Hey I AM PROUD OF YOU GRUBBER !!! Letting the fish go and not taking the chance that they might die -- YOU are a GOOD MAN!  I'll PROUDLY SAY I KNOW YOU ANY DAY!! YOu have the RIGHT STUFF ! My .02 cents....

As I said Sat. afternoon, tough call, but a good one. The other option was to use your weight-in bag to add water to the livewell, something to consider next time. Good job anyways, it's good to hear that a member is willing to sacrifice a days weight instead of sacrificing their fish just to get on the board. My 2cents. Brian (The Weedwalker)

I think you done good, Grubber!   8)

well i started the potholes tourny with a properly working livewell, and ended it at about 11:00 sat. morning with a dead pump. call me what you will (names don't bother me none) but i released 3 fish that weighed 7 lbs. and dropped out cause i did'nt want to be the guy that brought in a bag full of dead fish. yeah, they might have lived, but i did what i did. this was my first time in a tournament and the way things were going, i think i might have done alright. i had lots of fun and caught some nice fish. rest assured there will be no more pump problems in my boat in the future- exept finding a place to store them all  .

thanks for the replies guys.
my main question was whether or not i needed a separate one for the back-seater. the last thing i want is to drag a friend all the way to the potholes for a tourny and have him have to sit it out.

Cool thanks, I can breathe easier now.

I have the same thing. It just fills. No recirculation. It still works though. It pumps new water in so it clears any bad water and the oxygen comes in with it. I don't have a pump out either. It works fine and I haven't had issues even on Moses Lake last year when the surface temp was 83 deg.

Sadly, I did not upgrade the livewell in my new boat (price tag was already high enough).  I don't think it has recirculation, it just says areation with timer.  Am I going to be in trouble during tournaments, won't the water get boiling hot throughout the day in the summer? 
I don't believe it has pumpout either lol, oh well I'll survive.

There is an article on livewell practices on the WBC website, under articles.  Great information for a club memeber.

kh

You should be good then. I really recommend that you get some "Release-me" to add in there to keep them from beating each other up. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, but....It's a chemical you add to the water that kind of "dopes" them, like bass heroine. You can get it at Auburn Sports & Marine and probably other good bass tackle stores.

that's what i meant. it pumps in water from the lake and air bubbles automatically, about every 5 minutes for a little while.

With the smaller livewells it is aeration and RE-CIRCULATION. By just aerating the water the fish will be able to breath but will die from the exposure to waste products in the water so RE-CIRCULATION becomes a bigger factor for the smaller rigs.

right on. thanks rob.
is there any guidelines... certain number of gallons per certain number of fish? it airates automatically and works good. i just don't know how big i need. i really haven't even used my livewell yet cause i just release'em right away.

If you can put culling straps on your fish or something to tell the difference then your good. You just need to be sure your livelwell can hold 10 fish for both of you.

i have never fished a tournament before and am planning on fishing the potholes. my question is do you have to have a separate livewell for the back-seater? i only have one livewell in my boat and and to be honest, it only looks big enough for the big'uns i'm gonna catch. can i use just one? or should i put the divider in it? or is two different cull systems good enough?