[FishinMatt]

When I weighed in Fishkid's tourney fish, they were so lively I had a tough time getting a weight on the fish. Both fish he had were super fresh and active. I was hoping MadCraw77 could share how he was aerating his cooler. I only got a peek, and it looked like a wicked system. Fish conservation has always been a priority, hence the 10A weighin. I switched over to the cooler method 2 tournies ago, and besides one fish jumping out, the fish seem healthier The only problem I have noticed was that last tourney the fish pretty much emptied their stomach contents in my cooler before the weighins. I don't know if keeping the fish less stressed would help with that, but it seems plausable.

 

[toothdoc]

I would be interested in hearing how it did it as well. :?

 

[mad craw 77]

wow, thanks for mentioning this guys.
the contents coming out of the fish will happen no matter what. and it can be pretty awesome and interesting to see what comes out. I have heard guys losing up to 2 ounces on there fish while waiting in line to weigh in. because there bass upchucked half of a gizzard shad :shock:
I have never used a cooler livewell before but i was more comfortable with that then stringin them along. first off, that 3 pounder was in the live well since 8 am. when we released her she was a little slow to get going but she went into the depths hopefully with no recourse.
here is my setup and ways i actually read about online to keeping the fish alive.

15 gallon cooler
Super Fish Saver Kit by marine metal products $40.00
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...s&QueryText=aerator&Ntx=matchall&N=4887&Nty=1
a bottle of Sure-Life™ Please Release Me™ $9.00
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_1268____SearchResults
and an extra battery from mike at the rental for a total of two in the boat. which worked out better than expected.
note: i had forgotten the ice water bottles at home which would have been better for the fish if I had it.

the pump pulls some awesome water it doubles as a bilge an filled my cooler up in 5 minutes after fish kid got his first fish.
we continued to fish and i kept the aerator in check turning it on and off periodically as it didn't need to be on all the time. i also needed to make sure the holes on the tubing didn't blow water on the fish as it can remove scales this way.

believe it or not there is a 3 pounder in there. :shock:

i took this pic after i had put in some of the please release me powder in it helps provide a little more oxygen for the fish. and got all the rip rap wiring out of the way as well.
by 11am we had to empty out the live well and introduce fresh water into it. I did it because i thought i read somewhere that there is a biproduct released from the fish converting the oxygen. i could be wrong but knew i had to do it. our fish tried skying out of the cooler but luckily came straight back in. fishkid.... the look on your face was priceless :lol: :lol:
we added more of the please release and kept an eye on the fish till the end of the tournament. i should also mention by 11 am our battery was not working so well for the trolling motor so we swapped batteries and it worked out great. the older battery had more than enough juice to aerate water in the cooler while the battery used for aeration hauled butt for us to fight the wind. :wink:

 

[jaypee the hhf]

Wow that pretty nice dude!

Hehe JayPee is ghetto, Al is crafty!

Holla dude...we fishin tonight.

Jaypee

 

[twoglasseyes]

That is a great setup, and I really like how it can double as a bilge pump.

 

[Seebass]

Mad Craw for President!

Awesome work, I was wondering how I could do this for the next tourney.
hauling a stringer around sucks!

 

[Legend075]

Pretty cool setup with the cooler. thanks for sharing Madcraw.

 

[mad craw 77]

thanks guys, i wasn't sure how it would work but when i threw the pump in the water per directions. i was surprised how quick i filled the cooler. the worst part is putting it together but the bottom of the pump also has suction cups which where not hoaky. they clung onto the inside of the cooler with no problem. it was funny to see how the two fish related to the 1" pvc tubing to try to hide from us.

jaypee: just gimme a "ring a ding ding", it will be you and i until 8:30.

 

[FishinMatt]

Thanks for the detailed report man. I know many people voice concern over the health of the fish, and rightfully so. I for one will definitly be picking up one of those. Thanks again for sharing.

BTW- The reason Fishkids fish was a bit weary was because she shook off the scale and banged off the bottom of the boat. That fish was as fresh as she would of been taking her out of the net after just catching her and very hard to handle. She should be alright, but it was definitly no fault of the aerator (it was I )

 

[mad craw 77]

dont know if you ever used fish release before matt but that stuff jacks those fish up big time! I have been drenched by bass in the past trying to get them out of livewells because of it. :lol:

 

[Bassman For Life]

I had a simular set up like that in my boat