Effectiveness of Livewell Additives on Largemouth Bass Survival: GREAT READ

Carl Guffey · Dec 24, 2011

Effectiveness of Livewell Additives on Largemouth Bass SurvivalKenneth G. Ostrand,* Michael J. Siepker, David H. Wahl Sam Parr Biological Station, Illinois Natural History Survey, 6401 Meacham Road, Kinmundy, Illinois 62854 Present address of K.G. Ostrand: Ecological Physiology Program, Abernathy Fish Technology Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1440 Abernathy Creek Road, Longview, Washington 98632Present address of M.J. Siepker: Resource Science Division, Missouri Department of Conservation, 551 Joe Jones Boulevard, West Plains, Missouri 65775AbstractLivewell conditions during competitive angling events are thought to affect fish mortality. We examined the effects of livewell additives on initial and delayed mortality of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. We applied three treatments (salt, ice, or salt and ice) to livewells during tournaments conducted on lakes in Illinois, United States, as well as in laboratory and pond experiments designed to examine the effects of fish size and ambient water temperature on mortality. Fish were collected after tournament weigh-in procedures were completed and monitored for delayed mortality every 24 h for 5 d. Initial mortality did not differ among livewell additives during these field experiments. Although delayed mortality was high (35%), it was not significantly different among livewells that contained salt (56%), ice (48%), ice and salt (40%), and controls (30%). Additives administered during the laboratory experiments, at cool water temperatures, resulted in significantly lower delayed mortalities than those observed during the field experiments when ambient water temperatures were warmer. Initial and delayed mortality did not differ among livewell additives during the laboratory experiments. Larger fish in field experiments had significantly greater delayed mortality than smaller fish in the pond experiments even though initial and delayed mortality did not differ among livewell additives. Our results suggest that fish size and ambient water temperature have a greater influence on delayed mortality observed during competitive angling events than the specific livewell additives studied here. Keywords: competitive angling; largemouth bass; livewell; tournament; water conditionersReceived: September 28, 2010; Accepted: March 10, 2011; Published Online Early: March 2011; Published: June 2011Citation: Ostrand KG, Siepker MJ, Wahl DH. 2011. Effectiveness of livewell additives on largemouth bass survival. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 2(1):22–28; e1944-687X. doi: 10.3996/092010-JFWM-037Copyright: All material appearing in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission unless specifically noted with the copyright symbol . Citation of the source, as given above, is requested. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.* Corresponding author: [email protected]

IntroductionBlack bass Micropterus spp. are commonly targeted by anglers during competitive angling events in the United States (Schramm et al. 1991; Paukert et al. 2007). Because the rate of competitive angling events continues to increase (Kerr and Kamke 2003; Schramm and Hunt 2007), interest in minimizing mortality is an issue of concern among anglers and fisheries biologists alike (Schramm and Hunt 2007; Siepker et al. 2007). Acting on these interests, researchers have examined the effects that fish size (Meals and Miranda 1994; Weathers and Newman 1997; Neal and Lopez-Clayton 2001), water temperatures (Schramm et al. 1987; Meals and Miranda 1994; Neal and Lopez-Clayton 2001), various tournament procedures (Weathers and Newman 1997; Suski et al.2004), and livewell conditions (Carmichael et al. 1984; Plumb et al. 1988; Cooke et al. 2002; Gilliland 2002; Suski et al. 2004) have on black bass survival rates after competitive angling events. Indeed, black bass mortality associated with these events can be relatively low (0– 28%), whereas other events result in mortality rates as high as 98% (Champeau and Denson 1988; Lee et al. 1993; Wilde 1998; Neal and Lopez-Clayton 2001; Gilliland 2002; Wilde et al. 2002; Edwards et al. 2004; Siepker et al. 2007). Even with continued research and literature on

