Perm Shack... How do you keep your fish?

[Kylersk]

in my portable, I just throw the keepers on the ice, till i'm done fishing. Now that I've got a drop down, ouside of buying an ice well, I'm not sure what to do with the keepers.

[knoppers]

dropdowns don't have livewells

I would still keep them on ice.

[chris63]

A guy that I know at low makes a livewell out of 7 inch pvc and puts caps (screwoff type)on the ends of a 4 foot peice and puts some small steel rods through one end so it doesnt go down the hole.This also doubles as a minnow well.These work GREAT!Oh yea I forgot to mention that you drill a bunch of holes in the pipe to let water flow.Hope this makes sense? c63

[woodman]

Before the invention of the ice well I would just put water in a five gallon bucket and let the fish swim in there. The kids sure like watching them and keeps them busy also! If they are too big they go out the door, but watch out for the neighbors dog!

[hawkeye43]

I have keep a cooler with snow in the house. If I am there a long time I have a livewell timer and pump that can change the water and pump air in to keep them alive.

[jigging-matt]

Even in the portable, I use a 5 gallon bucket with water. Hate having the fish freeze before I clean them.

[Jim43]

Same thing I do, I just keep in the bucket so don`t keep catching the same ones again. When we are done, they all

go back down the hole for another day.

Yep ,my son loves to watch them

to, better then bringing out a DVD player.

[fishinalot]

Throw them on the Ice? and you will have everyone within a 1/4 mile drilling holes all around you until you decide to go home! Put them in a bucket INSIDE your house with the ice and slush from the holes you just drilled.(portable or on wheels). They will last overnight in most cases and will still be alive when you clean them!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

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Even in the portable, I use a 5 gallon bucket with water. Hate having the fish freeze before I clean them.

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The bucket and water also work great in my permanant shack. Just add a little snow or ice once in a while to keep the water cold. The fish will live all day like that.

Cliff

[love to hunt]

I clean mine right away if I plan to keep them, then throw the guts in a pale with a garbage bag. The filets go in a ziplock bag and in the cooler out side.

If the action is hot and heavy and I can't clean them right away then I use a 55qt cooler (for walleye) or a pale (pans and perch) with water in it until I can.

[LMITOUT]

This looks like the way to go!

[JRFISHBAIT]

I was going to suggest the same thing. If you want to see one, we have them in stock at our store.

Joe and Matt

[huntnfish]

I use a five gallon bucket in my portable. When I was younger we had a permanent house and we would make a livewell outside when the ice got to around 24 inches or more. We would drill four holes so that they were overlapping, then drill four more holes that were overlapping all the others. None of the holes would go all the way through the ice. After all the holes were drilled you would have a 2 hole by 4 hole spot cut in the ice. We would then take a chisel and punch a small hole in one of them making the livewell fill with water. It worked good to keep the fish alive and unfrozen until they were ready to be cleaned.

I would be careful about putting fish in the bucket and then releasing them. I would think that would be like putting fish in the livewell and then letting them go which could be against the law.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'll throw another vote forthe Ice Well...Its just too easy and it does the job!

[Green&Gold]

I have to echo huntnfish's last point. Jim43, I'm not so sure letting them swim in the bucket for the day and then putting them back is the best idea. That's basically culling and I'm pretty sure the local COs would frown upon it. Not trying to be all "holier than thou", because I've done my share of questionable things. Just giving a little heads up. Nice little batch of fish by the way!!!

[Kylersk]

What stores carry the icewell?

[mnfishman]

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I would be careful about putting fish in the bucket and then releasing them. I would think that would be like putting fish in the livewell and then letting them go which could be against the law.

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It is not illegal to put fish in a livewell and then release them. It is illegal to have more than your daily limit in a livewell though.

I am not too sure about that bag that you put down the hole. What happens when you have 8" of ice and you fill the bag with fish. Won't it expand under the ice with fish and then be a bugger to get out of the hole?

If I had a permanent fish house I would put a livewell in and make the top into a bench. Get a livewell pump to draw water in from the lake, put a drain in it and aerator to keep them alive. You can pick up livewell tubs pretty cheap these days.

