# Dead bait and dying bait this summer is not cheap



## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

New bait tank, expensive bait chemicals, ice, Mr. Bubbles with fresh batteries and prayers to keep the bait alive and healthy are working in June 2016… and the cost of live bait is going up. My fishing buddies tell me best option, the cheapest option in the heat of summer is artificial plastic baits or dead bait on the bottom because live bait keeping just doesn't work in the summer. And they are right, can't keep it alive regardless how much it cost.
U’all having any live problems this summer?


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## hawkman (Jun 16, 2014)

I only have tried this once, two weeks ago on the NC Coast. It wasn't a particularly hot day and I bought some mud minnows, put them in a dark green 5-gal bucket and dropped the Hush Bubbles stone in there. They lasted 6 hours with vigor until they were gone. But that's one-day's experience so take it fwiw.


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## Shanep (Jul 1, 2015)

I always fish on the beach with a livewell. I have used the same five gallon bucket for the last twenty years. I've gone through several bubble pumps. The twenty dollar ones do fine. The heat doesn't seem to be too big of a factor, but if the water seems to be getting warm, I'll change so e out. The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many


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## spinconn (Oct 22, 2015)

What Shanep said. My problem has been the water getting too hot and frequent changes to the water have solved that . . . so far.


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## Shanep (Jul 1, 2015)

My bucket is white. It probably doesn't get as hot as others.

also some fish use more oxygen than others. Pompano and pinfish don't take much, so you can throw several small ones in there, but spot and whiting use a lot. If you put one or two of those in there with other bait, everything suffocates


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## ncdead (Jun 16, 2015)

Yes, change the water frequently, also freeze some water in a ziplock bag and drop it in the the bucket when you feel the water is getting too hot. We used to do the ice trick when we were kids with creek minnows when fresh water fishing before we had ever heard of an aerator. We would drop ice in the bucket with the minnows, cold as all hell...the minnows would appear to be dead, stunned by the cold water and as the water warmed they would start moving around again. Don't remember how we came up with that idea but it worked like a charm.


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## Bodi (Aug 20, 2015)

Not sure how to post a picture but I normally have 2-4 bait buckets plugged in at home with a cheap walmart aquarium pump that can feed to buckets. One minnow trap normally catches 2-3 dozens minnows and I can keep them alive 7-10 days. I net what I need for the day into a cheap Walmart square or cube coolers with a bubbler attached and a cutting board velcro'd to the top for cut bait. You can spray foam into the hollow top and sides for extra insulation. If one happens to die fish it out before the ammonia and kicks up and kills off the other fish. Knock on wood never had a problem during the dog days of summer


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## cockroachjr. (Jul 18, 2005)

One thing i used to do is take a storage bin and put in a water filter from an aquarium and a bubbler. I would put in mud minnows and small spot. If it gets too hot i just throw in some cool packs or bottles of frozen water. The only problem i had was overfeeding them fishflakes.


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## Captainfirebeard (Aug 22, 2014)

I made my own system, though I cannot take credit for it as I saw another person using it and plagiarized the heck out of it. I use a 3 gallon bucket, with 0.33 inch holes drilled in the top 2/3 of the bucket, and have a rope tied off to the handle. For easy access I bought a gamma bucket lid, and have it with a short leash so that it does not blow away in the wind when loosened. I can post pictures later if you wish


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## Captainfirebeard (Aug 22, 2014)

The total cost on this was less than $20 including the bucket, lid, rope and a couple of good carabiner clips to secure it to the pier.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

*Bait tank problems in the summer - Ice, hypothermia pros and cons*



ncdead said:


> Yes, change the water frequently, also freeze some water in a ziplock bag and drop it in the the bucket when you feel the water is getting too hot. We used to do the ice trick when we were kids with creek minnows when fresh water fishing before we had ever heard of an aerator. We would drop ice in the bucket with the minnows, cold as all hell...the minnows would appear to be dead, stunned by the cold water and as the water warmed they would start moving around again. Don't remember how we came up with that idea but it worked like a charm.


