question on live wells and tournament fishing

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shawn O'Connell on February 24, 2010 at 2:35pm

You just need to check with the rules for whatever tourney you are fishing for. Most do allow a livewell setup like this and I think there are a couple of guys on here who have used them in tourneys. They have premade setups on Basspro and Cabelas that look pretty nice and are reasonable. You do want it to be a good setup because most tourneys have dead fish penalties.

Permalink Reply by chad huffman on February 24, 2010 at 3:35pm

thanks yeah i have been checking both cabelas and bass pro shops and mostly finding bait tanks and there getting not so hot reviews. im thinking i might just have to build my own and see. if anyone knows of any they have used or seen used i would apreciate it. basicly not having a live well is are main set back. there is a front storage hatch and i do have a aluminum 40 gallon tank maybe ill see if i can make one out of it.

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on February 24, 2010 at 8:31pm

When my father and I first started fishing tournaments we didn't have a livewell in his lund. We used a 40gallon cooler and one of these: http://www.landbigfish.com/showcase.cfm?PID=2378
We never had any problems, you just have to make sure the hose doesn't get pinched.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on February 24, 2010 at 8:35pm

If you fish like Dez you won't need a livewell.

Permalink Reply by Robert Mann on February 24, 2010 at 8:51pm

hey man yeah all you need is a cooler and a areator take the drian plug out and put thew areator in its spot it works great just watch the water it can get warm in hot days so change the water every so often

Permalink Reply by Bob Higbee on February 24, 2010 at 9:43pm

The answer to your question is maybe, the tournament director for whichever event will have discretionary power to determine whether or not a portable aeration system is acceptable. I suspect that all local events would find that this would meet their definition of aerated livewell system. Keep in mind you may need to manually refresh your water depending on temperature conditions. I have in the past had anglers fish ABA events using this type system with no problems with fish mortality. Best recommendation is to speak with the event director. Hope this helps.

Permalink Reply by chad huffman on February 24, 2010 at 11:11pm

thanks everyone for the advice im deffinetly going to set one up. ill make sure to test it out well before i enter a tournament. thanks agin and hope to see you on the water

Permalink Reply by T Dot on February 25, 2010 at 12:19am

eff, as long as it works you should be EH ok.

butta and i used 2 make-shift live wells during a club tourney. we used a dedicated battery, and HE changed out the water every 30-60mins. i had to slow him down some how, as he was out biting me 5:1. everything we used came from walmart. i bleed dat the pumps were around $30 a piece.

Permalink Reply by S Hwang on February 25, 2010 at 10:40am

Yea that experience definitely makes me echo panicminnow's note about babysitting the fish once you have a bag. Also, don't fish tourneys with tdot or you'll do all the work.

T Dot said:

eff, as long as it works you should be EH ok.

butta and i used 2 make-shift live wells during a club tourney. we used a dedicated battery, and HE changed out the water every 30-60mins. i had to slow him down some how, as he was out biting me 5:1. everything we used came from walmart. i bleed dat the pumps were around $30 a piece.

Permalink Reply by Ben Holten on February 25, 2010 at 1:42pm

To answer your question it depends. BASS affiliated tournaments might not let you. I know that 10 years ago I was in a BASS affiliated club and we were not allowed to use use makeshift livewells. Many tournaments will allow you, and most clubs will allow you. You just have to ask the question.

I have used built in live wells and I have used one where I use a large cooler and an aeriator I bought at Wall Mart for $10. The one from Wall Mart works better. I have never lost a fish. It depends on temperature, but you have to change the water. It might be once every 3 hours or once an hour. It is easy to do. I just put the cooler on the front of the boat drain it out, and than fill it up with a large piece of tupper wear.

I say go for it though. Most clubs welcome others with open arms, and are active in promoting the sport.

Permalink Reply by Ronald Hobbs, Jr. on February 26, 2010 at 7:27am

I have an idea, why not just buy a cheap bilge pump from walmart as well, and this way you drop it over the side of the boat, and it will pump freshwater into you makeshift livewell and then if you don't have a drain hole just put the pump in the well to get the water out.

Ben Holten said:

To answer your question it depends. BASS affiliated tournaments might not let you. I know that 10 years ago I was in a BASS affiliated club and we were not allowed to use use makeshift livewells. Many tournaments will allow you, and most clubs will allow you. You just have to ask the question.

I have used built in live wells and I have used one where I use a large cooler and an aeriator I bought at Wall Mart for $10. The one from Wall Mart works better. I have never lost a fish. It depends on temperature, but you have to change the water. It might be once every 3 hours or once an hour. It is easy to do. I just put the cooler on the front of the boat drain it out, and than fill it up with a large piece of tupper wear.

I say go for it though. Most clubs welcome others with open arms, and are active in promoting the sport.

Permalink Reply by S Hwang on February 26, 2010 at 10:30am

Exactly - if I didn't have that pump I wouldn't have even bothered.

Ronald Hobbs, Jr. said:

I have an idea, why not just buy a cheap bilge pump from walmart as well, and this way you drop it over the side of the boat, and it will pump freshwater into you makeshift livewell and then if you don't have a drain hole just put the pump in the well to get the water out.

Ben Holten said:

To answer your question it depends. BASS affiliated tournaments might not let you. I know that 10 years ago I was in a BASS affiliated club and we were not allowed to use use makeshift livewells. Many tournaments will allow you, and most clubs will allow you. You just have to ask the question.

I have used built in live wells and I have used one where I use a large cooler and an aeriator I bought at Wall Mart for $10. The one from Wall Mart works better. I have never lost a fish. It depends on temperature, but you have to change the water. It might be once every 3 hours or once an hour. It is easy to do. I just put the cooler on the front of the boat drain it out, and than fill it up with a large piece of tupper wear.

I say go for it though. Most clubs welcome others with open arms, and are active in promoting the sport.

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