# keeping pogies alive?



## rustvyper (Aug 16, 2009)

Any tips? Always end up with a half-dead tank by the middle of the afternoon. Anyone do anything special?


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## CCROLAND (Aug 16, 2009)

*Keep*

water flowing in the live well.


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## BOSSOFTHEWOODS (Aug 16, 2009)

new water or recirculate?


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## Nautical Son (Aug 16, 2009)

Just try and drown them that seems to be the best thing for me.


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## Skinin&Grinin (Aug 16, 2009)

Try not to let them hit the deck when you bring them in the boat,try and dump the net right into the well.Dont put your hands in the well use a net to scoop them out,and do not get any sun block in the well.Get any dead ones or soon to be dead ones out of the well asap.And do not over load your well,that why most people kill pogies is they over load the well.


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## oldenred (Aug 16, 2009)

Skinin&Grinin said:


> Try not to let them hit the deck when you bring them in the boat,try and dump the net right into the well.Dont put your hands in the well use a net to scoop them out,and do not get any sun block in the well.Get any dead ones or soon to be dead ones out of the well asap.And do not over load your well,that why most people kill pogies is they over load the well.



x2, best advice to keep them things alive


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## rustvyper (Aug 16, 2009)

Skinin&Grinin said:


> Try not to let them hit the deck when you bring them in the boat,try and dump the net right into the well.Dont put your hands in the well use a net to scoop them out,and do not get any sun block in the well.Get any dead ones or soon to be dead ones out of the well asap.And do not over load your well,that why most people kill pogies is they over load the well.



How many do you suggest per gallon?


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## Skinin&Grinin (Aug 16, 2009)

rustvyper said:


> How many do you suggest per gallon?



It really depends on how good of a pump you have.Just think about it like this,how many would you put in a milk jug?If your pump is good enough you can "black out" your well and have no problems,but you must have good water flow.You have got to have fresh water constantly flowing on poggies,or they will die.


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## d-a (Aug 16, 2009)

1/2 to 3 per gallon depending on how well your pump puts new water in and the old water can drain(limiting factor on most bait wells).

d-a


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## capt stan (Aug 17, 2009)

I have always run pogies 1 pogie per gallon.  never had an issue.. Make sure your live well is completly full! if it's sloshing around when your running the movement will break them pogies down and kill'um. They won't last for nothing.


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## rustvyper (Aug 17, 2009)

capt stan said:


> I have always run pogies 1 pogie per gallon.  never had an issue.. Make sure your live well is completly full! if it's sloshing around when your running the movement will break them pogies down and kill'um. They won't last for nothing.



Yeah, I think this tends to be more my problem. I have a hard time keeping the tank full while running. Problem with smaller boats.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Aug 17, 2009)

You can solve the problem pretty easily of no water running through the well when running... Have a high speed pick up installed through the hull of the boat, or on the transom VIA PVC pipe with a 90 wedge cut out that will force water through the well while running, all plumbed to your live well with a cut off valve in line. You may have to have another drain installed because of the increased flow, but this is almost the only way you will keep them alive for extended periods. 

If you have a small well and want to keep more than about 20-30 baits, just go ahead with an 1100 GPH pump. If that is too much flow, you will have a valve installed in line if you go with a high speed pick up and you can adjust the flow to fit your bait situation.

I don't care of mine over flows over the transom or not... I want the max water flow I can get and it keeps the wells topped off and prevents as much sloshing around, which most have said above, WILL run the bait down quickly.


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## Rem 742 (Aug 17, 2009)

*Don't overload tank.*

I have a real small tank. She will hold 20 to 25 baits well. Any more than that and they die.


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## Skinin&Grinin (Aug 17, 2009)

Capt. Richie Lott said:


> You can solve the problem pretty easily of no water running through the well when running... Have a high speed pick up installed through the hull of the boat, or on the transom VIA PVC pipe with a 90 wedge cut out that will force water through the well while running, all plumbed to your live well with a cut off valve in line. You may have to have another drain installed because of the increased flow, but this is almost the only way you will keep them alive for extended periods.
> 
> If you have a small well and want to keep more than about 20-30 baits, just go ahead with an 1100 GPH pump. If that is too much flow, you will have a valve installed in line if you go with a high speed pick up and you can adjust the flow to fit your bait situation.
> 
> I don't care of mine over flows over the transom or not... I want the max water flow I can get and it keeps the wells topped off and prevents as much sloshing around, which most have said above, WILL run the bait down quickly.