Why do live bait’s live fine in 90F environmental water and die so fast in that same 90F bait tank water? Funny deal…
Question: In the summer when the environmental water is hot in the south many fishermen recommend chilling bait tank water with ice to keep bait alive a little longer. That’s good.

On the down side of hypothermia, have you ever noticed how quick those nice cool baits die so fast when you hook it up and throw it back into that 90F environmental water from whence it came? 

The Hypothermia Paradox - Going from chilled bait tank water back to hot summer environmental water is the real danger and killer. That water temperature change kills live bait fast.

Temperature shock: Live bait will tolerate going from hot to cold far better than going from cold back to hot. Check it out next time you fish with live bait in July/August with chilled bait.

Why not fish the temperature shock problem? If you are fishing in 90F water, why not keep your bait tank water at 90F and eliminate that temperature shock problem for ever this summer, next summer, for the rest of your live bait fishing life?


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## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

Styrofoam keeps bait alive a lot long than plastic containers ... also bait fish type matters, mud minnows last way better than most anything else


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## joek (Jun 1, 2015)

John 24 said:


> Why do live bait’s live fine in 90F environmental water and die so fast in that same 90F bait tank water? Funny deal…
> Question: In the summer when the environmental water is hot in the south many fishermen recommend chilling bait tank water with ice to keep bait alive a little longer. That’s good.
> 
> On the down side of hypothermia, have you ever noticed how quick those nice cool baits die so fast when you hook it up and throw it back into that 90F environmental water from whence it came?
> ...


Temperature shock makes sense.
I just bought a 5 gal water cooler at lowes for $24.00.
Planned on droppng a 2 qt frozen milk container in but now i think i'll monitor the temp in the cooler
and try to keep it close to the water im fishing. The cooler and an air stone should help with that.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

Shanep said:


> I always fish on the beach with a livewell. I have used the same five gallon bucket for the last twenty years. I've gone through several bubble pumps. The twenty dollar ones do fine. The heat doesn't seem to be too big of a factor, but if the water seems to be getting warm, I'll change so e out. The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many


 Years ago I got a plastic 5 gallon pickle bucket from McDonalds (FREE). That’s been my bait tank for many years and works great for me. I really liked the “free” part too. 

Glad to hear that your bait tank water temperature is not a problem this summer. I live in the Southern US and I never use ice to chill my baits either. The summer environmental water temperature is relatively hot compared to the summer environmental air temperature, i.e. 100F air temp and 90F water temp is common here late July and August.

You mentioned, “The only thing that kills my bait is overcrowding. You can't put too many live fish in. A dozen finger mullet is fine, two dozen is too many.” I have noticed that too, a couple baits over the line in the livewell with warm, (not chilled) bait tank water and everything dies quick. A bait or 2under the line an all the baits live fine in warm bait tank water (with no ice).

** Question: Why do 1-2 baits over the line (overcrowd) kill all the baits in the bait tank in the summer? I have some ideas why, but what actually kills the baits in the tank with minimal overcrowding… I don’t think it’s the warm summer bait tank water that we are using kills those baits, they live in that same warm water and they don’t die.


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks. 

I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.


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## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

Carolina Rebel said:


> Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks.
> 
> I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.


Styrofoam ... lets oxygen into the water, bait lasts 2x longer


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

Carolina Rebel said:


> Fish breath dissolved oxygen -- oxygen trapped in water. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water, so fish die faster in warm bait tanks.
> 
> I never found a good answer to keeping live bait vibrant on hot summer days, but an insulated, covered bait tank with good aerator helps. A bait bucket that keeps the bait in the pond/lake/ocean is good too.


Here’s an article about making live bait vibrant any time of the year, the heat of summer, winter, spring or fall – “Supercharging Your Live Bait” Only a fisherman can make bait vibrant by dissolving this gas (pure 100% welding oxygen) in the bait tank. Making bait vibrant cannot be done with mechanical aerators, air, bigger water pumps, more water or all the bait saver livewell chemicals.