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 22improving survival of their catches available to anglers (see Gilliland and Schramm 2002; Tufts and Morlock 2004), mortality rates have not been substantially reduced since the 1980s (Wilde 1998). Water quality in livewells during these events has been considered a contributing factor to black bass mortality (Plumb et al. 1998; Gilliland 2002). As a result, tournament anglers have been encouraged to use livewell additives such as ice, commercially available water conditioners, and antibacterial treatments (including salt) as a means to reduce mortality rates (Gilliland 2002; Gilliland and Schramm 2002). However, current research provides equivocal support regarding the benefits to fish of using livewell additives. Plumb et al. (1988) examined livewells with or without water conditioners and found that water conditioners enhanced survival. Gilliland (2002) reported that diffused pure oxygen added to livewells reduced mortality compared to combinations of salt and ice or control groups with continuous or intermittent water flow through. Conversely, Cooke et al. (2002) found delayed physiological recovery of fish held in livewells containing chemical conditioners compared to fish held in livewells containing only lake water, suggesting conditioners were detrimental to fish recovery. Still others have shown that physiological recovery is delayed when fishes are placed in water cooler than that from which they were captured (Suski et al. 2006). How sublethal physiological responses affect mortality of fish held in livewells is still unknown. At present, there is disparate information available to anglers regarding whether or not to use chemical additives or chill livewell water. Additionally, many studies examining livewell additives combine several treatments, including fungicides, anesthetics, ice, and salt, which makes it difficult to assess the merits of each independently (Cooke et al. 2002).We conducted field experiments to compare initial and delayed mortality of competitively angled largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides that had been confined for up to 8 h in livewells that contained ice, salt, salt and ice (treatments), or recirculated lake water (control). Given the evidence that water temperature (Schramm et al. 1987; Meals and Miranda 1994; Neal and Lopez-Clayton 2001) and fish size (Meals and Miranda 1994) are positively related to tournament mortality, we also conducted laboratory and pond experiments using the same treatments to compare initial and delayed mortality of largemouth bass at different sizes and in different water temperatures.

MethodsField experimentsWe contacted largemouth bass tournament organizers and received permission to randomly place additives within boat livewells during competitive angling events (N = 3). The three separate field experiments occurred on 28 June (surface-water temperature at weigh-in = 25.1uC), 21 July (surface-water temperature at weigh-in= 34.5uC), and 04 August (surface-water temperature atweigh-in = 30.8uC) at Lake Shelbyville, Illinois, UnitedStates (latitude: 39u40984.00N, longitude: 88u77978.00W). We chose tournaments that had manageable numbers of participants (,50 boats) and that launched from locations near cooperating marinas where holding net pens could be secured for 5 d. Boats were randomly given both appropriate livewell additives and instructions on their use. We instructed anglers assigned the salt treatment to add 109 g of noniodized salt, hereafter referred to as salt, per 18 L of water to make approximately a 5% solution (Gilliland and Schramm 2002) at the onset and then again at the midpoint (i.e., 4 h from tournament onset) of the tournament if they flushed their livewell. We instructed those assigned the ice treatment to fill livewells and add a 3.8-L block of ice to cool the water by approximately 5uC (Gilliland and Schramm 2002), adding additional ice approximately every 2 h in order to maintain temperature. Anglers that were assigned a combination treatment added both salt (5% solution) and ice (quantity to cool the water by approximately 5uC) to their livewells as outlined above. Lastly, we instructed individuals that were assigned the control treatment to operate livewells without the addition of any livewell additives. We also asked all participants to restrict the use of any commercially available livewell treatments that they might normally use during competitive events. At the weigh-in, we asked anglers if they had deviated from instructions. We excluded from analysis anglers that deviated from the instructions or those unable to capture fish. Following the weigh-in, live fish were given a unique fin clip designating their respective livewell and treatment, weighed (g) and measured (total length, TL), and placed in holding tanks on boats before being transported to the holding net pens. We measured, weighed, and recorded the livewell number of dead fish at the weigh-in. We determined delayed mortality by visually inspecting net pens for expired fish every 24 h for 5 d following each competitive angling event.





