[John 24]

New bait tank, expensive bait chemicals, ice, Mr. Bubbles with fresh batteries and prayers to keep the bait alive and healthy are working in June 2016… and the cost of live bait is going up. My fishing buddies tell me best option, the cheapest option in the heat of summer is artificial plastic baits or dead bait on the bottom because live bait keeping just doesn't work in the summer. And they are right, can't keep it alive regardless how much it cost.
U’all having any live problems this summer?

 

[hawkman]

I only have tried this once, two weeks ago on the NC Coast. It wasn't a particularly hot day and I bought some mud minnows, put them in a dark green 5-gal bucket and dropped the Hush Bubbles stone in there. They lasted 6 hours with vigor until they were gone. But that's one-day's experience so take it fwiw.

 

[Shanep]

I always fish on the beach with a livewell. I have used the same five gallon bucket for the last twenty years. I've gone through several bubble pumps. The twenty dollar ones do fine. The heat doesn't seem to be too big of a factor, but if the water seems to be getting warm, I'll change so e out. The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many

 

[spinconn]

What Shanep said. My problem has been the water getting too hot and frequent changes to the water have solved that . . . so far.

 

[Shanep]

My bucket is white. It probably doesn't get as hot as others.

also some fish use more oxygen than others. Pompano and pinfish don't take much, so you can throw several small ones in there, but spot and whiting use a lot. If you put one or two of those in there with other bait, everything suffocates

 

[ncdead]

Yes, change the water frequently, also freeze some water in a ziplock bag and drop it in the the bucket when you feel the water is getting too hot. We used to do the ice trick when we were kids with creek minnows when fresh water fishing before we had ever heard of an aerator. We would drop ice in the bucket with the minnows, cold as all hell...the minnows would appear to be dead, stunned by the cold water and as the water warmed they would start moving around again. Don't remember how we came up with that idea but it worked like a charm.

 

[Bodi]

Not sure how to post a picture but I normally have 2-4 bait buckets plugged in at home with a cheap walmart aquarium pump that can feed to buckets. One minnow trap normally catches 2-3 dozens minnows and I can keep them alive 7-10 days. I net what I need for the day into a cheap Walmart square or cube coolers with a bubbler attached and a cutting board velcro'd to the top for cut bait. You can spray foam into the hollow top and sides for extra insulation. If one happens to die fish it out before the ammonia and kicks up and kills off the other fish. Knock on wood never had a problem during the dog days of summer

 

[cockroachjr.]

One thing i used to do is take a storage bin and put in a water filter from an aquarium and a bubbler. I would put in mud minnows and small spot. If it gets too hot i just throw in some cool packs or bottles of frozen water. The only problem i had was overfeeding them fishflakes.

 

[Captainfirebeard]

I made my own system, though I cannot take credit for it as I saw another person using it and plagiarized the heck out of it. I use a 3 gallon bucket, with 0.33 inch holes drilled in the top 2/3 of the bucket, and have a rope tied off to the handle. For easy access I bought a gamma bucket lid, and have it with a short leash so that it does not blow away in the wind when loosened. I can post pictures later if you wish

 

[Captainfirebeard]

The total cost on this was less than $20 including the bucket, lid, rope and a couple of good carabiner clips to secure it to the pier.

 

[John 24]

Bait tank problems in the summer - Ice, hypothermia pros and cons

Yes, change the water frequently, also freeze some water in a ziplock bag and drop it in the the bucket when you feel the water is getting too hot. We used to do the ice trick when we were kids with creek minnows when fresh water fishing before we had ever heard of an aerator. We would drop ice in the bucket with the minnows, cold as all hell...the minnows would appear to be dead, stunned by the cold water and as the water warmed they would start moving around again. Don't remember how we came up with that idea but it worked like a charm.

Why do live bait’s live fine in 90F environmental water and die so fast in that same 90F bait tank water? Funny deal…
Question: In the summer when the environmental water is hot in the south many fishermen recommend chilling bait tank water with ice to keep bait alive a little longer. That’s good.