*Supercharge Your Live Baits *
www.georgepoveromo.com/content.php?pid=64
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To help maintain this edge, a growing number of serious live-baiters have been “supercharging” their baits by injecting pure, compressed oxygen into the ...

Of course all fishermen can chose if he does or does not want to make his live bait vibrant or not, but there are choices for each his own. 
What do you think about making live bait vibrant bait in the heat of summer with oxygen, not air?


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

You can just keep fewer baits in the livewell as temps go up. Higher temps=lower levels of dissolved oxygen, combined with the fish's higher rate of respiration means higher oxygen requirements. Also leads to higher ammonia in the water, so water changes help.
But, the amount of oxygen that can be held by example, 90 degree water, is fixed. So a bubbler is not going to help you beyond the capacity of the water to hold oxygen.
Cooler water helps, as cold water holds more dissolved gas.
As temps increase, you just cannot hold as many fish in your tank as you can when it is cooler.
http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/documents/639/oxygen-solubility-water-2.png


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

OXYGENATION by Brian Vinci, Ph.D. and Steven Summerfelt, Ph.D, The Freshwater Institute, Sheperdstown, WV http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/ista/I...06/8 Gas Transfer/Oxygenation/Oxygenation.pdf 

*Since Dissolved Oxygen is usually the first limitation on stocking density,
increasing oxygen levels directly increase the carrying capacity of systems, often
dramatically.

*If only air is used to provide oxygen, carrying capacity is usually limited to less
than 40 kg/m3 (1/3 lb/gal).

GAS TRANSFER
When air [21% O2, partial pressure at sea level 159 mm/hg] is in contact with water, dissolved gases in the water attempt to reach equilibrium with the partial pressures of the gases in the atmosphere. Two factors that directly impact the rate of gas transfer are first the area of gas-liquid interface and second the difference between the concentration (partial pressure) at saturation and the existing concentration of the gas in the water.

[The partial pressure of pure 100% O2 at sea level is 760 mm/hg. The difference between the partial pressure O2 in air and pure 100% O2 at sea level is 601 mm/hg]

OXYGENATION
Enriched [100% O2] O2 increases DO solubility nearly 5 fold compared to air [21% O2] – 48.1 mg/L O2 to 10.1 mg/L O2 with air @ 15C
Increase the pressure from 1 ATM to 2 ATM and the oxygen solubility in water doubles – from 48 mg/L to 97 mg/L @ 15C

How much oxygen can you actually force into water when you are not limited by air? 5 times as much. The chemistry, visit Henry’s Gas Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry's_law


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

Ahh, good old chemistry. (I'm a chemist)
Yeah, you can force larger amounts of gas into a system by increasing pressure via Henry's law or swapping out what you are pumping into the system (oxygen versus air).
The surface area doesn't apply in a bait tank, as you are increasing the surface area by using an air stone and a bubbler. That is increasing your surface area exponentially, and depends on the size of the bubbles (smaller is more area of contact).
If you use a sealed bait tank that will hold more than 1 atm of pressure you can increase it as well.
But, as soon as the tank is opened, all the gas dissolved will bubble out and form a new equilibrium, resulting in dead fish if you try and increase your carrying capacity via this route. Also the dissolved gasses inside your bait will come out of solution much like the bends on a diver.
Easiest and most practical way to keep more bait alive is maintain the water temp lower, as the carrying capacity for O2 in the water is greater at a lower temp. Too cold and fish get shocked when hitting warm fishing water though.
If you cannot do this, your only route is to reduce the number of baitfish within the tank. Aerators will only help up to the carrying capacity of the water.
One thing you could try, that would help and be less hassle than ice is to use a white or mylar coated bucket (mylar might annoy other fishermen though), and if you have a 12v bubbler is to hook up a computer cooling fan on the top of the tank and make a small hole for the air to escape. The air blows into the tank and evaporates water, cooling the water in the tank. Called a "swamp cooler" and may or may not help much, depending on the humidity. Higher humidity, less help.
Computer fans run on 12v DC and can have an affect on keeping the water temp down, just have to be careful about splashing.
My suggestion is to carry less bait. Fun to think about other ways though.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

