# How long will live shrimp last in a bait bubbler?



## choppedliver

I would like to get up one morning early and go speck fishing with some live shrimp. 

Was going to invest in a bait bubbler 110v so I can plug it in the night before and not waste batteries like my D Cell powered one and not have to go by a bait shop at the ass crack of dawn. 

Can anyone tell me if they will last all night in a bait bubbler and say half a day of fishing the next day?


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## Jhoe

I've kept shrimp for two days before. I always periodically check and pull the dead ones out though. I hear the dead shrimp give off a chemical that is bad for them?


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## FishinFool

The key is keeping the water cool.


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## choppedliver

how cool is cool?


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## onoahi

handful of ice cubes in a ziplock bag cool. keep in garage until sundown. change h2o and reice at dawn if you don't have a livewell onboard..


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## JoeZ

> *choppedliver (7/14/2009)*how cool is cool?


65 to 70 degrees.


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## choppedliver

No livewell, just a little bass boat, or maybe even just go wade fishing. Either way they will be in a bucket. 

You said change water, Im assuming you mean scoop up a bucket when you get there.... unless shrimp can live in tap water? ( Ive heard of stranger things lol )


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## Jhoe

Seriously? ice in your shrimp? seems kinda crazy to me.


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## FishinFool

Don't put the ice directly in the water. It well drop the salinity of the water and kill the shrimp. Put ice in a ziplock bag. Change out when ice melts.


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## gmblnfool

We always wait as late as possible to go to the bait shop at night before they close. We place the bubbler in a cool place and put ice in a zip lock bag. We also put the tablets in the water also. Don't have a problem, the next morning weplace them inthe live well. They usually last til about early noon definantely past the morning bite.


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## Get'n Wade

Freeze a bottle of water and drop it in and let it float around. I've kept them in a cooler for days, drop some flake food in so they want eat each other.


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## Tuna Man

To keep the temperature of the bait water to as close to what the water temp you will be fishing, we take a plastic bottle (2 liter/5 gal bait bucket fill and freeze) from what I've read you want the bait water to within 8 deg of fishing water. Shrimp die for mainly two reasons..the water gets saturated with ammonia and depletion of oxygen when the water warms up.. Keep it covered, and use a net when retrieving shrimp..don't use your hand. Shape of tank only matters when schooling bait is kept (like shad)..then you want a curved tank..shrimp are not schooling creatures. Never used the tablets for saltwater but have a granular additive to add to the water that helps with the ammonia and cuts down on the foam..


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## sosmarine

When I was kid, in Tampa, my Mom would have shrimp leftover from her afternoon trip to the bay. Before she left the water she would make sure the water in the bucket was fresh and come home, put them in the fridge. Next morning they would be belly up when she left the house, but they would swimming like nothing happen by the time she good to her spot. This was in the old 2 piece metal cans and no aeretor.


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## FL_Panhandler

I used to do this all the time when I would wadefish as a kid. What you want is a lot of water surface area relative to the water volume. It keeps the oxygen level up. I used a cheap styrofoam ice chest about 2'x3' and only put about 3" of water in it. Get an aquarium air pump and a long airstone (4-6" long.) Don't overload with shrimp (maybe 2- 3 dozen) and check for and remove any dead ones before bed. Oh, and cover with a screen or the ice chest lid (cracked an inch or so to let air in) because the shrimp will jump out and cats, ***** etc will try to catch them.


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## choppedliver

wtf? Did they go into suspended animation in the fridge then wake up when it got warm?


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## choppedliver

> *FL_Panhandler (7/14/2009)*I used to do this all the time when I would wadefish as a kid. What you want is a lot of water surface area relative to the water volume. It keeps the oxygen level up. I used a cheap styrofoam ice chest about 2'x3' and only put about 3" of water in it. Get an aquarium air pump and a long airstone (4-6" long.) Don't overload with shrimp (maybe 2- 3 dozen) and check for and remove any dead ones before bed. Oh, and cover with a screen or the ice chest lid (cracked an inch or so to let air in) because the shrimp will jump out and cats, ***** etc will try to catch them.


Thanks for the suggestions everyone!


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## welldoya

I used to go bass fishing down at Wewahitchka quite a bit. I would buy 4 dozen shiners and put them in water with ice in a 48 qt cooler. I used one of the 12volt fountain-type aerators.

They would stay alive for several days.


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## John B.

> *JoeZ (7/14/2009)*
> 
> 
> 
> *choppedliver (7/14/2009)*how cool is cool?
> 
> 
> 
> 65 to 70 degrees.
Click to expand...

\

55-60 degrees!

2 thing skwimps need, air, and cold water... marine metal (bubble box) makes a badass insulated bait bucket/airator combo. you don't _NEED _it, but; it will definatley help you save money on live shrimp by keeping them alive longer.


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## Jighead

> *choppedliver (7/14/2009)*wtf? Did they go into suspended animation in the fridge then wake up when it got warm?


I've read they do. There was an article or colum in _Saltwater Sportsman_ in 2007 saying you could take a cooler place gel pack/ice on the bottom then cover with paper towel. Lay shrimp on the towel then cover with another wet paper towel. I've never tried it but apparently someone has. 