I agree 100% 
If you dont have a self bailing deck make sure you have a float switch on your bilge pumps.A over flowing live well can fill your bilge very fast.


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## capt stan (Aug 17, 2009)

Yep gotta have a thru hull pick up to be most effective. I have mine set to over flow ther tank when I'm running. When I come back down to idol it's about to over flow just from the pump running . She stays full to the brim with fresh water 1100 GPH on my live well and it's only a 35 gallon tank.


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## spotsndots (Aug 17, 2009)

Very good information in the above post's.  My last boat did not have a high speed pick-up, so I installed a re-circulating pump and put the switch on the console with the other switches.  When I was running on plane, I used the re-circ pump.  When I was at idle or anchored I used the livewell pump.  I also upgraded my livewell pump to an 1100 gph pump.  Like most have said, you can't pump enough fresh water over them.  Also, make sure your not using chemical's to wash the bait well out when you clean the boat up.  Chemical residue will kill em in a heartbeat. I just use straight water and a brush.


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## germano1 (Aug 17, 2009)

Is your live well round or does it have sharp corners on the inside?  Pogies are bad about getting stuck in the corners and getting red nosed.  When they get red nosed they don't make it very long no matter how much water you give them.


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## Capt. Mike Ellis (Aug 18, 2009)

When you net them leave them in the net while it is still in the water for about a minute or so. That way alot of thier waste wont go into the well. And add some ice in ziplock bags to the well to cool the water down and they also have a product called pogy saver that works good also.
Capt. Mike


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## Darkhorse (Aug 18, 2009)

To shed some light on previous posts, you absolutely must have new water pumped into the well constantly with a large overflow. Pogies give off a lot of waste and that waste will affect how well thier gills remove oxygen from the water.
Bottom line is, if you are not constantly pumping new water in and draining old water out, then no matter how big your well is, the baits will die. And this can happen quick, like while you are running offshore.
The post about round corners was "right on". It's a must. If not you will see your pogies with little bloody noses and all stacking up in the corners like sheep.
I mounted a pump on a piece of thick aluminum angle with a through hull on the bottom with a PVC elbow epoxied on it. This edge of the elbow was just slightly below the bottom of the stern. Inline I put a large valve so I could adjust the flow at speed. Sometimes this pump would airlock and not pump water so I also mounted an unrestricked 500 gph pump along side of it with Y valves.
A lot simpler than it sounds but back then I couldn't buy what I needed so it had to be cobbled together. 
No more problem with dead pogies, from dawn to dark I always had some good baits fresh and lively.
I wanted to completely change the water so I mounted my inlet from the pump on the bottom of the livewell and drained out the top.


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## rustvyper (Aug 18, 2009)

Thanks for all the good info guys. Unfortuantly I can't mod my livewells as I don't "own" the boats I use. I'll def keep all this in mind though once I get out the military & get my own boat!
Guess for now I'll ice the bait & I did buy some pogey save.


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## Darkhorse (Aug 18, 2009)

Aren't you fishing out of a Contender? I  would be sorely dissapointed if that boat didn't have a setup designed to keep pogies alive. After all I thought it was designed as a Kingfish tourny boat.
Have you checked under the deck or behind any access ports for livewell plumbing? It could be as simple as turning a valve.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Aug 18, 2009)

Darkhorse said:


> Aren't you fishing out of a Contender? I  would be sorely dissapointed if that boat didn't have a setup designed to keep pogies alive. After all I thought it was designed as a Kingfish tourny boat.
> Have you checked under the deck or behind any access ports for livewell plumbing? It could be as simple as turning a valve.



It isn't a Contender unless someone opted out on plumbing it.


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## rustvyper (Aug 19, 2009)

I don't own right now...I do this: http://freedomboatclub.com/

It's actually a great deal, except for the fact that you can't modify the boats. Jacksonville has several contenders, but I go out of savannah the most. It's 2 hours to savannah & 4+ to jax.


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