Keeping Live Baits Frisky

There is no question that using a live bait is an incredibly effective way to target almost every species of game fish. From my earliest childhood fishing experiences catching fluke and weakfish with live minnows and grass shrimp to traveling the world and live-baiting blue marlin with 25-pound tuna, the acquisition and care of live bait has always been a big part of my success. Recently, however, the use of live baits under kites along the southeast Florida coast by those targeting sailfish has elevated the live-bait game in Florida to an incredibly high level. Like most things in our sport, if you aren’t willing to do the work, you won’t be the one catching the most fish.

Some of the hardest-working live-bait fishermen these days come from south Florida, especially the Miami guys, like captains John Louie Dudas, Jimmy David and Ray Rosher. Dudas and David have both spoken at Capt. Skip Smith’s IGFA Billfish Expo and have been more than open about not only their techniques for catching, keeping and rigging the various live baits they use, but also about how to best utilize them in all situations. These guys are the best of the best, and no wonder — they work at it, constantly evaluating how to better take care of their baits and present them with greater efficiency.

Much has been written about catching various types of bait and the best-designed wells to keep the baits fresh. But let’s look at the best ways to keep water flowing to your baits while aboard and also how to care for your baits if you plan to pen them up and stockpile them for a tournament.

Several years back, Flip Pallot and I were doing some research for the livewell system on a center console we were helping to develop. We went to Key West and met with a bunch of the skiff guides there, including renowned Keys legend Capt. Ralph Delph, who depended day in and day out on live bait for his clients’ success. He had three requirements for his livewell system: First, it had to be a pressurized system; second, there needed to be plenty of flow in order to exchange the water and oxygenate the bait; and third, there needed to be a way to get rid of the scales, grass, sand and debris introduced by the cast net.

His analogy to demonstrate the value of a pressurized system is the best I’ve ever heard. He asked us to first imagine putting minnows in a glass jar, filling the jar half full of water, and then running down the dock with the jar. The baits get thrashed about so badly that they become stressed out and beat up. However, if you fill the jar to the lid and run down the dock, the baits remain stable and suspended in the water and don’t get hurt.
In order to keep the baits from sloshing in the well and getting beat up while running to the grounds, the well must be pressurized. In other words, the lid should have a gasket that seals the lid and allows the water to fill to the top of the well.