Welcome to August, as we approach the hottest time of the year, I start to think about what it takes to keep my bait alive. During this time of year, the bait shops have a hard time getting live shrimp from the gulf coast of Florida. Yes, I said the gulf coast. The shrimp boats that we see from our beaches here locally are not bait boats. These shrimp boats are for food source shrimp. The shrimp that we use for bait comes from the gulf coast or from the river in the summer.
So how do we keep the shrimp alive? The first thing we need is salt water. Depending on where you get your water it can have different salinities. This should not be a real concern for you as most tackle shops provide you with water for your shrimp. The next item is probably one of the most important other than water, which is air/oxygen. The water we fish, swim and boat in, naturally has air/oxygen in it. With that being said, the bait buckets and livewells we use do not naturally provide air or oxygen. We must mechanically provide this for the bait by means of an aerator, more commonly known as a bubbler. Just think about how long you can survive without air/oxygen.
Once we have met the basic needs (Water and Air) we need to ensure that the water
remains as cool as possible and clean. Most local bait shops have their shrimp tanks
inside to keep the water cool. Cool water holds more dissolved oxygen as compared to
warm water. To keep your water cool, place a frozen saltwater bottle in the bait bucket
or live well. Keep your buckets in the shade as much as possible. Hanging your bait
bucket from the dock will ensure that bucket is in water, it does not however ensure
enough air/oxygen, nor does it ensure cool/cooler clean water. So how do you ensure
clean water? The most common method is to change the water out. Most livewells draw
water from the outside of the boat and overflow back to the water source. Some folks
have a livewell or bait tank built at home that operate much in the same way as a
livewell on a boat. They draw water from the river or canal and overflow back to the river
or canal.
Another issue, which is self-inflicted, is overcrowding. What I mean is that you have put
too much bait (Biomass) into the space that you have available. Think of this as an
elevator. The more people we put in this elevator, the hard it is going to be to breathe.
You need to ensure that you are not overcrowding your bait buckets or live wells. Overcrowding can and will use the air/oxygen at a faster rate than you can provide,
which will cause the bait to suffocate and die.
These are just some of the common problems that we face trying to keep our bait alive.
If we can keep our bait cool, clean and breathing, maybe we won’t have to talk about
the big one that got away.
Remember the fishing lies start here.
Capt. Mike Vickers Jr.
President
Flagler Sportfishing Club