I'd like to hear everyone's opinion..... Does air bubbles work better for shrimp than water recirclation? Water temp seems to be at least 50% of keeping them alive. Also the water needs to be blue. Idon't know why but all the bait shops have blue water. I've tried food color but can't tell a difference


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## John B.

> *Jighead (7/14/2009)*
> 
> 
> 
> *choppedliver (7/14/2009)*wtf? Did they go into suspended animation in the fridge then wake up when it got warm?
> 
> 
> 
> I've read they do. There was an article or colum in _Saltwater Sportsman_ in 2007 saying you could take a cooler place gel pack/ice on the bottom then cover with paper towel. Lay shrimp on the towel then cover with another wet paper towel. I've never tried it but apparently someone has.
> 
> I'd like to hear everyone's opinion..... Does air bubbles work better for shrimp than water recirclation? Water temp seems to be at least 50% of keeping them alive. Also the water needs to be blue. Idon't know why but all the bait shops have blue water. I've tried food color but can't tell a difference
Click to expand...

never seen a baitshop with 'blue' water... we put rejuvinade in the water before, and it seemed to help a little, but at 15 bucks a jug, it's to espensive to do 4 times a week.


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## jjam

> *choppedliver (7/14/2009)*wtf? Did they go into suspended animation in the fridge and then wake up when it got warm?


It wouldn't surprise me a bit...growing up in La., my buddy (a commercial crab fisher) would take soft shell crabs and stick them in his friend. They would stay alive for a couple of days...he lived off fried soft-shell crab PO-boys.. the craziest thing and creepy was when I would go into his rig knowing something was alive in there to retrieve a can of soda.

Jimmy


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## choppedliver

I wonder if cooler water would help keep small pin fish, finger mullet, and other small bait fish live as well? Or would it just kill them?


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## Turbow

They will easily last over night. I have kept shrimp in my styrofoam lined bait bucket outside in the shade for up to days with my $6 electric aerator.


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## FLiPR

I am new at postingso here goes!

I read an article about keeping shrimp alive the longest and it said to find a small cooler and place one of those blue "ice blocks" and put some moist news paper on top and then place the shrimp on top of the paper and then some seaweed on top of the shrimp. In doing so it places the shrimp in a deep sleep "hibernation state" until you hook them and place it in the water and they revive like nothing happened.

I have not tried it YET but will soon.

And as for the mullet and pin fish I have stored them for about 48 hours before the key is cool water and some type of air bubbler.

Hope this helps!

FLiPR :letsdrink


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## biminitwist

"I've read they do. There was an article or colum in _Saltwater Sportsman_ in 2007 saying you could take a cooler place gel pack/ice on the bottom then cover with paper towel. Lay shrimp on the towel then cover with another wet paper towel. I've never tried it but apparently someone has. "

I've done it before in the Keys, quite a bit. It works,somewhat. The trick is to cool them down and keep them above the meltwater and condensation, or drain it out as much as possible. Use a clean paper towel or disposable shop towel to keep them above the ice, but in contact so they stay cold. Cover them as well. Their metabolism slows way down, but they will still drown if they get submerged. I've kept them up to twelve hours this way. Some folks claim 24-36, but it never worked for me that long. Place them back in the bait bucket when you get to your fishing spot.Add the water slowly to avoid thermal shock. Keep any shrimp you want to use later on ice and inthe towels.

By the way, this is a one-time shot for those shrimp. Very few will survive a second chilling. If you don't warm/revive them gently, they will also go belly up on you.

And don't use kitchen or bath towels. They contain soap and chemicals from the wash that will kill them during the chill. I speak from bitter experience onthose lastpoints.

They will slowly come around and be ALMOST as frisky and animated as when you bought/caught them. Even with careful treatment, they won't bounce and jump like they did when just caught. I used to catch my own. That way I knew the type, sizes and condition of the shrimp.

If they die, use them dead or break out the grill.

BT


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## biminitwist

"I've read they do. There was an article or colum in _Saltwater Sportsman_ in 2007 saying you could take a cooler place gel pack/ice on the bottom then cover with paper towel. Lay shrimp on the towel then cover with another wet paper towel. I've never tried it but apparently someone has. " 

I've done it before in the Keys, quite a bit. It works,somewhat. The trick is to cool them down and keep them above the meltwater and condensation, or drain it out as much as possible. Use a clean paper towel or disposable shop towel to keep them above the ice, but in contact so they stay cold. Cover them as well. Their metabolism slows way down, but they will still drown if they get submerged. I've kept them up to twelve hours this way. Some folks claim 24-36, but it never worked for me that long. Place them back in the bait bucket when you get to your fishing spot.Add the water slowly to avoid thermal shock. Keep any shrimp you want to use later or somewhere else on ice and inthe towels. Don't warm them.

By the way, this is a one-time shot for those shrimp. Very few will survive a second chilling. If you don't warm/revive them gently, they will also go belly up on you.

And don't use kitchen or bath towels. They contain soap and chemicals from the wash that will kill them during the chill. I speak from bitter experience onthose lastpoints.

They will slowly come around and be ALMOST as frisky and animated as when you bought/caught them. Even with careful treatment, they won't bounce and jump like they did when just caught. I used to catch my own. That way I knew the type, sizes and condition of the shrimp.

If they die, use them dead or break out the grill.

BT


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