Laboratory experiments:We conducted additional experiments in the laboratory to determine whether livewell additives affect competitively angled largemouth bass mortality at cool ambient water temperatures. Largemouth bass (mean = 360 6 7.78 mm TL) were acclimated in 445-L indoor tanks at the Homer Buck Laboratory, Sam Parr Biological Station at water temperatures significantly (t-value =15.8; P , 0.01) cooler (mean = 22.7 6 0.41uC) than ambient water temperatures observed during the field experiments (mean = 30 6 0.24uC). To simulate angling exhaustion, we manually chased fish for 60 s (Cooke et al. 2002), exposed them to air for 60 s, introduced them to livewells, and held them at a density of three fish per livewell for 8 h. Livewells were circular tanks (0.91-m diameter) that contained 100 L of water and one of four treatments: salt (5% solution; Gilliland and Schramm 2002), ice (to reduce water temperature by approximately 5uC; Gilliland and Schramm 2002), salt and ice (5% solution and ice to reduce water temperature by 5uC), or control.Livewell Additives and Largemouth Bass K.G. Ostrand et al. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 23We replicated all treatments four times. We monitored dissolved oxygen (mg/L) and temperature (uC) every hour in a subset of livewells throughout the experiments. Once every hour we shook livewells for 60 s to simulate wave action and culling. Fish were then removed from the livewell, exposed to air for 10 s, and placed in a plastic weigh-in bag (0.66 m60.86 m) containing about 7 L of water for 120 s. Following removal from the weighin bag, we took fish lengths and weights (subjecting individuals to air for 120 s). These methods simulated a typical tournament weigh-in and fish transport back to the lake; afterward, we released fish into their respective tanks. We recorded mortality throughout the experiments. We recorded initial mortality when a fish exhibited a lack of blood flow through the gills, stopped respiration, and–or was unable to volitionally maintain equilibrium and swim after release. We visually inspected tanks for delayed mortality daily beginning 24 h after the event and continuing for 5 d.



Pond experimentsWe also conducted experiments to determine whether fish size influenced mortality rates of competitively angled largemouth bass. We subjected fish to livewell treatments in two simulated tournaments in 0.14-ha claylined experimental ponds at the Sam Parr Biological Station, Kinmundy, Illinois in late June and early July. We stocked largemouth bass in ponds 12 mo prior to the simulated tournaments. The ponds supported sparse aquatic vegetation and had populations of small (#120- mm TL) bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, naturally colonized invertebrates, and fathead minnows Pimephales promelas that were stocked monthly (3,750 minnows/ha). We angled largemouth bass when ambient water temperatures (mean = 28.9 6 0.49uC) were similar (t-value =2.04; P = 0.07) to those observed during the field experiments (mean = 30 6 0.24uC). Anglers fished from shore with standard angling gear typified by medium-action rods, 10-lb (4.5-kg) test line, and commercially available ‘‘J’’-style aberdeen hooks. We constructed livewells from coolers modified with small pumps to allow for intermittent pond-water flowthrough during the confinement period. Once angled, three fish were placed in each livewell for 8 h. Livewells contained one of four water treatments: salt (109 g salt/ 18 L water, 5% solution; Gilliland and Schramm 2002), ice (3.8 L blocks added to reduce water temperature by approximately 5uC; Gilliland and Schramm 2002), salt and ice combination (5% solution and quantity to reduce water temperature by 5uC), or control. We replicated all livewell treatments five times during each of the two simulated tournaments. We monitored dissolved oxygen (mg/L) and temperature (uC) every hour in a subset of livewells throughout the simulated tournaments. In addition, we disturbed all livewells every hour to simulate wave action and culling as described in the laboratory experiments. We then removed fish from the livewell and subjected them to a weigh-in as described in the laboratory experiments before we released them into net pens within the experimental ponds. After release, we monitored all angled largemouth bass for mortality and every 24 h postrelease. We used the same criteria to determine initial and delayed mortality as that described above for field experiments.We used a completely randomized experimental design and 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test for differences (P , 0.05) in initial and delayed mortality and dissolved oxygen and temperature among tournaments and among livewell additive treatments. To meet assumptions of the ANOVA, the percentages of initial and delayed mortalities were arcsine-square-root–transformed. Fisher’s LSD mean separation tests for pair-wise comparisons followed significant ANOVAs.