I don’t really understand why one would want to circulate hot 100F air through a livewell but rave about it, say you got to have them.
Actually you are absolutely correct about not overstocking live baits. Over load the bait tank a bait or 2 in the summer and they all suffocate.
In your opinion: What stocking density would you recommend now when air temp is hot (95F-105F) and the August Dog Days are weeks away yet? How many lbs of live bait per 1 gallon of bait tank water now?
You opinion: In the winter (Jan-April), how many lbs of live bait per 1gallon of bait tank water can you carry then when the water temperature is cold, when the air temp is cold (30F-40F)?
There is never problems with live bait dying in bait tanks provided the fisherman never overcrowd his bait tank. But, some fishermen do overcrowd their bait tanks with bait accidentally or intentionally and they are the ones that have the dying and sloppy red-nose baits in the summer.
So how do fishermen overcrowd their bait tanks with live bait and yet have great bait in the summer?


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

What do you think about buying some air vents and ventilating your livewell with air… 100F-105F air in July and August? I have seen many great recommendations for these livewell air vent. V-2T
http://www.newproproducts.com/products.html 

What do you think a continuous supply of hot air blowing through a livewell full of bait in the summer will acomplish?


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## Ronaulmtd (Feb 8, 2011)

A couple of years ago I bought an Engle live bait self-contained unit...looks like one of the more expensive ABS coolers...it does reasonably well keeping my live bait alive and it depends a lot on what kinds of live bait you put in the bait tank...threadfin herring are very fragile- finger mullet and killifish (mud minnows) are very tough...peanut bunker are fragile...spot are in between and pinfish are tough...tough baits tend to stay alive much longer than the fragile bait...in my 30 quart bait tank, I can keep 12-18 small spot alive for more than a day for live lining for Stripers in the heat of the summer and they are frisky...


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

John 24 said:


> What do you think about buying some air vents and ventilating your livewell with air… 100F-105F air in July and August? I have seen many great recommendations for these livewell air vent. V-2T
> http://www.newproproducts.com/products.html
> 
> What do you think a continuous supply of hot air blowing through a livewell full of bait in the summer will acomplish?


The biggest benefit of vents is that if you have a bubbler in there, it will allow for a bit of evaporative cooling. The bubbles break at the surface and a small amount of water evaporates. This process is endothermic (requires energy from the outside) so it takes that energy from the water, cooling it slightly. If you do not have vents and fresh, non water saturated air, the water will evaporate only until it reaches equilibrium with the air then start to condense as well as evaporate. You have to get rid of the humid air to keep the process going. Otherwise the evaporation/condensation process will negate itself.
That was my thought about a small 12v fan. One of those blowing across the water can help reduce temps, thus lowering the fishes metabolism and increasing the O2 capacity of the water. Fans are cheap and can be mounted on a PVC elbow to help with splashing water (or mullet) coming in contact with the fan.
The KISS method is don't overload the tank, and perform frequent water changes to keep down the urea/ammonia levels. Along with a small airstone this is probably the best way to keep bait alive.
Not sure as to the loading of fish, as that depends on temps, species, bait size, etc. Peanut bunker die if you look at them wrong, mullet are pretty hardy, mudminnows hardier still. But one dead fish leads to many dead fish, as they release their ammonia (well urea) rich urine when they die.
If you see fish in trouble, swap out the water ASAP with water the same temp as the tank.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

What if you have no bubblers in the livewell and that 100F breeze is blowing through the livewell warming up the water? 

