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                                                       Importance of a good livewell

Keeping Bass alive during Tournaments or on any other fishing trip is really important.
We have learnt in the past by not keeping an eye on your livewell and having decent fish turn belly up, having to race to the weigh station to weigh in a barely gilling fish, which is usually revived there, or even worse having them die.


Maintaining good oxygen and water quality is really important.

Fill your live well early in the day, as water temperatures are cooler in the mornings. Cooler water holds more oxygen. When really hot we also lie a life jacket over the livewell lid, thims to help keep the water cool too.

Make sure you  take water from open areas, staying away from stagnant, muddy waters and launch areas etc..

Maintaining healthy oxygen and water quality in livewells depends on temperature because warmer water holds less oxygen  and bass in warmer water consume more oxygen and produce
more dissolved wastes—carbon dioxide and ammonia—that  can be toxic.

Using ice to control water temperature works well, also replacing water in the livewell getting rid of some of the dissolved wastes. The water temperature can be monitored with a fish tank thermometer. Block ice melts more slowly than cubed or crushed ice and provides a more constant temperature change. The block can also be stored and used later.
If you have more than 2.5kg of  Bass in the live well it is advised to change half the water atleast every 3 hours, refilling in areas with good quality water.

Bass expend a lot of energy keeping the salt concentration of their body fluids within a certain, narrow range. Adding a small amount of non-iodized salt to the water helps reduce the stress. 1/3 cup per 5 gallons of live well water.

We have been using Catch & Release, endorsed by Doug Hannon (The Bass Professor), and it has worked really well for us, the Bass seem a little more relaxed and more importantly are released in good health.

We also make sure to clean our live well after every trip. Filling it up with fresh water, wiping it down, removing regurgitated crab etc.. and flushing it, ready and clean for the next trip. Stay away from detergents.

Finally, please remember to care properly for your Bass, and practice Catch and Release !