Trouble Keeping Alewives Alive

[hobart]

getinewet said last January 9, 2014 back when the water was cold – “I kept about 10 alewives and threw the rest back because I'm having trouble keeping them alive.”

It’s the end of July 2014 now and the summer water is hot... are you having problems keeping your alewives alive now or did you fix your problems last winter?

I know the cost of live bait dying is high now whether you are catching it or buying it because many fishermen are having livewell problems and live bait dying right now.

[getlinewet]

Hobart:

I don't have to worry about that issue now because the alewives have left the docks so I'm temporarily out of business. It seems they come into the docks in the spring and then in the fall. During both seasons you can catch pretty much all you want. They also come into the docks in the evening during the winter.

I can keep the alewives alive in what's called a bait tamer in the spring. Not so in the fall and winter. During those seasons I usually put them in a 5 gallon bucket with a buble in my garage and most seem to survive. I've gotta get a decent bait tank one of these days.

The good news is I've started seeing shad monkeying around the dock. I bet they are easier to keep alive

[mwardncsu]

Hobart - what do you mean by "keeping". Are you talking about "long term storage" or just in a bait tank for a day or two's fishing?

I've had no issue getting alewifes at dock lights and keeping them in a bait tank overnight for a days fishing - and with proper care (partial water changes, frequent cleaning of filters, right water temps), I've kept a tankful or partial tankful for several days earlier in July.

Long term storage is a different thing all together

Now - as summer wanes on, water temps ride (not just surface but the lower depths warming) and the thermocline sets up on the upper ends or the river arms ales will be harder to get there and you'll have to go elsewhere to find them. 2 tosses of the net this morning about 3:30a had at least 8-10 dozen baits.



Some were monsters


Seriously - most were decent size - this guy came up with a toss on a light with a 3/8" mesh net.

As mentioned in a number of past posts - salt is very important to keeping bait - as is good aeration and proper temperature. Help clarify the question and I'm sure folks on here can steer you right.

[Deleted]

I'm thinking he has already clarified .......he doesn't have a bait tank.

[mwardncsu]

Ahh - perhaps he was not asking a question as much as potentially offering advice - sorry if I misinterpreted it.

I looked back and saw a response in this thread ( smlfishingforums.proboards.com/thread/2269/bait-dying-when-trolled )and also his intro post that said he stockpiles bait at home.....

I did not totally follow some of the stuff in the referenced thread about "super charging your bait" - would be interested in more specifics there.

[hobart]

Thanks getinwet, good to hear from you.

Actually my question to getinewet is straight-forward referencing an earlier post he had made here January 9, 2014 last winter back when the water was cold and he posted that he was having trouble keeping alewives alive in his tanks – “I kept about 10 alewives and threw the rest back because I'm having trouble keeping them alive.”

Getinwet’s answer was clear and straight-forward, “I don't have to worry about that issue now because the alewives have left the docks so I'm temporarily out of business.”

Mwardncsu - I have no idea whether getinwet was having problems “keeping alewives” for hours, overnight, days or weeks, he didn’t say.

My reference to “supercharging live bait” is about making how the average fishermen can take a fresh caught live bait and make the bait behave abnormally, make a super-bait; more active, stronger, more durable, more energetic than a fresh caught bait just out of the net. Supercharging live bait fish is for the fishermen that want the highest quality live baitfish possible, far better than fresh caught quality.

Here’s how “Supercharging live bait” works: www.georgepoveromo.com/content.php?pid=64

Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman (crappie pro’s) supercharge their bait fish like this, but these guys have a real need to make the highest quality bait fish possible because they are making money off their tournament catch. They seldom talk or write about Supercharging their live bait at all... it's really "secret stuff."

[mwardncsu]

Sorry.... I read Hobart's follow-up as a question..... My bad - I'll blame it on lack of sleep from catching bait at 3am yesterday

Thanks for the additional info. O2 is not used by many on SML it seems (or, like you say, maybe it's just not talked about much - though I know the majority of the guides don't use it) - perhaps due to the cost of the system and the hassle if getting cylinders refilled (unless you have ready access to larger cylinders). I know it's more popular for Striper fishing in some of the southern states like GA and SC. Mytoyzfishing purchased a system when he was rigging out his bass boat for striper fishing in order to try and use a regular livewell vs a bait tank but I do not he got much time with it yet.

[archenemy]

Mward is correct in that some folks in the south use them. I have talked with a few guides in GA and they use them primarily in the summer. Went out with a guide who used one and his 50 gal sbt was about 30% full of water. He didnt tell me why just said thats how its done down here. They say it really jacks the bait up. Im wondering how they would react once they are introduced to the less oxygenated water in the lake ?
A word of caution was given to me on the use of O2.... You can burn the bait and or blow yourself up. since I smoke I thought it best to forego the O2.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[Pete D.]

Yea id be surprised if O2 injection really works much better than the dannco. I mean the nitrogen that is in our air is required for survival as well. Plus I know that when people go to oxygen bars, they get a quick high but it soon follows with a crash, an oxygen hangover. I guess if you expect to get a bite immediately after you drop the baits in the water it'd be okay. But what happens to bait when it is being fed pure O2 for three hours?