Float Tube Live Well?

[DKStroutfitter]

I just purchased a wire mesh live well for my pontoon or float tube. This is the one that collapses and had an opening on the top and on the bottom.
My question is how good are they at keeping fish alive and in good shape? Can you release a fish from the trap to replace it with a larger fish caught later?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Dale, TubeBabe and I have been using the large 19"X30" wire baskets for tubing for over 20 years. We've tried a variety of ways to lash them onto the tube, and these days we rig them with a ring of the bright foam "noodle" kids use in swimming pools. Then, since they float well, we just tether them off to a D ring.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Quite a few of the other tubers and tooners are using this same rig now, and it seems to work better than stringers or soft cloth mesh. Those big baskets can hold a surprising amount of fish and keep them healthy. I have had a limit of big cats in my basket with room to spare.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yes, you can use the baskets to "cull" your catch, but there are two reasons why you may wish not to. Some species are protected against culling...and you must keep what you catch without culling. Otherwise, keeping a fish in a basket for any period of time DOES keep it alive, but also stresses the fish. Releasing one after a prolonged stay in your wire "jail" may not help its chances for survival. Some species are stronger than others.[/#0000ff]
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The large basket is big enough to hold big fish, and several of them.


Semi side view, including a view of the blue cord I have used to better secure the noodle to the basket. This also helps keep the noodle more "round", instead of the oval shape it wants to assume.


Shows the length of rope and the plastic snap used to attach the basket to an outsided D ring on the tube. [/size]
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[DKStroutfitter]

Pat, thanks for your response. I took my basket to Mantua last week and it worked great. Much better that a wire stringer, like you said. I know that trout can't be held and then exchanged, but I was thinking about pan fish. I don't need a full limit to take home every trip, but I would like to keep a select number for the frying pan. This will allow me to keep just the fish that I want. It also keeps them very fresh on a long day in the tube. I will add the foam ring and snap to mine. They are great ideas.
Thanks again for your help Pat.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Those baskets are ideal for fishing schools of panfish, perch, white bass, etc. I would suggest a modification for using them for anything except bass. That is to use your longnose pliers to slightly open the trap door end of the top tension spring, to allow the door to just hang loose. Smaller fish can be dropped into the opening without having to reach down a forcing them in. Otherwise, you will watch some of your fish bounce once on the "trampoline" and out into the water, if they are not heavy enough to operate the spring.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you keep a bass...largie or smallie...you will want to keep the lid flap closed. Otherwise those wily wascals will spot the opening and rocket up out of the basket. I have even had that happen with a couple of cats and some carp I was keeping for bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Second suggestion, if you are likely to have a couple of larger fish in there, like cats or walleyes, you might want to secure the bottom flap against easy opening. I learned the hard way that some big fish can root open that bottom flap and wiggle their way out. A few wraps with some strong line will usually do the job. Don't use wire, or something with a sharp point. Sharp pointy things and air chambers are not compatible.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That brings up another point. Don't lift a basket full of spiny fish up over the side of your inflated craft to show them off. Dorsal spines on most sunfish, bass, perch and white bass seem to find your air chamber easy enough without you rubbing them against it on purpose.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Is that enough?[/#0000ff]
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[fishluvr]

So which fish can you keep in alive well and then return later to the lake? Legally of course!!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I would have to double check the procs, but I do not think there are any statewide restrictions. However there are restrictions on certain waters by species, and some are seasonally specific. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One good example is the 10 perch limit on Deer Creek. During the winter months, when they are deep, and suffer from "bends" when you bring them up you have to keep the first 10 you catch...no releases.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another good example is where there is a slot of size limit restriction on fish. Let's say you are fishing at Utah Lake and you catch a walleye over 20" and put it in your basket. You now have your limit over 20". If you then hang a big ol' fat mama over 10 pounds, you cannot legally release the small one and keep the big one...nor can you hand off the smaller one to someone else. At least that is how I have had the law explained to me.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Even if culling trout is not illegal it should be. I have seen floaters on some waters where anglers keep a limit on a stringer and then release the smaller ones as they catch bigger ones for their limits. Someone might check on it, but I thought that culling trout IS illegal.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are no general culling restrictions that I know of on the "plentiful" species...like perch, bluegills, crappies, white bass, catfish, etc. That is mainly going to happen where the species is regulated and subject to size or slot limits.[/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

Not to deflate anyone's tube - or toon, but I was under the impression that any culling of fish of any species is illegal in Utah. I believe that the law states that any fish that you catch must be either kept or immediately released. I could be wrong but that is my understanding.[cool]
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[Likes2CatchBass]

[font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b][left]Straight from the Proc...[/left] [left] [/left] [left]C. B[/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b][size 1]AG AND [/size][/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b]P[/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b][size 1]OSSESSION [/size][/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b]L[/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-CondExtraBoldObl"][#231a5b][size 1]IMITS[/left][/size][/#231a5b][/font][font "Futura-Condensed"][size 1] [left](1)(a) Trout, salmon and grayling that are not immediately released and are held[/left] [left]in possession, dead or alive, are included in the person’s bag and possession limit.[/left] [left](b) Once a trout, salmon or grayling is held in or on a stringer, fish basket,[/left] [left]livewell, or by any other device, a trout, salmon or grayling may not be released.[/left][/size][/font]
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[Crimson]

[]My experience is that bass, and panfish like bluegill and crappie keep fairly well, so that they are alive until you can fillet them. How healthy they are for release is the question.

Also, I would think that if the mesh livewell were just tethered, without the float tubing, then it could be lowered a few feet down where the water is cooler. You risk the possibility of losing the whole thing without the float though.

Another small addition. My Uncle has had a mesh livewell for years that he has a small inner tube installed on to keep it afloat. He has the type of stem cap that you can remove the core with, so he blows it up when he arrives, and can deflate and store when the trip is done.
Just another wrinkle.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Mesh bags are gentle on the fish. And, as you suggest, they should be given some support to keep them open. Otherwise, they collapse around the fish and restrict swimming...which causes stress and suffocation in some species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Mesh bags are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors in camping supply outlets, for laundry bags, etc. The Army surplus outlet on S. Redwood Rd. in Taylorsville has a whole table full of them, for cheap. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A lot of the tubers and tooners in California use the float-top mesh bags both for live bait wells and for holding large fishies after they are caught. Here is a pic of Kiyo, mod for the Baytubers club in Long Beach, holding a couple of legal halibut which will go back into the float-top mesh bag in front of him.[/#0000ff]

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