Results

We used a completely randomized experimental design and 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test for differences ( Field experimentsLivewell additives did not affect initial and delayed mortality during competitive angling events. Of the 65 boats that collectively participated during the three tournaments, 48 captured largemouth bass. Largemouth bass captured during the tournaments were similarly sized (mean = 402 6 3.4 mm TL; F = 0.26, P = 0.77). The number of fish caught did not significantly differ (F =1.49; P = 0.24) among the June (N = 23 boats, mean = 2.6 6 0.48 fish/livewell), July (N = 21 boats, mean = 2.6 0.42 fish/livewell), and August (N = 21 boats, 1.7 60.33 fish/livewell) tournaments or among treatments added to livewells (F = 1.63; P = 0.19). Across all tournaments, self-reported and observed initial mortality at the weigh-in was low (mean = 1.9 61.2%) and did not differ among tournaments (F = 1.16; P = 0.33) or livewell treatments (F = 0.65; P = 0.59).Delayed mortalities varied among the tournaments (F =6.22, P , 0.01; Table S1, http://dx.doi.org/10.3996/ 092010-JFWM-037.S1), with the event conducted in July (55.8 6 8.36%) having the highest delayed mortality as compared to the August (29.9 6 9.75%) and June (12.46 5.22%) tournaments, which did not differ. Delayed mortality for fish held in livewells containing salt (52.4 6 11.6%), ice (32.4 6 14.7%), salt and ice (31.6 6 10.7%), and controls (25.5 6 7.5%) were not significantly different (F = 0.99; P = 0.41).

Laboratory experiments:Additives administered to livewells during the laboratory experiments resulted in no initial or delayedmortalities. As a result, the initial mortality of largemouth bass did not differ (F = 0.54; P = 0.65) among livewell additive treatments or from the field experiments (F = 0.9;

P = 0.35). Delayed mortality also did not differ among the treatments during the laboratory experiments (F = 1.13; P = 0.35). Conversely, delayed mortality in the laboratory experiments were significantly lower than those observed in the field experiments (F = 15.1; P , 0.01).Pond experiments:Size of largemouth bass appeared to have a greater influence on mortality than livewell additives. Fish lengths (mean = 207.17 6 1.72 mm, TL) were significantly (Ps , 0.01) smaller than fish in the fieldLivewell Additives and Largemouth Bass K.G. Ostrand et al. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 24(mean = 402 6 3.4 mm, TL) and laboratory experiments(mean = 360 6 7.78 mm TL; Table S2, http://dx.doi.org/ 10.3996/092010-JFWM-037.S1). There were no significant differences in initial mortality between the pond experiments and the field or the laboratory experiments (F = 1.6; P = 0.21). Likewise, initial mortality in pond experiments did not differ among livewell treatments when compared to the field or laboratory experiments (F = 0.52; P = 0.67). Although we observed some delayed mortalities (salt = 12.5%, ice and ice and salt = 4.2%, and controls = 0%) in the pond experiments, they were significantly lower when compared to the field experiments (F = 20.9; P , 0.01). Conversely delayed mortality in the pond experiments was similar to the laboratory experiments that were subjected to livewell additives at cooler laboratory water temperatures (F =1.57; P = 0.20; Table S3, http://dx.doi.org/10.3996/ 092010-JFWM-037.S1). Dissolved oxygen and temperature within livewells varied throughout the duration of the pond experiments and among livewell treatments (Table S3, http:// dx.doi.org/10.3996/092010-JFWM-037.S1). Dissolved oxygen levels (mean = 6.17 6 0.05 mg/L) in the livewells did not approach anoxic levels and did not significantly differ among treatments (F = 1.34; P = 0.26; Figure 1a). Water temperatures in the livewells gradually increased throughout the day reaching the highest level at weigh-in (Figure 1b). Water temperatures within the



