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Thread: Homemade Cooler Livewell

  1. #21

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    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.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by viperman100 View Post
    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.

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by viperman100 View Post
    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.

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by sweetfish View Post
    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.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Oxnard
    Posts
    1,164

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    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..

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    rancho cucamonga
    Posts
    351

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    Quote Originally Posted by Surfnsnowboard3 View Post
    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

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Hesperia, Ca
    Posts
    10,767

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    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.... ?????

    .

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Where the fish are
    Posts
    3,493

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nessie Hunter View Post
    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.
    Last edited by Ifishtoolittle; 04-25-2011 at 05:10 PM.

  9. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by Perris Bluegill Chaser View Post
    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...

  10. #30
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    226

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    Quote Originally Posted by Surfnsnowboard3 View Post
    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

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