how to keep live bait alive?

[klark2008]

Anyone have any experience keeping killies over a period of time? When we fish we usually like to leave really early. Only problem is bait shops are never opened when we head out or depending where we go there are no bait shops around. My question is does anyone catch or buy live killies and keep them in a tank? if so how long do they normally stay alive for

[SaltLife1980]

Killies stay alive all day if you get a small cooler and put ice in it then a wet rag over the ice and then just throw the killies on top of that. Better then using a air pump.

[Duffman]

I have a 20 gallon tank in my garage I set up each year. Run an aquaclear filter and change the filter media once a month. No heater or air stones.

At the end of each trip I bring the unused killies home in the boats live well and dump them in the tank. Never an issue keeping dozens alive all season. Feed whatever leftover bread is in the house.

Fwiw I ve found putting some kind of substrate in the tank helps keep the baits color darker compared to a plain glass bottom.

[bulletbob]

some good tips so far, but as long as you don't crowd them, killies have no problem staying alive at all overnight.. i would probably seperate them into a couple or 3 of plastic buckets full of cool water , and then just before you leave dump them into the one you plan on using when fishing.. .... The less crowded they are, and cooler they are kept, the longer they will stay alive and frisky.. btw, fresh dead killies are great bait for fluke as well, especially as a jig sweetener... For long term storage, Duffman's setup is the way to go, unless you have a larger tank or an old bathtub or something.. bob
sbob

[PeteyHD]

Killies stay alive all day if you get a small cooler and put ice in it then a wet rag over the ice and then just throw the killies on top of that. Better then using a air pump.

Yup. Ice packs works even better so you don't have a pool of freshwater on the bottom of your cooler.

[flyersnfluke]

I use one of those blue ice packs in a small cooler, place a wet rag over it, dump Millie's in, still alive and well at the end of the day.