Figure 1. Dissolved oxygen and temperatures measured in livewells at Sam Parr Biological Station in 2004. (a) Dissolved oxygen(mean 6 1 SE; mg/L) within livewells that contained lake water (controls) and either noniodized salt (salt), ice, or salt and ice.Dissolved oxygen levels were not significantly different among livewell treatments. (b) Water temperature (mean 6 1 SE; uC) within livewells that contained lake water (controls) with either salt, ice, or salt and ice. Water temperatures within the livewells containing ice and salt and ice were significantly (P , 0.05) cooler than control or salt treatments that did not differ. Livewells containing ice had significantly (P , 0.05) cooler water temperatures than the salt and ice treatment. Livewell Additives and Largemouth Bass K.G. Ostrand et al. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 25

livewells containing ice (mean = 24.3 6 0.34uC) and saltand ice (mean = 25.2 6 0.34uC) were significantly (F =20; P , 0.01) cooler than control (mean = 27.3 6 0.28uC)or salt (mean = 27.0 6 0.29uC) treatments, which did not differ. Water temperatures were also significantly cooler within livewells containing the ice than those with the salt and ice treatment (F = 20; P , 0.01).



DiscussionOur results suggest that the use of livewell water additives, such as salt and ice or their combination, does not significantly reduce tournament-related mortality.Largemouth bass may recover from capture, handling, and livewell confinement stress if water quality is good (Furimsky et al. 2003; Suski et al. 2004), regardless of livewell additives. Although we did not find significant differences in delayed mortality among the livewell treatments, the consistent trend of higher mortality with livewell treatments during the field experiments suggests that additives may impart additional negative stressors that increase mortality. Our results also suggest that fish size and ambient water temperature may have a greater influence on delayed mortality observed during competitive angling events than specific livewell additives.Fish appear to have greater long-term survival following tournaments that were conducted when ambient water temperatures were cooler. Further, smaller sized fish appear to be more resilient to tournament-related stressors that result in mortality as compared to larger fishes, regardless of ambient water temperature or livewell additive; they experience less physiological disturbance because they are often played for shorter periods of time and endure shorter periods of air exposure during weigh-in procedures (Kieffer et al. 1996; Ostrand et al. 1999; Cooke et al. 2002). Collectively, these results suggest that the addition of livewell additives does not enhance fish survival following competitive angling events. As a result, we encourage anglers to practice proper fish handling practices as well as maintain good water quality within livewells, as opposed to altering water quality with additives. Initial mortality observed during all tournaments was low (mean = 1.9%); however, delayed mortality was relatively high (mean = 35%) and concurred with previously reported levels (Wilde 1998). Although we surmise that tournament-related mortality was positively correlated with fish size and ambient water temperature, observers were not present with every angling team during the actual tournaments. As a result, we are unable to examine alternative mechanisms that may be correlated with the observed mortality such as angling, handling, and culling practices. During our laboratory and pond experiments, each practice (i.e., angling, handling, disturbance, air exposure, weigh-in procedures) was timed and carefully monitored. Because these experiments afford individual attention to fish, sublethal stress may have been minimized, leading to lower mortality rates. Nevertheless, subtleties in these practices do not appear to be dramatic enough to be overcome by the addition of livewell additives during fish confinement. In contrast to Gilliland and Schramm (2002), our results suggest the use of salt and ice are not warranted. The use of salt during periods of acute stress may result in better osmoregulatory balance (Carmichael et al. 1984; Harrell 1992) and lower the risk of fungal infections in fish (Plumb 1991), but our results do not support this general paradigm for fish subjected to tournament angling. More specifically, our results suggest that additives may not reduce mortality for larger fish that have been angled from high-temperature waters, confined to livewells, and subjected to weigh-in procedures prior to release. Fish angled from waters that have significantly different water temperatures than livewells that contain ice may be subjected to temperature changes that potentially can cause rapid physiological changes, prolonging recovery (Cooke et al. 2002; Suski et al. 2006). Although the stress caused by these temperature and salinity changes within livewells may not cause initial mortality, these effects coupled with the weigh-in process may result in higher rates of delayed mortality than simply aerating and flushing livewells as much as possible. Thus, we hypothesize that both initial and delayed mortality is the result of a linear, additive sequence of acute stressors throughout the duration of the tournament, which may not be substantially lowered by the manipulation of a single factor such as livewell water temperature or salinity. Many organizations continue to sponsor black bass tournaments during late spring and summer months when ambient water temperatures are at the highest. Although a variety of practices have been adopted to reduce initial and delayed tournament mortality, our results suggest the benefits of livewell additives on postrelease survival of competitively angled largemouth bass are minimal; water temperature when tournaments are held and the size of fish angled appear to be more important. Our results suggest that tournament organizers should consider conducting events when ambient water temperatures are cooler. In addition, tournament organizers should consider alternative rules and formats that may result in less physiological stress on fish, such as reduced creels or paper tournaments, where captured fish are immediately measured and released at their capture location (Ostrand et al. 1999).Supplemental Material:Please note: The Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supplemental material. Queries should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.Livewell Additives and Largemouth Bass K.G. Ostrand et al.Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 26Temporal trends in abiotic data (temperature[uC] and dissolved oxygen [DO; mg/L]) for hobo dataloggers placed within livewells to monitor changes associated with the ice, ice and salt, salt, and control groups. Ambient water temperatures and dissolved oxygen are provided for experiments by date.



