Outside Iowa® & Midwest Iowa Outdoors®
With Thomas Allen
(August 9th, 2010)
It’s hot. It’s humid. Its August in Iowa, what more could we ask for? I love summer and all the activities affiliated with the heat, but I do long for those cool crisp evenings of early fall. There really isn’t much sense in complaining about it, but I do. It really does make me feel better.
As I mentioned, it’s hot, but not just for us. Everything that lives here has to deal with it, but the critters and fish are able to adapt in order to survive, this is until one of us human-types interferes with their daily routine.
One of my favorite summer time passions is competing in bass tournaments, but in the heat we have been experiencing it could be hazardous to both fish and fisherman alike. The following are a few tactics to keep in mind when spending some late summer time on the water.
Across the state right now are seeing surface temps hovering around the mid to high 80s and it is making the fishing just plain difficult. If you are fishingtournaments, or just fishing for fun keeping your catch in the live-well for several hours will surely kill them if they are not adequately taken care of.
Keeping the fish in good shape is relatively simple. It starts with a sufficiently operating live-well. Once you place the fish in there, don’t forget about them. By constantly monitoring their condition (at least every half hour) you can often act before it’s too late.
An eight-pound block of ice per 30 gallons will do your fish wonders, but you don’t want to drop the temperature of your water more than ten degrees or you could put the fish into shock, which could also kill them. Cooler live-well water temps are essential, but fresh oxygen is every bit as important. There are numerous live-well treatment products out there that can help with this.
Most live-wells come with a recirculator option and I would strongly suggest keeping this on all day long. Replace the water at least twice during an eight-hour day as the fish will defecate in the live-well creating another potentially lethal situation. Ammonia will build up with the presence of waste, if you can’t see the bottom of your live-well its past time to change.
If you are participating in a tournament and intend to release the fish, put them back in the lake as soon as you possibly can! If a fish is having a hard time regaining his bearings and is floating, his chance of survival is slim, not to mention the reality of delayed mortality. A good solution is saving him for the fryer; floating dead fish are not good for the tournament angler’s image.
Keeping your fish alive won’t matter much if you aren’t up to the heat in the first place. Prepare the night before and make sure you consume at least 32 ounces of water before you go to bed and another 32 ounces prior to putting on the lake in the morning. This might make you “antsy”, but you will stand up to the heat far better making you more adept at putting fish in the boat when it counts.
I speak from experience on both situations, it is very frustrating to loose fish, and getting a migraine while on the lake is far from convenient, not to mention painful. Again here are those words: preliminary preperation. Think ahead, plan ahead, and you will get ahead!
Good luck and tight lines.
Feel free to contact me with any questions!
(Thomas Allen is a professional outdoor writer, photographer, videographer, and outdoor talk radio show host; for more information visit www.outdoorpursuitsradio.com. If you have questions or comments feel free to email Thomas at tha481@gmail.com)
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