Here's the "Power Bubbles." It's cheap and looks like a great buy at Wally-World. Regular price $ 47.68, sale price only $34.41 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Marine-Metal-Aeration-System-Power-Bubbles-B-15/20753300 

It has 2 small bubblers, 1 for each livewell if you use 2 livewells. Will this make enough bubbles?


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

John 24 said:


> What if you have no bubblers in the livewell and that 100F breeze is blowing through the livewell warming up the water?
> 
> Here's the "Power Bubbles." It's cheap and looks like a great buy at Wally-World. Regular price $ 47.68, sale price only $34.41 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Marine-Metal-Aeration-System-Power-Bubbles-B-15/20753300
> 
> It has 2 small bubblers, 1 for each livewell if you use 2 livewells. Will this make enough bubbles?


Looks like the reviewers like it? I dont have experience with it, but it is 12v. I would say if mounted above the water line I would remove the check valves. The usually end up sticking anyways
If water temp is above 85 any air bubbles you put in will supply more than enough O2 that the water can absorb. Toss in a small fan that runs on 12v and you got yourself a bait tank with a swamp cooler.
Just mount it on a matching size 90 degree pvc elbow and attach a fan at the end.
Something like this is what I am talking about:
https://www.amazon.com/90mm-25mm-Co...70056580&sr=1-2&keywords=12+volt+computer+fan
This was the cheapest one, but you can get sleeve bearings ones, or a squirrel cage one. Anything to blow air over the surface of the water with breaking bubbles. They run on 12v and don't really use much juice unless you get a big fancy one.
The more humid it is, the less efficient it will be though. But if bait is tough to come by, it can help.


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## Gditm (Mar 2, 2016)

The engal bait livewell cooler works good


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

pods said:


> If water temp is above 85 any air bubbles you put in will supply more than enough O2 that the water can absorb.


But, the point of the live bait exercise is... will millions of air bubbles supply more than enough oxygen for any bait tank fully load with live bait right now in 100 F August temperature? Not to confuse oxygen with air, air is mostly nitrogen, 80% nitrogen.


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## andypat (Jan 7, 2004)

I know how to keep mud minnows / flounder minnows alive. Keep them cool over ice not in ice in a cooler and they will live in there own slime. Put them in water/ by by minnows.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

andypat said:


> I know how to keep mud minnows / flounder minnows alive. Keep them cool over ice not in ice in a cooler and they will live in there own slime. Put them in water/ by by minnows.


 Really durable... like goldfish and eels. A big plus for the kill fish, probably the best flounder bait there is.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

John 24 said:


> But, the point of the live bait exercise is... will millions of air bubbles supply more than enough oxygen for any bait tank fully load with live bait right now in 100 F August temperature? Not to confuse oxygen with air, air is mostly nitrogen, 80% nitrogen.


Like I said in my earlier posts, it is not about the bubbles as much as it is the dissolved gas capacity of the water, which is inversely proportional to water temperature. After the water is saturated with dissolved O2, bubbling more air through will not have any effect on the amount of dissolved oxygen.
Will a bubbler help? Yes, but only until it provides enough O2 to saturate the water, which will easily be attained by any air you bubble in there at a high water temp.
There are tons of variables you could look at to increase the amount of O2 in the water like volume of water, size of the air bubbles (smaller is better), and temp. 
The most critical however is water temperature and fish loading. If the water temp is up, you have to reduce the load, as the amount of O2 that can dissolve in the water is inversely proportional to temp, as well as increased temps increases the baitfish's respiratory rate. A double whammy.
If you can keep a max of 25 minnows in your tank at water temp of 75 with a bubbler, there is no way you are going to keep that same load happy at 85. No matter how much air you put in. It's the carrying capacity of the water at the elevated temp that limits it.


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

Keep the water cool... Freeze bottles of water ....throw one in to cool the water. When it is almost melted , take it out and put another one or two in... Try keeping it in 70 to 75 degree range see what happens..