AcknowledgmentsThis project benefited from the technical assistance of all tournament sponsors and anglers, as well as Sam Parr and Kaskaskia Biological Station staff. The Aquatic Ecology Discussion Group of the Kaskaskia Biological Station provided helpful reviews on earlier drafts. This research was supported by Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration Project F-135-R, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). S. Pallo, L. Dunham, and J. Ferencak coordinated activities with the IDNR. R. Wagner (INHS) provided valuable administrative support. Three anonymous reviewers and the SubjectEditor provided comments that improved an earlier version of this manuscript.Any use of trade, product, website, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.ReferencesCarmichael GJ, Tomasso JR, Simco BA, Davis KB. 1984.Characterization and alleviation of stress associatedwith hauling largemouth Bass. Transactions of theAmerican Fisheries Society 113:778–785.Champeau TR, Denson KW. 1988. Effectiveness of acatch-and-release regulation for largemouth bass in aFlorida lake. Proceedings of the Annual ConferenceSoutheastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies41:495–505.Cooke SJ, Schreer JF, Wahl DH, Philipp DP. 2002.Physiological impacts of catch-and-release anglingpractices on largemouth and smallmouth bass.American Fisheries Society Symposium 31:489–512.Edwards GP, Neumann RM, Jacobs RP, O’Donnell EB.2004. Factors related to mortality of black bass caughtduring small club tournaments in Connecticut. NorthAmerican Journal of Fisheries Management 24:801–810.Furimsky M, Cooke SJ, Suski CD, Wang Y, Tufts BL. 2003.Respiratory and circulatory effects of hypoxia inlargemouth bass and smallmouth bass: an applicationto ‘‘live-release’’ angling tournaments. Transactions ofthe American Fisheries Society 132:1065–1075.Gilliland ER. 2002. Livewell operating procedures toreduce mortality of black bass during summertournaments. American Fisheries Society Symposium31:477–487.Gilliland ER, Schramm HL. 2002. Keeping bass alive: aguidebook for anglers and tournament organizers.Montgomery, Alabama: Bass Anglers Sportsman’sSociety. Available: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation (March 2011).Harrell RM. 1992. Stress mitigation by use of salt andanesthetic for wild striped bass captured for broodstock. Progressive Fish Culturist 54:228–233.Kerr SJ, Kamke KK. 2003. Competitive fishing infreshwaters of North America. Fisheries 28:26–31.Kieffer JD, Ferguson RA, Tompa JE, Tufts BL. 1996.Relationships between body size and anaerobicmetabolism in brook trout and largemouth bass.Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 125:760–767.Lee DP, Paulsen I, Beer W. 1993. Trends in black bassfishing tournaments in California, 1985–1989. CaliforniaFish and Game 79:1–12.Meals KO, Miranda LE. 1994. Size-related mortality oftournament-caught largemouth bass. North AmericanJournal of Fisheries Management 14:460–463.Neal JW, Lopez-Clayton D. 2001. Mortality of largemouthbass during catch-and-release tournaments in aPuerto Rico reservoir. North American Journal ofFisheries Management 21:834–842.Ostrand KG, Wilde GR, Strickland DW, Muoneke MI. 1999.Initial mortality in Texas black bass fishing tournaments.North American Journal of Fisheries Management19:1124–1128.Paukert C, McIerny M, Schultz R. 2007. Historical trends increel limits, length-based limits, and season restrictionsfor black basses in the United States and Canada.Fisheries 32:62–63.Plumb JA. 1991. Major diseases of striped bass andredfish. Veterinary and Human Toxicology 33:34–39.Plumb JA, Grizzle JM, Rogers WA. 1988. Survival ofcaught and released largemouth bass after containmentin live wells. North American Journal of FisheriesManagement 8:325–328.Schramm HL Jr, Armstrong ML, Funicelli NA, Green DM,Lee DP, Manns RE Jr, Taubert BD, Waters SJ. 1991. Thestatus of competitive sport fishing in North America.Fisheries 16:4–13.Schramm HL Jr, Haydt PJ, Portier KM. 1987. Evaluation ofprerelease, postrelease, and total mortality of largemouthbass caught during tournaments in two Floridalakes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management7:394–402.Schramm HL Jr, Hunt KM. 2007. Issues, benefits, andproblems associated with fishing tournaments ininland waters of the United States: a survey of fisheryagency administrators. Fisheries 32:234–243.Siepker MJ, Ostrand KG, Cooke SC, Wahl DH. 2007. Areview of black bass (Micropterus spp) catch-and-Livewell Additives and Largemouth Bass K.G. Ostrand et al.Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management | www.fwspubs.org June 2011 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | 27release angling effects: implications for conservationand management. Fisheries Management and Ecology14:91–101.Suski CD, Killen SS, Cooke SJ, Kieffer JD, Philipp DP, TuftsBL. 2004. Physiological significance of the weigh-induring live-release angling tournaments for largemouthbass. Transactions of the American FisheriesSociety 133:1291–1303.Suski CD, Killen SS, Kieffer JD, Tufts BL. 2006. Theinfluence of environmental temperature and oxygenconcentration on the recovery of largemouth bass

