‘Live’ is best part of bait

Summer baitwells must be in best working order

Many fishermen have a fascination with using live minnows or smaller fish for bait. The bottom line is they believe it gives them an advantage in trying to outsmart wily, old fish. There are fishermen who would rather carry a stalk of bananas than head to their favorite fishing hole without live bait — and if you don’t know how unwelcome bananas are on a boat, just understand you shouldn’t carry them.

The issue is how to keep live bait alive. Sometimes that can be easy, and sometimes it requires a complex apparatus. Several outside factors should be considered, and after that, fishermen can do a lot to help themselves.

One factor fishermen can’t control is temperature, and it’s a fact that cool water holds more oxygen than warm water. Unfortunately, some baitwells that work well in the spring and fall leave fishermen with a bunch of belly-up baits during summer.

If a fisherman has a baitwell that doesn’t work well during the summer, one simple thing to do is reduce the amount of bait put into it. If there is less competition for the available oxygen, the baits all get more and not only survive, but stay frisky. There is also less excrement in the water. Overloading a baitwell is a cardinal sin, and many fishermen are guilty.

Shape is a primary consideration with baitwells. Menhaden, for example, can’t handle a baitwell with corners; other species can. Fishermen who want to keep menhaden healthy should have baitwells that are at least oval and round is better. All baits fare better when a baitwell is one of those shapes.

Baitwells come in two typical types. One recirculates the same water or adds oxygen, and the other is a total-exchange system where old water is flowing out and new water is being pumped in. Both types have their preferred uses.

Recirculating baitwells are simplest and can begin with just about anything that holds water. Three keys to keep bait alive in a recirculating baitwell are adding oxygen to the water, keeping the temperature down and cleaning and filtering the water.

Adding oxygen is important and is all that is required for keeping hardy baits for a short time. Devices for adding oxygen are available and range from a simple air pump and aerator stone to a specialized water pump with an aeration chamber whose flow is controlled by a valve.

Controlling temperature and cleaning/filtering and are of roughly equal importance, depending on the time of year and how long you plan to hold bait. In the summer, especially when in direct sunlight, the water in the baitwell warms quickly. Dark-colored baitwells also warm faster.

One of the simplest ways to cool baitwell water is to add something cool. Some fishermen occasionally add a handful of ice to the water, which cools the water but adds chlorine and chemicals and dilutes the salinity. I like to place a plastic drink bottle filled with water and frozen in the baitwell. It floats and doesn’t mix with the water. The water it cools sinks to the bottom and then rises back up as it warms, so it also improves circulation. The cooler water also holds more oxygen.

For baits that will be kept longer times, filtering is important. The shock of being contained will often cause baitfish to empty their system within 24 hours. Completely changing the water is a great start. Then, several filtering systems are available, and all work to some degree. Most filter ammonia, scales and excrement from the water. It helps to change filters regularly.

Total-exchange baitwells rely on the ever-changing water to bring enough oxygen into the tank, keep the water at a level temperature and clean the baitwell. This works fairly well in any form, but there are ways that enhance each feature and improve the efficiency of the baitwell.

New water should enter the tank as near the bottom as possible and be directed around the baitwell rather than simply out into the middle. This creates a current that helps push older water to the top along with any water-borne excrements, such as ammonia and urine. Excrements heavier than water are pushed towards the middle of the tank on the bottom.

The overflow is near the top of the baitwell and also establishes the water level for the tank. This is gravity fed and drains overboard. It should be larger, usually an inch-and-a-half, and it should have a round screen to keep bait from being sucked into or stuck to it. Some baitwells use a standpipe in the middle, and others use a through-hull fitting on the side. Both work well, but the stand-pipe sometimes gets in the way.

A second drain should be as close to the middle of the bottom as possible and flush with the bottom, and this fitting should be smaller. It will drain the baitwell when not in use and remain partially open when using the baitwell allowing heavy excrements to be sucked out through it.

The water in a constant-exchange baitwell should be turned over numerous times every hour. Pumps are rated with small lift factors and at no head pressure, with unrestricted flow, so their ratings are usually very optimistic. With an above deck baitwell, most 800 GPH pumps are doing well to average 500 GPH. In reality, an 800 GPH pump may only turn over the water in a 50-gallon baitwell eight or nine times in an hour.

This works fine as long as the water is well-oxygenated. It is also important to have as much flow as possible without excessive pressure. A high-pressure stream entering a baitwell can injure the bait. I like to step up the size of the intake hose before it enters the baitwell to reduce pressure. Most 800 GPH baitwell pumps have a ¾-inch fitting, and I step the hose up to 1 ¼- or 1 ½-inch hose the last foot or so before the intake fitting.

The amount of oxygen in the water is extremely important. It isn’t as high in the summer as it is in fall, winter and spring. While any good pump will exchange water at an acceptable rate, most are limited to the oxygen contained in the water.

KeepAlive, Inc of Tarpon Springs, Fla., manufactures baitwell pumps that add oxygen. An “oxygen infusor” chamber, with air hose and a regulating valve, increases and regulates the oxygen in the water. I believe these are well worth the extra cost. KeepAlive also makes similar pumps for recirculating baitwells and step-up through-hull fittings for reducing inlet pressure.

When using live bait, you should always strive to have the freshest and friskiest possible. That is the magic of fishing with live bait and what draws the fish to them. If you have problems keeping baitfish alive, one (or more) of these recommendations should help.