On the down side of hypothermia, have you ever noticed how quick those nice cool baits die so fast when you hook it up and throw it back into that 90F environmental water from whence it came?

The Hypothermia Paradox - Going from chilled bait tank water back to hot summer environmental water is the real danger and killer. That water temperature change kills live bait fast.

Temperature shock: Live bait will tolerate going from hot to cold far better than going from cold back to hot. Check it out next time you fish with live bait in July/August with chilled bait.

Why not fish the temperature shock problem? If you are fishing in 90F water, why not keep your bait tank water at 90F and eliminate that temperature shock problem for ever this summer, next summer, for the rest of your live bait fishing life?

 

[surfchunker]

Styrofoam keeps bait alive a lot long than plastic containers ... also bait fish type matters, mud minnows last way better than most anything else

 

[joek]

Why do live bait’s live fine in 90F environmental water and die so fast in that same 90F bait tank water? Funny deal…
Question: In the summer when the environmental water is hot in the south many fishermen recommend chilling bait tank water with ice to keep bait alive a little longer. That’s good.

On the down side of hypothermia, have you ever noticed how quick those nice cool baits die so fast when you hook it up and throw it back into that 90F environmental water from whence it came?

The Hypothermia Paradox - Going from chilled bait tank water back to hot summer environmental water is the real danger and killer. That water temperature change kills live bait fast.

Temperature shock: Live bait will tolerate going from hot to cold far better than going from cold back to hot. Check it out next time you fish with live bait in July/August with chilled bait.

Why not fish the temperature shock problem? If you are fishing in 90F water, why not keep your bait tank water at 90F and eliminate that temperature shock problem for ever this summer, next summer, for the rest of your live bait fishing life?

Temperature shock makes sense.
I just bought a 5 gal water cooler at lowes for $24.00.
Planned on droppng a 2 qt frozen milk container in but now i think i'll monitor the temp in the cooler
and try to keep it close to the water im fishing. The cooler and an air stone should help with that.

 

[John 24]

I always fish on the beach with a livewell. I have used the same five gallon bucket for the last twenty years. I've gone through several bubble pumps. The twenty dollar ones do fine. The heat doesn't seem to be too big of a factor, but if the water seems to be getting warm, I'll change so e out. The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many

Years ago I got a plastic 5 gallon pickle bucket from McDonalds (FREE). That’s been my bait tank for many years and works great for me. I really liked the “free” part too.

Glad to hear that your bait tank water temperature is not a problem this summer. I live in the Southern US and I never use ice to chill my baits either. The summer environmental water temperature is relatively hot compared to the summer environmental air temperature, i.e. 100F air temp and 90F water temp is common here late July and August.

You mentioned, “The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many.” I have noticed that too, a couple baits over the line in the livewell with warm, (not chilled) bait tank water and everything dies quick. A bait or 2under the line an all the baits live fine in warm bait tank water (with no ice).

** Question: Why do 1-2 baits over the line (overcrowd) kill all the baits in the bait tank in the summer? I have some ideas why, but what actually kills the baits in the tank with minimal overcrowding… I don’t think it’s the warm summer bait tank water that we are using kills those baits, they live in that same warm water and they don’t die.

 

[Carolina Rebel]

Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks.

I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.

 

[surfchunker]

Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks.

I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.

Styrofoam ... lets oxygen into the water, bait lasts 2x longer

 

[John 24]

Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks.

I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.

Here’s an article about making live bait vibrant any time of the year, the heat of summer, winter, spring or fall – “Supercharging Your Live Bait” Only a fisherman can make bait vibrant by dissolving this gas (pure 100% welding oxygen) in the bait tank. Making bait vibrant cannot be done with mechanical aerators, air, bigger water pumps, more water or all the bait saver livewell chemicals.

Supercharge Your Live Baits
www.georgepoveromo.com/content.php?pid=64
1. Cached
2. Similar
To help maintain this edge, a growing number of serious live-baiters have been “supercharging” their baits by injecting pure, compressed oxygen into the ...