from exercise: implications for live-release angling

EricM · Dec 24, 2011

Thanks, Carl. Suprised me with the results on cooling the livewell water, too.

Fuzzy · Dec 24, 2011

Read about the Texas bass classic and Major league fishig. Both tournaments weigh fish in the boat. I think everyone of us has lost fish and thought we did everything right...twice to my co anglers and once to myself. Always left me scratching my head...I wish BASS posted weighed and dead fish, I would be curious.

CATCHMAN · Dec 24, 2011

So you guys need to start catching 2 pounders like me and the fish will do better and so will most of us lowly anglers emoToast emoToast .

MrWiskers · Dec 24, 2011

Good water quality = water changes. I never do anything to my fish and never have any issues. My Triton has a large and deep live well which holds a lot of water which is very important. A lot of boats have shallow live wells that dont hold much water and I think the fish take a beating. The key is to keep the water changed and keep the aireator on. I keep my freshwater pump in and aireator on timer for the whole tourny and at weight in you cannot keep the fish in the basket, even in the dog days of summer. I have aquariums at home and keep 12"+ fish (I also have a 25" cat) alive forever in small bodies of water with no chemicals. Bass can and do live in 90+ degree water without any issues but it has to be clean. Dont belive me, stop by HBSP and watch the 5+ lbers swim around in mid July/August when the feed the pet bluegill.

Skeeter · Dec 25, 2011

Fuzzy - 12/24/2011 9:18 AM

Read about the Texas bass classic and Major league fishig. Both tournaments weigh fish in the boat. I think everyone of us has lost fish and thought we did everything right...twice to my co anglers and once to myself. Always left me scratching my head...I wish BASS posted weighed and dead fish, I would be curious.

Fuzzy, I have a recorded FLW tournament at home from 2011 that shows the total fish caught, pounds and live released. I dont remember the exacts but I will look at it when I get home from work.

3391 · Dec 25, 2011

Anyone serious about fish mortality needs to support not fishing summer tournaments. It makes no sense to fish all day trying to boat five big fish for the weigh in when you re in affect killing those fish.

Effectiveness of Livewell Additives on Largemouth Bass Survival: GREAT READ

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