New Boat Report Leesville 3/26

[Shadslinger]

Well I must admit getting back into the fishing scene has got off to a very rocky start. Seems like every trip I never get through catching bait before something happens and never make it to actually fish. Ive had live wells fill up and flood the boat, trolling motor come loose and bout fall in the lake, bait tank problems keeping bait alive, to yesterday hanging up a new net and having to cut it and leave it on the bottom of the lake. Definitely been frustrating instead of fun. I'm not sure what the deal is with the bait tank. Its a 30gal baker tank with a 500gph rule pump and dannco aerator. Basically same set up as the Super II's. After putting the dannco aerator in the bait died within hours getting back to the house. I thought it had something to do with the force of water shooting straight into the tank and beating on the shad. So Mward gave me a idea and link to a thread that Yam had about adding a cap to turn the flow down the side of the tank. So Friday evening i put a dozen money makers in there and come back to the house. They were looking good and done a partial water change before bed, added more salt and shad crack. Saturday morning I find them all laying on the bottom of the tank, some still breathing. I think I had to strong circular current possibly and wore them out. I really don't know. Here is my setup.





So after waking Saturday to half dead bait I just decided to get back in the bed. Decided on a afternoon trip to leesville. Figured id fill the tank and angle the cap down more toward the bottom of the bait tank to slow the circular flow down and see how that worked out. Bait has been shallow in the back of the creeks and sporadic for me. Catching 1 or 2 a throw sometimes maybe 4. Never actually catching a 1 throw net full. I had 8 nice 10 inchers in the tank when I got the net hung and had to cut it. I took my 8 and commenced to fishing a shallow wide flat just off the main channel that was always one of my Dads go to spots. Fishing 3 boards on the bank and almost at the end of the 1st pass the shad closest to the bank starts dancing up out the water. I stopped the tm and watched the chase till the board finally buried. Wont much of a fight and when I got it to the side of the boat it was a PIG of a large mouth that had to of went at least 8 or 9lbs. Unfortunately it spit the hook just as I was trying to get it in the net. While re baiting another shad starts running for its life and when that board went I could feel it was a descent striper. I got that one in the boat which made it the first fish caught in the new ride and was a short fat 15lbr released to grow some more. Had a lot of action on that flat, I lost 1 more and missed several fish due to my own doings. Trying to set the hook to early and not letting the rod load up in my hand. (Rookie Mistakes) Considering I was on leesville and had steady action for couple hours Ill take that even if I only managed to boat 1 of em.

Water Temp 53
Weather Overcast and Cold
Water Clarity Stained
Water Level Lake was down and dropping more

[mwardncsu]

Good to see you holding a Striper back up again!


I doubt it's too much flow - especially on bigger baits

You don't need salt AND ShadCRACK if adding the Crack at the recommended dose - it's largely salt anyway - perhaps salting them too much if using both at full rates.

The pump setup looks fine - I assume once the salt is dissolved that your seeing lots of fine / small bubbles?

I'd try bleaching the tank and then scrubbing it down good with some baking soda and rinsing a few times. Are you using lake water refill or house water (possibly chlorinated)? Are you leaving the tank cracked overnight so it can off-gas?

[Shadslinger]

Mar 27, 2016 14:39:15 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

Good to see you holding a Striper back up again!


I doubt it's too much flow - especially on bigger baits

You don't need salt AND ShadCRACK if adding the Crack at the recommended dose - it's largely salt anyway - perhaps salting them too much if using both at full rates.

The pump setup looks fine - I assume once the salt is dissolved that your seeing lots of fine / small bubbles?

I'd try bleaching the tank and then scrubbing it down good with some baking soda and rinsing a few times. Are you using lake water refill or house water (possibly chlorinated)? Are you leaving the tank cracked overnight so it can off-gas?

That fish felt good, its been about 3 years since Ive been fishing I believe. Hopefully things will start getting a little easier and back in the groove now.

Yea there were plenty of fine air bubbles. I usually always use well water from here at the house but Friday I filled up from the lake which was very muddy. then when I got home I changed it out with half well water. And I leave the lid open all the time, unless moving. Maybe it was just to much salt. There was a good amount of foam on top though yesterday morning. One shad had actually jumped out the tank also. How much bleach do you run through the tank? Im like you, everything should be working fine. Maybe it just needs a good cleaning.

[johnr]

They say well water doesn't have oxygen. Maybe you are suffocating them when you add it and your aerator doesn't put enough back in before it's too late.

Well water has never done me good.

[Deleted]

It seems you changed a few variables on your bait tank. I can tell you that without pushing the flow to the side, your bait will die. If you think the flow is still too big, make the hole you drilled bigger. This will slow down the velocity. I also believe that too much salt will lower the amount of dissolved oxygen available in the water.

With all the crap we have to keep up with, it doesn't surprise me that even an experienced bait fisherman like yourself will have many kinks when starting back up. Don't get frustrated... I wish you the best.

