Using livewells for keepers or bait?

[BadDecisions]

Probably a silly question, but having never had a boat before with livewells...can I use these things for holding fish that I'm going to keep for the night's dinner, or if I'm using live bait like minnows rather than keeping a separate cooler on the boat? I don't ever see myself doing a tournament...I don't really have the competition desire, and from what I've seen, they all cost far more than I want to throw away anyways. Maybe if amateur hour came up one day, and the entry was $20... All the search hits I've come up with so far seem to be centered on how best to win tournaments, which really doesn't apply to me.

Logically, it seems to me that a fish is a fish is a fish, and if they can hold bass for weigh in and release, that dropping a few crappies in there, or a bunch of minnows would be all the same? If I'm going to do catch and release, they're going right back in the water, not sitting on the boat all day. Up until now, I've always carried a cooler full of ice to drop the keepers in to, and I'm just thinking it would be handy to not have a loose cooler in the boat while I'm out on the water.

[jimsch]

Welcome to the BBC. You could used them for shiners if you wanted. I would still keep them in a plastic minnow bucket if you can fit it in the opening. It would be easier to get them out of the bucket when needed. Make sure your battery is in good shape so you don't find yourself with a dead starting battery. You could also use a "D" cell type of aereator in the livewell instead of the recirc pump.

[Joe4d]

Alot of the crappie and catfish type boats have 2 livewells, A smaller one up front called a bait well and one in back as a livewell for bigger fish.
I imagine it depends on ur fishing. You can use a live well to cull fish if legal and prudent if you are fishing for fish that have a limit. Say 5 fish, and throwing back is legal. U put ur five fish in livewell, keep fishing, catch a bigger one can throw back the smallest. Not sure about ur area but here there seem to be quite a few $35 or so entry fee tournements. Some with horsepower limits.

[wmitch2]

Sure, you can !! For bait, just use it like a live well, set the selector to auto and turn on the aerator either to constant if it's hot out, or to momentary if not ! I'd have a dip net if you just dump them in or you can use the inner bucket of a minnow bucket. Same applies if you're bringing them in for dinner.

[BadDecisions]

Thanks guys! It's been hard to find some basic information like this (or at least what I thought would be basic info, anyways, lol), as it seems everything is tournament oriented.

Oh, and as for the tournaments, and the entry fees, I will admit that I didn't spend a whole lot of time searching...was more a quick browse, and it looked like everything was $300+ entry fee. While I was good at pulling fish out of Lake St. Clair when I lived in Michigan, I've just never really got anything even remotely approaching good at the lakes here outside of Phoenix, AZ. Although I've watched a few videos where even the pros say that Lake Pleasant here can be a real bear to get anything out of at times, so I don't feel so bad now. So I just feel like one of those tourneys would be a fine way of throwing away half a dozen trips worth of fuel money. But if I found one of those $35 ones here, it might be a fun time just to say I did it once.

[wmitch2]

Thanks guys! It's been hard to find some basic information like this (or at least what I thought would be basic info, anyways, lol), as it seems everything is tournament oriented.

Oh, and as for the tournaments, and the entry fees, I will admit that I didn't spend a whole lot of time searching...was more a quick browse, and it looked like everything was $300+ entry fee. While I was good at pulling fish out of Lake St. Clair when I lived in Michigan, I've just never really got anything even remotely approaching good at the lakes here outside of Phoenix, AZ. Although I've watched a few videos where even the pros say that Lake Pleasant here can be a real bear to get anything out of at times, so I don't feel so bad now. So I just feel like one of those tourneys would be a fine way of throwing away half a dozen trips worth of fuel money. But if I found one of those $35 ones here, it might be a fun time just to say I did it once.

Join a local Bass Club and fish the monthly tournaments for far less than $300 !! You'll also learn some of the ins and outs of catching Bass in Arizona, LOL !!

[ncredbear]

Hey if you are not sure, then the question is not silly, that is how we learn. Yes you can keep your days catch in the livewell for your consumption later. Afterall the fish riding around in the livewell, be it bass or crappie, at the end of the day don't know whether they are being released or going in the fry pan. It is your boat use it how it makes sense to you.
As far as keeping minnows or bait in the livewell, yes you can do that. I might consider what some else already mentioned and keep them in the inner bucket of a minnow bucket or make a bucket out of window screen, etc. This is only to make it easier at the end of the day to make sure you remove all of the minnows from the livewell. But if you take care to make sure all are scooped out you could just have them directly in the livewell itself.

[jdwo2212]

Also, whichever live well you use for bait, especially smaller crappie minnows or fatheads, if you dont use a secondary bucket, just dont fill the livewell up too far. Finding a minnow in 10+ gallons of water is a crazy pain. But if its only half full, you wont be as frustrated. As far as your catch, leave the recirc pumps on and check your water levels after a long or rough run. Most livewells have a overflow so sometimes ya gotta add a bit of water. Bit they work fine. Now...go catch em and use the darn things. Hehe

[Greywalls]

Also, depends on the bait. Shad in a standard livewell likely will be dead within an hour. I am primarily a striper fisherman, and unfortunately have relegated my livewell to cooler duty.