Keeping Live Baits Lively

Live bait can be deadly effective, and livelier baits are commonly much more effective than injured, half-dead, or lethargic ones. So treat your livies with a little bit of TLC and in the long run, you’ll catch more fish.

First, we have to recognize that different boats have different size and quality livewells. You may be dealing with 40 gallons in an oval well, or 10 gallons in a rectangular box. Ether way, however, the most common offense is over-stuffing baits into it. When you overcrowd a livewell the fish may suffer from oxygen deprivation,  become disoriented and slam into the sides, or in some cases attack each other. But, how much is too much? As a rule of thumb, exceptionally delicate baits should ideally have a gallon of water all their own. So if you’re fishing live bunker and your well only holds 20 gallons, 20 baits is ideal. You can cut this in half and most of the time they’ll still live as long as you start fishing soon (and pulling the bunker right back out, rapidly reducing their numbers), but any more than that is very risky. Heartier baits are usually okay with a half-gallon each and can be packed in at twice the rate for shorter periods.

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Another area of concern is what the water quality in the well is like a few hours into a fishing day. The biggest problem here is with fish that lose their scales, of if you have die-offs. These problems are easily remedied in short order simply by scooping out the dead baits and scales. Most of the time when there’s a problem it’s because no one looks in the well for hours on end. Then, at some point someone opens the well and notices all the baits are belly-up. Regular, consistent livewell checks are all it takes to eliminate this problem.

With wells that are aerated as opposed to circulating, a big issue is water temperatures. After the sun beats down on a fiberglass or aluminum boat for hours on end the temperature in a livewell (especially one that’s not insulated) can skyrocket. Again, the fix is easy; just change out the water, or toss in a handful of ice every so often.

Finally, how you handle your baits on their way into and out of the livewell can also have a big impact on their health. If you’re catching them yourself with Sabiki rigs, use a de-hooker rather than grasping and squeezing the small, delicate fish. Use a soft mesh net to remove them from the well, and hold them as gently as possible with a wet rag while rigging or hooking them. Remember: the friskier and healthier those baits are, the more likely they’ll get snapped up by your target species.