You can drink the water after you take it out of the minnow water.. You keep your bait cool and yourself hydrated.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

pods said:


> Like I said in my earlier posts, it is not about the bubbles as much as it is the dissolved gas capacity...
> There are tons of variables you could look at to increase the amount of O2 in the water like volume of water, size of the air bubbles (smaller is better), and temp.
> The most critical however is water temperature and fish loading.


Hay, hay, hay… got a grip on the old mouse and started clicking, looking , searching --- check this out. How Stuff Really Works - The science that controls the solubility of gases in water and gas chemistry… i.e. the dissolved oxygen in livewell water.

*Partial pressure* - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_pressure
In a mixture of gases like air, each gas has a partial pressure which is the hypothetical pressure of that gas if it alone occupied the volume of the mixture at the same temperature.[1] The total pressure of an ideal gas mixture is the sum of the partial pressures of each individual gas in the mixture (air).
1.	Cached
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*Now jump to Henry's Law and the solubility of gases* - This statement is known as Henry's Law and the ... is quite often referred to as the Henry's Law ... _ the amount of dissolved gas is proportional to its partial pressure in the gas phase_

Now here’s the real meat of the matter:

*Henry's law* - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry's_law
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In chemistry, Henry's law is one of the gas laws formulated by the English chemist William Henry, who studied the topic in the early 19th century. This chemistry Law is about the quantity of gases absorbed by water.

Simply put, if you want to increase that dissolved oxygen in your livewell water and increase your livewell stocking density, forget the aerators, more air or ice and more hypothermia … use a concentration of oxygen greater than 21% (air) ... there ain’t nothing to it, it’s just a fisherman applying basic gas chemistry with Henry’s Law using pure oxygen.

This is the exact same gas chemistry that fish hatcheries use to prevent suffocation when transporting large volumes of live fish across the country every day. They are the real live fish hauling Pro's and they use pure 100% compressed oxygen and LOX when they haul live fish anywhere.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

I understand Henry's law (I have a chem degree and am a practicing scientist).
In a controlled situation, replacing the air headspace with pure O2 will yield a 5x increase in solubility (at STP). But, the absolute solubility is still governed by temperature (T). And the headspace will still be changing as the fish respire (CO2 replacing O2 in the headspace), nevermind the detrimental effects of of waste buildup. You could also increase solubility by increasing the pressure above atmospheric.
I understand baitfish aren't cheap (they are free to me as I only use mullet I catch), but how is the solution of carrying an O2 bottle, and keeping a pure O2 headspace via purge in your bait tank cheaper than bait? Especially with the added hazards that an O2 atmosphere presents?
Aren't we discussing dying bait in hot water and practical ways to remedy this?


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

Well , YALL SCIENTISTS , are making this too damn complicated.. It's bait!
Keep the water changed out, aerated , and cool... Too many baits in a container will not survive.. 

Pretty Damn Simple to me!


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

DaBig2na said:


> Well , YALL SCIENTISTS , are making this too damn complicated.. It's bait!
> Keep the water changed out, aerated , and cool... Too many baits in a container will not survive..
> 
> Pretty Damn Simple to me!


I don't even fish with live bait.


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## John 24 (Apr 23, 2016)

pods said:


> I understand Henry's law (I have a chem degree and am a practicing scientist).
> In a controlled situation, replacing the air headspace with pure O2 will yield a 5x increase in solubility (at STP). But, the absolute solubility is still governed by temperature (T). And the headspace will still be changing as the fish respire (CO2 replacing O2 in the headspace), nevermind the detrimental effects of of waste buildup. You could also increase solubility by increasing the pressure above atmospheric.
> I understand baitfish aren't cheap (they are free to me as I only use mullet I catch), but how is the solution of carrying an O2 bottle, and keeping a pure O2 headspace via purge in your bait tank cheaper than bait? Especially with the added hazards that an O2 atmosphere presents?
> Aren't we discussing dying bait in hot water and practical ways to remedy this?


Great to have a real chemistry guy on board. 

