What's the most important ingredient in bass fishing? Is it the boat? The rod and reel? The line? Nope. It's the fish.
Our most precious resource in bass fishing is of course the bass themselves, and the habitat in which they live.
So it's time to cut to chase. No more sugar coating. No dancing around it. It's time each angler puts as much into fish care as they do into their fishing. It's critical that each angler, each manufacturer, and each boat company pushes for a concerted effort toward protecting and managing our fish. It's not just about sales for today, but sales for the future. The very existence of the sport itself is at stake. We need to make "bass" a priority.
We spend tons of money on everything including tackle, rods and reels, boats, motors, clothing, line and all other kinds of items, but rarely are we involved in new and innovative ways to keep bass alive.
Boat companies build some excellent livewell systems with bigger pumps and better circulation, but they can be enhanced. It all comes down to supplying the best oxygen possible alongside a great livewell-water conditioner. The combo not only allows anglers to keep more fish alive for weigh-in, but it also increases survival when the tournament trucks roll off.
That's why I think O2 Marine's simple livewell system is such a big help. It's innovative, easy, and really makes a difference.
The Science
The process of catching a bass causes the bass to experience stress. Overhandling, improper holding tanks, and too much heat in the livewell cause even more stress. Science says that in stressful environs, bass produce carbon dioxide and ammonia. So it's obvious even to the casual observer that maximizing dissolved oxygen in the water aids in recovery. Eliminating carbon dioxide and ammonia also helps.
Today's livewell systems recirculate the water, but really provide a minimal increase in oxygen, and don't focus on the elimination of carbon dioxide or ammonia. They simply recirculate bad water. So a key improvement, as previously noted, is to use two products in conjunction – O2's Oxygenator to increase dissolved oxygen, and U2 Pro Formula livewell conditioner to stabilize the environment.
That's the combo I tested over the past year. Before the results, though, I'd like to point out a few more things about livewell environments.
Test Results
The Oxygenator Pro Livewell Flush Mount System is a very unique product that does exactly what it was designed to do. It takes water, strips out the hydrogen, and creates pure oxygen. The "nano bubbles" that spew from the unit are pure oxygen.
One Oxygenator System treats 60 gallons of water effectively. Instead of recirculating undernourished and oxygen-depleted water, it actually creates oxygen and increases the water's oxygen count 10-fold.
I found through almost a year of my testing that both the Oxygenator and U2 formula work as designed. I didn't lose a fish in 25-plus tournaments. I saw heavily stressed fish right themselves in a short period of time, and live to swim another day. I even had one fish tongue-hooked and nearly deceased that righted itself at weigh-in nearly 4 hours later.
We feel so strongly about this product that we'd like to see all boat companies include the Oxygenator as standard equipment on their boats. In these days of $50,000 bass boats, it seems like a small price to make it right.
Other notes I can offer:
Notable
> Denny Brauer swears by the Oxygenator and is now sponsored by the company.
> For more information on O2 and its products, visit KeepFishAlive.com.