Of course all fishermen can chose if he does or does not want to make his live bait vibrant or not, but there are choices for each his own.
What do you think about making live bait vibrant bait in the heat of summer with oxygen, not air?

 

[pods]

You can just keep fewer baits in the livewell as temps go up. Higher temps=lower levels of dissolved oxygen, combined with the fish's higher rate of respiration means higher oxygen requirements. Also leads to higher ammonia in the water, so water changes help.
But, the amount of oxygen that can be held by example, 90 degree water, is fixed. So a bubbler is not going to help you beyond the capacity of the water to hold oxygen.
Cooler water helps, as cold water holds more dissolved gas.
As temps increase, you just cannot hold as many fish in your tank as you can when it is cooler.
http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/documents/639/oxygen-solubility-water-2.png

 

[John 24]

OXYGENATION by Brian Vinci, Ph.D. and Steven Summerfelt, Ph.D, The Freshwater Institute, Sheperdstown, WV http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/ista/I...06/8 Gas Transfer/Oxygenation/Oxygenation.pdf

*Since Dissolved Oxygen is usually the first limitation on stocking density,
increasing oxygen levels directly increase the carrying capacity of systems, often
dramatically.

*If only air is used to provide oxygen, carrying capacity is usually limited to less
than 40 kg/m3 (1/3 lb/gal).

GAS TRANSFER
When air [21% O2, partial pressure at sea level 159 mm/hg] is in contact with water, dissolved gases in the water attempt to reach equilibrium with the partial pressures of the gases in the atmosphere. Two factors that directly impact the rate of gas transfer are first the area of gas-liquid interface and second the difference between the concentration (partial pressure) at saturation and the existing concentration of the gas in the water.

[The partial pressure of pure 100% O2 at sea level is 760 mm/hg. The difference between the partial pressure O2 in air and pure 100% O2 at sea level is 601 mm/hg]

OXYGENATION
Enriched [100% O2] O2 increases DO solubility nearly 5 fold compared to air [21% O2] – 48.1 mg/L O2 to 10.1 mg/L O2 with air @ 15C
Increase the pressure from 1 ATM to 2 ATM and the oxygen solubility in water doubles – from 48 mg/L to 97 mg/L @ 15C

How much oxygen can you actually force into water when you are not limited by air? 5 times as much. The chemistry, visit Henry’s Gas Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry's_law

 

[pods]

Ahh, good old chemistry. (I'm a chemist)
Yeah, you can force larger amounts of gas into a system by increasing pressure via Henry's law or swapping out what you are pumping into the system (oxygen versus air).
The surface area doesn't apply in a bait tank, as you are increasing the surface area by using an air stone and a bubbler. That is increasing your surface area exponentially, and depends on the size of the bubbles (smaller is more area of contact).
If you use a sealed bait tank that will hold more than 1 atm of pressure you can increase it as well.
But, as soon as the tank is opened, all the gas dissolved will bubble out and form a new equilibrium, resulting in dead fish if you try and increase your carrying capacity via this route. Also the dissolved gasses inside your bait will come out of solution much like the bends on a diver.
Easiest and most practical way to keep more bait alive is maintain the water temp lower, as the carrying capacity for O2 in the water is greater at a lower temp. Too cold and fish get shocked when hitting warm fishing water though.
If you cannot do this, your only route is to reduce the number of baitfish within the tank. Aerators will only help up to the carrying capacity of the water.
One thing you could try, that would help and be less hassle than ice is to use a white or mylar coated bucket (mylar might annoy other fishermen though), and if you have a 12v bubbler is to hook up a computer cooling fan on the top of the tank and make a small hole for the air to escape. The air blows into the tank and evaporates water, cooling the water in the tank. Called a "swamp cooler" and may or may not help much, depending on the humidity. Higher humidity, less help.
Computer fans run on 12v DC and can have an affect on keeping the water temp down, just have to be careful about splashing.
My suggestion is to carry less bait. Fun to think about other ways though.