Belly Boaters Fish Survival

[Greg_Cornish]

Talked to the guys from the Clearlake Bassmasters today that ran the release boat out of State Park at Clear Lake. They said the belly boaters did a great job caring for their fish and had a good survival rate. There were a couple floaters but with a little extra oxygen they were brought back to good health and swam away fine. GOOD JOB GUYS! Keep up the good work.

[Kickboater]

Thanks greg for the kind words! We had 35 Angler for this years Scbbbc State classic. Bill Sweatt was our winner with a 2 day limit of 40.12 lbs.

[Greg_Cornish]

I've heard in the past that belly boaters used fish baskets, but that belly boaters have a newer advanced way of caring for the fish now. Something about boxes and airators and they work much better. What are these new devices?

[Blue_R70]

Something about boxes and airators and they work much better. What are these new devices?

They're called "livewells"

[CZ]

It has become the standard for both of the kickboat clubs in Northen California to use out of the water livewells on their kickboats rigged up with bilge pumps and extra o2 through the bubblers. Most guys make their wells out of ice chests so they are also insulated. A very good livewell can be easily made for not much money and they are a 100% better for fish survival than the fish basket type set ups.

[Lake]

Both BNT and SCBBBC have changed there livewell setups that are even more fish friendly then my Ranger livewells. They have more oxygen, more pump pressure and are larger.

We should give props to Rich Caro for setting the bar.

[Greg_Cornish]

They're called "livewells"

Thanks, you are just a wealth of knowledge.

[Greg_Cornish]

Both BNT and SCBBBC have changed there livewell setups that are even more fish friendly then my Ranger livewells. They have more oxygen, more pump pressure and are larger.

We should give props to Rich Caro for setting the bar.

So they must use a small motorcycle battery?

[CATCHEMCARO]

Thanks for the kind words. As our sport of float tubing and kick boating grows more popular we are trying to set high standards in the fish handling part of this sport. As more and more anglers can't aford a $50.000.00 fishing platform to compete for an angler of the year tital they are now moving towards a much cheaper and healthier way to enjoy competitive bass fishing, Float tubes & kick boats. While working with the DFG for the past couple years we have brought the standards up and our live fish release numbers speak for themself. At this years SCBBBC State Classic at Clear Lake we caught 243 fish and only one small fish died. Last year we caught 314 and only had 4 die, but with 4 dead we new we could do better and we did. Thanks again to all you boaters for keeping an eye out for us float tubers while we fish these large popular waters of northern California.

Rich

[MikeD]

So they must use a small motorcycle battery?

small 5-7 amp Sealed Lead Acid batteries, usually found in remote controlled cars, etc.