good advice.

As to your original question which I'm sure your tierd of everyone avoiding it, I have never used this kit but I do know that you can make your own, I'm not sure if you are going to use it recurculate water in the cooler or if you plan on pumping in fresh lake water and using some sort of overflow drain to keep the fish in constant fresh water. Either way I made a bait tank for my dads boat out of a trash can which was dirt cheap, but the pump I got at walmart was only like 15 bucks and I spent maybe another 15 on hoses and clamps from homedepot. I guess this would be much easier so it cost a little more, but like I was saying, this looks like it only recurculates water already in the tank, the one I made was a bait tank so it contantly brings in fresh lake or sea water and has an overflow to self drain before overfilling. I would think that using constant fresh water in the tank would keep any fish alive longer but it will ultimately come down to the amount of oxygen the fish consumes if it will survive in a recurculating system, by the way recurculation is how all aquariums produce oxygen for the fish in it so technically should work to a degree. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response. I think I'm leaning towards just killing them right away and throwing them in an ice chest (kitties and striper). Want to see what other people do that DON'T have a live well with those fish they keep.

[Surfnsnowboard3]

you know something else i forgot to mention about keeping the fish alive is that when I float tube i usually keep the trout on a stringer in the water, I string them through the bottom of their jaw so I dont have the stringer running through their gills and the fish live alot longer that way, I have never been questioned as to why I'm keeping them alive, maybe keeping them alive while at the lake is not the illegal part, only if you try to take them off the lake alive like in a livewell which can be left running while you drive the car home. Maybe someone with more experience with interpreting the laws could chime in on this.

After doing the research since my original post, I determined that if on a private property lake (not governed by the laws of DFG like live trout, i.e. Irvine, LNL, Corona, SARL), you can basically do whatever you want. Again, the DFG rules regarding live trout do not apply on private property.

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Surfnsnow,

DVL is my home lake too. I too have to use the cooler too. I usually take 2 coolers since I have my 4 year old son with me, to store food and drinks. I keep 2 bags of ice in 1 cooler, and the other one I use for storage of the fish. Usually I fill the cooler with water to let my son look at the fish for awhile (usually LMB) then I release the fish unharmed. When I do catch stripers, I throw the extra bag of ice in cooler and toss the stripers on top of the ice. I want to convert the the cooler into a livewell (for bait at the river or ocean fishing), but I just didn't see a desperate need yet.

If you are converting the cooler for keeping fish fresh to eat, I say don't spend the money on it since throwing the fish on ice is good enough. But if you want to keep bait fresh and lively, spend the money on the conversion. BTW I had catfish live in my tub for 3 days before I processed it.

Thank you! That made my decision easier.

[Shock]

I have a livewell, but use an ice chest as I only fish striper...

I say don't waste your time or money on it unless you plan on using live shad at times....Kill them suckas and throw them on ice....You can also bleed out the striper before you throw them in there..

[Perris Bluegill Chaser]

Let me clarify, I re-read it and didn't explain myself clearly. I will be keeping and taking home striper and trout and catfish. Hence the need for a live well.

yes you did...you explain well...he is a little slow

[Nessie Hunter]

Just a little FYI on keeping Shad Alive for bait...

ROUND.. !!! Sounds silly but very true....

they cant turn corners well at all and will die off quickly in anything with corners...
5 gal round bucket works great!!!

Also most of the private lakes have Regulations that say "Follow all DFG regulations"
What they enforce is another story.... ?????

.

[Ifishtoolittle]

This is telling the man to break the law.

Well I'm not trying to suggest anything but I'm just saying that for me trout don't do well in livewells anyways. If one should be caught with a trout that is still alive in a livewell then he should just explain himself that's what I would do. Or I would just do away with the trout before I toss it in the livewell which would defeat the purpose of having one. Ah whatever I barely fish for trout, keep them, and when I do all that they die pretty quickly those darn things.

[Viejo]

yes you did...you explain well...he is a little slow

OK....I get it now. You don't want to have a live well to keep and then let go your fish after carrying them around all day. You want a live well to keep fish alive longer and then you kill them and take them home. A stringer would be cheaper.

The slow guy...

[KID CREOLE]

Everybody on this site now has a smart *** cliche thing to say. Is there anybody out there that wants to respond INTELLIGENTLY to my questions?


I understand what you want to do.

Most factory livewells in bass boats are for tournament fishing, so bass can be kept alive to be released on the same body of water the same day.

Most other boats like my Mako have livewells set up for bait.

If you do go with some type of livewell get clarity on keeping trout.


That being said, for those of you looking for an inexpensive way to build a livewell here's what I used to do to keep Talapia alive when fishing the Salton Sea.

Grab a small builge pump, screw it to a piece of plexiglass about a square foot near the corner. Get 3, 1/2 in PVC elbows and a 6" to 10" PVC nipple and a foot of 3/4 inch clear tubing. Slide a 2 inch piece of clear tubing ove the builge pump out tube, force the elbow in to the tubing pointing up, slide the nipple into the elbow. Put the 2nd elbow on the nipple pointed back at the pump and added a shor section 2" of PVC pipe and another elbow pointing down. Now add a small sprinkler and there you go. Occasionally you might have to change out the water

[Hometown]

The problem comes from some dirty anglers keeping trout and useing them for bait on larger game so the DFG put in a law that it is illegal to keep live trout. I pretty sure all other game fish can be kept alive in live wells but not transported from the body of water were the catch was made.If you go to your local tackle store they have a book with the regs or look it up on line.

[smokehound]

You dont want trout in a livewell, they will thrash around and their meat will become mushy, due to damage.

The same applies to stringers-- in the shallows, they'll flop around and bruise themselves.

The best way is to sever the spinal cord, and put em on ice immediately.

[dockboy]

Not to mention trout lose scales rapidly under stress. When you put trout in the well they lose scales and slime for some reason, at least in my experience. Livewells on bass boats were designed to keep fish alive during live weigh-in tournaments. The fish never come home with you, they are released after being weighed at the weigh in station. As far the DFG is concerned, transporting ANY fish alive is a breach of regulation. They don't want bucket biologists messing up balanced fisheries in the name of self interest. Not to mention, fish can carry diseases from one watershed to another. Shad, stripers, and trout are species they really crack down on. Theoretically, catching bass and putting them in your tank at home is illegal, though rarely enforced.

[wetsideconnect]

Thanks for the response. So long story short, I might as well not spend $150-200 on a portable cooler livewell and jsut throw them in an ice chest on ice?

I'd like to hear from other people that don't have a livewell on their boat and what they do with the catfish and striper they keep?
You can have striper and catfish live in a well or on stringer at the lake.. I usually keep them alive when I go either in a live well, in basket or on stringer.. Your only problem would arise if you tried to transport them from the lake, alive and were caught.. Hope this helps..

[vortec_cruiser]

....You can also bleed out the striper before you throw them in there..

I hope you're doing that in a bucket and not into the lake. :-)

[bosscat]

it is ielegal to take live fish u have to kill them or get fined

[bosscat]

u can have a live well on your boat to keep them fresh and some turny.s require live weigh ins but u have to kill the fish prior to taking home

[bosscat]

i think thats a good idea and u can use it for a live bait tank too,