[BentRod]

You sure that Dannco is sucking air like it should? I'd check the pump too - it sounds like an air issue to me. Check your tank battery as well.

I don't think salt or flow are your issues - doesn't sound like you're on the extreme side of either.

Do the baits get red heads? If they do, I'd scrub the tank down with baking soda.

[BentRod]

Also one other thing - filter material? Sure it's ok? Generally if you're poisoning them, I'd say they'd turn red. If they're just suffocating and stressed, it's likely an air issue.

[Shadslinger]

Yam, I basically rebuilt the tank... new pump, aerator and completely different setup. All should be the same as yours if yours is still setup like the thread Mward sent me. I wont be frustrated to much longer though. Ill just switch to fishing for flatheads. Blue gills are a breeze to keep alive...


Tyler, Im not sure what the dannco should be putting out but it seems to be pumping out alot of air to me. You can actually here the air gurgling in the air line. The pump and battery are fine as well. I use loose polyfill stuffing for filter material. Keep it stuffed in the filter box. I honestly cant remember if they had turned red yesterday morning or not. I was so mad I just cut everything off and went back to sleep. Now yesterday evening I had those gizzards in the tank for a few hours and never had a problem, no red noses and good and frisky. Of course that's a few hours versus overnight. I guess the first step should be a good cleaning. Ive never cleaned it out before. Also when yall get ready to leave your tanks overnight how do you set it up. I changed half the water out, cleaned the scale box and put new filter material in, added 2 handfuls of salt and some shad crack, and left the lid open. When I woke up there was a layer of foam on top and the scales were gone off most of the shad and had almost stopped up the scale box. Which I guess most certainly could have cut down on the flow/air.

[hotdog]

I'm glad to see your after them again Hunter. I'm sure your dad would be pleased. Question! Is the air hose from your Dannco drawing outside air or air from the bait side of the tank? I would think if it's air from the bait side of the tank it would poison your bait even if you leave the lid cracked open. I would make sure it draws clean fresh air from the outside of the tank. I can't tell for sure from the pictures but it looks like it's going into the bait compartment.

Good luck.

[Shadslinger]

It is drawing air from the bait side of the tank. I never thought of that but I guess that could be a possibility. Good catch there. I just stubbed the air line in the wall there to keep it above the water line and also keep it neat and out the way instead of hanging outside the tank. Will definitely look into changing that out somehow.

[BentRod]

Yeah hotdog has a good point - do want air from the exterior of the tank. That could potentially be the issue.

I'd also recommend leaving the scale catcher off at night bc it can lead to a clogged filter side.

[FishON]

Shadslinger, Looking at your bait tank it looks it should work fine. I am not sure what your problem is... But, I will say, to much current will wear out your bait and kill them. Back when I was having an issue with to much flow. I put 20 bait in my tank and 20 in a 30 gallon bucket and 6 hours later the bait in the bucket was fine and bait in my tank was dying. I knew right then in there I had a serious problem with to my current in my tank. But, looking at your bait tank it doesn't appear like you would have excessive flow.

A few suggestions:
- Clean the tank really well with vinegar.
- Maybe you could post a video with bait in your tank for us to check out? (So, we can check current flow)
- Also, make sure your pump isn't wired backwards? If is wired backwards it will still run but not run well.
- Air coming from outside like hot dog said.
- Also maybe try moving the dannco venture part closer to outlet. I was told by the owner you want the pipe between your pump and outlet as short as possible and you want the Venture as close to the outlet as possible..
check you the pic Bentrod has in this tread:
smlfishingforums.proboards.com/thread/679/dannco-ezclean-venturi
(I have mine setup very close to the way bentrod has it setup)

(It is probably an easy fix after you figure it out of course.)

[Gator]

Shadslinger, when I am keeping bait overnight I always take out my filter basket or it will clog and cause problems. I have done partial water changes with well water and not experienced any problems. As far as the foam goes, I throw 5 or 6 cheeto's in the tank before I go to bed and that keeps the foam down. See you on the BW!!

[Shadslinger]

Mar 28, 2016 8:04:19 GMT -5 Gator said:

Shadslinger, when I am keeping bait overnight I always take out my filter basket or it will clog and cause problems. I have done partial water changes with well water and not experienced any problems. As far as the foam goes, I throw 5 or 6 cheeto's in the tank before I go to bed and that keeps the foam down. See you on the BW!!

Seeing as how my setup is no different than anyone else it has to be something that I myself am doing and I believe for one HOTDOG probably nailed it with the air hose sucking bad air to begin with. So that will get changed. 2nd I am going to give it a cleaning just to be safe. 3rd you are saying you take out all the filters over night? Just let pump circulate water and oxygenate the water is all? Ive heard of using Cheetos but never tried them.

[Gator]

I leave the filter media in the filter compartment. Just take out the scale/filter basket.