Crappie slime in the livewells

[Dutch]

I think you are good to go cleaning them once the boat is off the water.  I have done it a lot.  Last year I had an MDC agent stop where I was cleaning crappie at the  Mutton  Creek ramp.  He didn't say anything about what I was doing.  He just wanted to see what size they were.

A cooler is not in the picture as I run a glitter sled that doesn't have floor space for one.  I guess I'll try the aerator with the live wells open next time and see if that improves anything.

As for where we caught fish we covered a lot of area fishing points, cuts, coves, bluff ends and brush.  We found fish from 25 to 35 feet.  Most were close to the bottom.  We saw a lot of fish suspended but couldn't get them to take my itty bitty home made baits.

[Hammer time]

Imo, best thing to do is drain and fill live well multiple times before loading up.

I put live well on drain between wholes and that gives fish fresh water and cleans out slime.

Then, right before loading up I drain live well on way to ramp and refill with new water for way home.

Thats just my method, to each their own.

[MOPanfisher]

Since MDC provides fish cleaning stations at some locations on the banks of a lake, I would assume that it would be legit.  My Alumacraft has (or had) a small screen in the bottom of the livewell, it tended to plug up with slime, scales etc.  I pulled it out, and run the aerator pretty heavy to keep the fish alive and fresh.  When I get home I pull the lever to drain the livewell, pull out the fish and slosh a bucket of water into the livewell and let it drain while cleaning fish, then back it into the barn and leave the lid open to air dry so it doesn't stink too bad.

[wtr dogs]

Sounds like a great problem to have.  

A Spray of household cleaner with bleach well rinsed would work.

A couple of springs ago I managed to leave  about a half dozen in one side of the live well for about a week. It worked well then. 

[Alex Heitman]

Fill the live wells up some with Vinegar and water a 50/50 solution. Run recirculators to clean those out. After that flush with fresh water a few times.