[Mudcat21]

Icewell??? Just another gimmic to spend money on. Bucket with slush has always worked for me. You put them out on the ice your just asking for a bunch of holes to be punch next to your house!

[hill7410]

Why would you want the fish to be alive the whole day?? I just put some ice or snow in the bucket and throw the fish in there. Then they dont wiggle as much when cleaning

[Green&Gold]

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It is not illegal to put fish in a livewell and then release them.

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Oh man, I don't know. Here's what the regulations state:

Once a limit of fish has been reduced to possession, no culling or live well sorting of that species is allowed. (From page 10 of the online regs.)

I'm not sure what "reducing to possession" means, but I'm pretty sure that once you throw a fish in your livewell its yours! You can't cull it out for a bigger one, or just let it swim for another day.

Sorry for sending this thread down a different path, by the way.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Kyler- not sure... check with thorne brothers?... otherwise you can buy them off thier web site. http://www.todaystackle.com/

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Icewell??? Just another gimmic to spend money on.

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this could be said about a lot of things.. But I like to keep my fish fresh!.. The ice well does that.

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I am not too sure about that bag that you put down the hole. What happens when you have 8" of ice and you fill the bag with fish. Won't it expand under the ice with fish and then be a bugger to get out of the hole?

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I have not had that problem... might be the way the bag is designed?

as for culling.. once you have a limmit of fish you are not allowed to cull.. however if you do not have a limmit of fish you are. I'm not sure about the bucket idea either.. as I am not sure how healthy those fish are.. .but then again, I have not tried that, so I cant be sure myself.

[Coach1310]

If it is illegal to throw a fish back from the livewell, summer or winter, does this mean the only reason we have them in our boats is to keep the fish fresh??? I am sure there are reasons on both sides of the issue, I guess I am going to turn my livewell into storage and just use a cooler with ice then!! Does anyone know how this law is interpreted???? Any CO's on here?? Thanks. I use a bucket with slush and water. I would rather have the fish alive when cleaning than frozen!!!

[CrappieAttitude]

According to page 10 of the 2006 MN DNR Fishing Regulations...

"Once a limit of fish has been reduced to possession, no culling or live well sorting of that species is allowed."

Does this mean that you can sort before you have a limit???

Someone please clarify!

CA

[Green&Gold]

I'm going to defer to what Deitz says for the time being. I have an email into the DNR on this however, so we'll see what they say. I was always under the impression that you can't cull period...in which case, yes, logic would say the only reason you have a livewell is to keep fish fresh. However, Deitz has about a 1,000 more times experience in fishing related issues than I do, so I'm going with what he says until I hear from the DNR.

A sidenote: Regardless of what is legal or illegal, IMO, culling is still not in the best interest of the health of the fish. They may very well be OK in most instances, but I think the longer they are in an artificial environment, the worse off they are, if the end result is getting thrown back in the lake.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Folks we went through this when the new wording hit the books.. and I have talked to C.O. by phone and in person... This is how the law is...

were going to talk sunfish.. limmit 10...

If you have 8 sunfish in your live well, and catch one and keep it you now have 9 sunfish(not a limit yet) you can then take a fish from your livewell and return it to the body of water where it was caught. now back to 8 fish... but lets say you have 9 fish in your live well, and catch a 10th fish and put it in your live well... YOU ARE DONE.. you may NOT take a fish out and return it to the water. You have reduced yourself to a limmit of fish!

I still do not like the idea of putting fish in a bucket and using it as a live well, unless its a very large bucket and has some sort of air system. I woule be willing to bet that even though you are releasing your fish, there is going to be a lot of delayed mortality as the fish was stressed in the bucket. I am sorry if my opinion offends people. and I will also state that its just that.. My opinion and I do not hvae any facts to back it up. I would feel much better if people were culling during the winter if they used a produtct like the Ice Well... this allows for a lot of fresh water with plenty of oxygen to pass though to the fish which will keep it much less stressed.

Lastly- it is illegal to 'cull/ release a fish that is dead. I believe that would fall under wanton waste.