At what live well temp do I need to start adding frozen water bottles to cool live well temp?
Don't know that I am wording this correctly.
I doe use live well additives.

Thanks
Curtis B

Keep it no cooler than 10 degrees of what the water temp is in the lake.

Eh, there's no established minimum but I would start cooling the wells when the water gets into the low to mid 80's, especially if the fish are coming from 10+ feet deep. I agree with Jaret to not over-cool the wells because this can really jack with their system; maybe not by the time you weigh them, but definitely after they get dumped into hot shallow water next to the launch ramp after weigh-in.

Just install some VT-2 livewell vents and you never have to worry about ice. Problem solved.

Thanks for the Help!

Get some catch and release freeze it in a water bottle open the lid and throw it in the other side when you catch em.

If you catch the fish deep the the water temp is cold down there. I haven't probed a temp. gauge that deep; but I suspect it is in the neighborhood of 70 degrees below the 12 ft. mark. This is why many fish in the hot Summer time do not do well in a livewell with hot surface water on fish that came out of deep water. At least cool them down to a happy medium of about 80 degrees and that will help.

If I did the catch and release deal in frozen bottles of water wouldn't the chemicals in the bottle water be a hazard to the fish?

Just use lake water. I like freezing at least 32oz bottles

By the looks and smell of the cove at Umphrey on Thursday there are lots of people that need to learn tournament fish care. The cove was full of big dead floaters

No excuse to not have proper fish care. Bring an extra cooler, learn to fizz, and make fin clips. I made 12 1.5oz fin clips for about $25

That's a shame right there. Sounds like the tournament wasn't very well prepared to take care of the fish once they came in. Although when the water temp. on the surface reaches over 90 degrees; no mater what you do many will die. Lots of those that swim away when released will not make it. Hopefully all these tournaments are doing everything possible to increase the survival rate.

Feel free to list all those things that will help:
- Section in the rules on how to take care of your fish in the boat; listing the steps.
- Several water tanks for the weigh-in line with aerators, fish bag hoses and cool water in them.
- Main fish trailer equipped to keep the fish alive if possible.
- Holding tank set up to air the blatter off on fish that were caught deep with trained attendants.
- Couple of boats in the water at weight-in dipping up fish that are not going to make it.
- Sign and release paper for each fisherman to turn over those that don't make it so they can be legally dressed and processed.

Boat tips:
- When first fish goes into the livewell turn on aerator pump, set well to closed and run fresh water constantly until 9:00. Check the Spray system and make sure it is going.
- Close off live well completely and switch to recirculate only with Catch and Release at 9:00. Add one Quart bottle of frozen Lake Water every hour. That means you need 6 or 7 of these frozen and in the boat bag. Always remove the cap so the cold water can be released.
- Run recirculating pump on constantly. NO timer. Also run the oxygen if the boat is equipped.
- If your livewell is holding a big stringer of Bass change out the water at 12:00 Noon with a 3:00 weight-in. Add Catch and release again and two quart frozen bottles.
- Add a frozen bottle at 1:00 and again at 2:00.
- Use your Livewell pump-out to fill your weigh-in bag or fill the bag inside the livewell.

I got 2 of these and keep them in my freezer, throw one on each side of the livewell. Anecdotally, I think they last longer than frozen water bottles.

https://arctic-ice.com/products/tundra-series

Yes the gel packs last longer. We use 4 in the boat cooler and add them if needed to livewell late in the day

Good idea to keep them in the cooler first with the regular ice and drinks. For anyone else looking at these, there are 2 versions and the "Tundra" version is colder. Or something like that.