WEBSITE UPDATED Monday January 24, 2022
Made in USA
Have you ever lost money in a redfish C&R tournament because 1 red died in your livewell? That’s so disappointing, really disgusting and can be expensive too! Tournament fishermen think about, tither about that dreaded “Dead Fish Punishment” a lot, before and during every summer tournament.
That stress is normal for every contestant fishing summer tournaments. This stress is continuous lasting from the day/night before the tournament to the end of the tournament.
This stress is seen in all contestants that cannot insure and maintain minimal safe livewell water quality in summer tournaments (specifically dissolved oxygen). Keeping redfish alive 7-8 hours in aerated boat livewells during summer tournaments is highly stressful for all fishermen and often deadly for the fish.
REDFISH TOURNAMENT DAY – a hot July/August summer day, the popular belief that hot livewell water (90 F – 95 F) is the livewell killer is a myth. Redfish live and thrive in hot, shallow summer water and do not die. Sustained deadly low dissolved oxygen saturation in aerated livewell water is the primary killer of tournament redfish being transported all day every summer. All fishermen know that redfish live fine in hot summer environmental water and reds don’t suffocate or die in hot, shallow grassy flats.
When do you first begin thinking about the challenge of keeping your catch alive in summer tournaments? Most contestants begin think about these things the night before the tournament. How many times in an 8-hour tournament day/night do you stop fishing, break your concentration, look into your livewell to see if a fish is sick, dyimg or dead? Wonder when/if your mattery, aerator or livewell pump could fail? Will you run out of ice? Will you lose the prize because you failed to insure minimal safe livewell water quality, could not keep your catch alive or healthy hour after hour all day, all night?
SUMMER TOURNAMENTS – Before weigh-in at summer tournaments, large winning redfish do die in aerated boat livewells due to insufficient oxygenation every summer. Redfish suffocate and die in aerated summer livewells even when your bait pump and your aerator in new and the motor hums perfectly all day.
The redfish killer in your livewell in summer tournaments bad water quality (specifically low dissolved oxygen) resulting in suffocation coupled with hours of sustained hypoxia. Ever summer hot environmental water in livewells is the cause of chronic suffocation. Suffocation begins when you set the hook, during the fight and landing, and for hours of transport all day in your boat’s aerated livewell. Suffocation continues during weigh-in, photo-ops and final transport to the live release site back into hot environmental water if the release boat does not provide the right dose of supplemental oxygen continuous for the terminal transport.
The limiting factor controlling oxygenation for all mechanical aerators and livewell pumps is the small amount of oxygen in air (<21% oxygen). Livewell stocking density, salinity and water temperature directly affect DO Saturation regardless of the volume of air or water pumped into or through the livewell.
The deadly low oxygen problem in summer livewells cannot be corrected with air, mechanical aeration or multipliable high volume water pumps running continuously. Any livewell or aeration modification you make (venturies, bubblers, spray jets) will not correct the low oxygen problem.
The deadly low oxygen livewell problem is corrected with a specific dose of supplemental oxygen-njection.
Fully stocked livewell transport water Increase must be maintained continuously at 100% DO saturation or DO Super Saturation. The Oxygen Edge™ ensures safe, sustained 100% DO saturation even in the most adverse summer conditions, 90F – 95F livewell water every summer.
BONUS WEIGHT FOR LIVE REDFISH AT WEIGH-IN IS POSITIVE FISH CARE MOTIVATION REWARDING CONTESTANTS WILLING TO PROVIDE THE BEST SUMMER FISH CARE USING OXYGEN-INJECTION LIVEWELL SYSTEMS
Many redfish tournaments reward fishermen with bonus points and bonus weight for providing the best fish care possible on their boats, keep their catch alive and healthy all day. The bonus is a positive motivator for fishermen that really make an effort to provide the Best Tournament Fish Care possible for their catch all day. The best tournament fish care any tournament fishermen can provide for his catch is to ensure that the catch is transported all day in their boat livewell having safe, excellent DO water quality.
FACT: Compressed oxygen gas is provided by some tournament officials at the weigh-in site for holding tanks and release boat tanks when the tournament officials take possession of the days catch. Officials may provide contestants with FREE pure oxygen for their livewells. A few tournaments test and record the DO Saturations in their holding tank and release boat tank water. For many summer tournaments, the total tournament may receive supplemental oxygen 20 minutes at best in a so called “Hospital Tank” pre live release. This is hours too late; the hypoxic damage is already done. Although quite deceptive, a little O2 at the end of the day sure looks good to the public and fishing article writers. How it looks is what really counts.
It’s like having a heart attack and the Doc gives you oxygen for 20 minutes right before discharge.
FACT: Twenty minutes of pure oxygen at the end of the day may look great, but that will not reverse the cellular death and irreversible physiological damage caused by the time in the aerated boat livewell. The all-day transport and previous 7-8 hours of chronic sustained hypoxia and suffocation in aerated boat livewells is the primary reason for high summer redfish tournament mortality and morbidity.
SERIOUS QUESTIONS
In summer tournaments:
WHY ADMINISTER PURE OXYGEN FOR ONLY THE FINAL 20 MINUTES in holding tanks before the FINAL TRANSPORT?
WHY NOT PROVIDE PURE OXYGEN FOR ALL THE CATCH BY THE CONTESTANTS ALL DAY, DURING THE 8 HOUR TRANSPORT IN THE BOAT’S LIVEWELL?
FACT: Poor redfish care all day is the primary cause of higher summer tournament redfish mortality.
FACT: Most tournament fishermen transport their catch all day (7-8 hours) in small aerated boat livewells in summer tournaments without supplemental oxygen and the catch is suffocated.
FACT: Minimal safe oxygenation in tournament boat livewells is of no concern to tournament directors… because the public doesn’t see and will not see less than the best care provided by fishermen all day.
FACT: The public and the media see the best tournament fish care possible at the weigh-in for at least 30 minutes.
FACT: The best summer tournament redfish care is when tournament directors and tournament fishermen both use supplemental livewell oxygen in tournament boat livewells all day and at the weigh-in when tournament directors take possession of the days catch.
SUMMARY
The degree of redfish tournament care provided by tournament officials and tournament fishermen is always a personal choice. Livewell oxygen supplementation with livewell oxygen-injection ensures the Best Livewell Care Possible in summer tournaments.