Knowledge and practicing safety is the key to effective risk manage. Most fishermen know how to use gasoline safely although explosions and fires involving gasoline do happen on boats… sometimes accidently and other time by frank carelessness. 

Fishing guides catch bait every morning, you can bet they know and understand that catching live bait is not free. There are real cost assessed every time a fisherman goes out to catch live bait.

*Oxygen enriched atmospheres are not risk free (24% Oxygen concentration or greater), Air is ubiquitous and risk free (21% oxygen-79% Nitrogen). 

_Aren't we discussing dying bait in hot water and practical ways to remedy this?_ 
Yes. After a few hours on the net, clearly the best way to remedy this problem of suffocation is don’t suffocate the bait in the livewell. 

It’s clearly a simple solution to this ancient problem to me after a little internet research. This is about the best way to eliminate livewell suffocation in the summer and remedy the ancient problem of live bait dying in hot summer livewell water during transport and captivity… when you add 1-2 too many baits and overcrowd that livewell - everything suffocates. 
You would have to be a live bait fisherman to appreciate a topic like livewell water quality and keeping live bait healthy all day in the summer in overcrowded livewells. And this would only be interesting to some live baiters, the hard core guys that know that live bait quality is really important. A meaningless waste of time for a plastic bait fisherman to spend 1 minute reading this. 

For a meat hunter, here’s the lagniappe - “Supercharge Your Live Baits” George Poveromo’s World of Saltwater Fishing http://www.georgepoveromo.com/content.php?pid=64 This kind of live bait quality is totally unknown in the natural environment, only a fisherman can make this quality of live bait.

Did you know that all federal, state and private fish hatcheries use supplemental oxygen for all live fish transports, the Gold Standard of insuring minimal safe oxygenation during live transports. These fishery biologist do know and understand how to use pure oxygen safely like welders, auto mechanics, plumbers, jewelers, doctors, nurses and shiner bait dealers. They are all experts at transporting and using pure oxygen safely, they know the difference between oxygen and air. Be glad that your auto mechanic is not afraid of using oxygen with his torch at his shop.

Fishermen that don’t won’t to deal with live bait or can’t keep bait alive or healthy all use plastic fish baits, that’s the only reason plastic fish baits were invented, no disrespect to the plastic bait fishermen like yourself. 

Here’s some facts you may not be aware of…

Meat hunters love live bait. Active, energetic live baits stimulate more game fish strikes than plastic baits. Some meat hunters really want the healthiest most aggressive live bait possible others demand the best live bait possible. Live baits that are healthy, durable and remain in excellent condition all day in summer livewells require special care during capture, transport and captivity. 

To have excellent quality live bait like this, continuous excellent livewell water quality in the bait tank is absolutely necessary. The fishery biologist that transport live fish understand the necessity for excellent water quality, specifically the vital importance of DO saturation and oxygen safety. They use oxygen every day like welders.

Fishermen can learn a lot from the real professional live fish transporters and the lonely shiner dealer in his bait shop and the dealers that transport and sell guppies and tropical species. 

There is a lot of information on the internet… Google - “keeping live bait healthy in the summer and livewell water quality”


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

I feel like a dumba$$ after reading some of these posts. Me: I use 2 5 gallon buckets. One for bait the other for a water change. dump in the water every half hour or so. mullet and bunker will stay all day


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)




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## pmcdaniel (Nov 13, 2013)

The cheapest and simplest method is just change the water regularly. This keeps the water at a comfortable temp, replenishes the oxygen, and removes the waste, and it's free! The bubbler has a minimal effect and is really a waste of time and effort. Any increase in dissolved oxygen is merely a result of the slightly increased surface area of the water while it bubbles vs being flat. You'd actually accomplish more using an aquarium filter to circulate water using the waterfall method as this would increase the surface area far more than any bubble box. If you wanted to get real inventive you could run a battery operated aquarium pump with the intake in fresh water and have the bait bucket continuously flowing with fresh water.


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