Live well stink

[NDwalleyes]

Anyone have a homemade concoction for cleaning the stink from the livewell?

 

[MathewsZman]

It's not homemade but works . Sometimes !!!!

 

[ranger150]

Bleach and water. I do when getting the boat ready for the winter.

 

[LBrandt]

bleach should do the trick or vinegar. Hydrogen peroxide, backing soda, dawn dish soap. What I use for de-skunk the dog.

 

[CatDaddy]

I avoid this problem by not putting fish in mine

 

[NDwalleyes]

I've tried bleach and vinegar and it got about 75% of better. Forgot about the old skunk spray mix of vinegar, baking soda and dawn...I would think that would work.

 

[fj40]

Quit peeing in the live well.

 

[Achucker]

I avoid this problem by not putting fish in mine

This ^^^;:;rofl

 

[Retired-Guy]

I have never had an issue but not because I don't put fish in it. I do not allow 'gators in my livewell though. They go on a stringer if someone just has to keep the sumbitch!

 

[NDwalleyes]

I have never had an issue but not because I don't put fish in it. I do not allow 'gators in my livewell though. They go on a stringer if someone just has to keep the sumbitch!

No snot rockets in my livewell either. I think the culprit is minnows that get errped up or don't make it back in the minnow bucket, and I don't get them cleaned out in time and they start to decay.

 

[LBrandt]

No gators in my livewell either. Bring your own cooler or throw them back period.

 

[Brian Renville]

Just bask in the smell of success.

 

[Allen]

Livewells are generally plastic nowadays. I've never had an issue, and mine have had an accidentally forgotten fish for a week in July. A little bleach and dishsoap and she's ready for the next outing.

The forgotten fish was this summer. I was wandering around my shop for several days trying to find the source of the aroma before I figured it out. Yuck! A little bleach and a lot of lake water later and it's just fine. This is on my 2004 Lund Fisherman's front livewell.

 

[MuleyMadness]

Bleach and water. I do when getting the boat ready for the winter.

if you do this make sure you clean the bleach out good and triple rinse. Made this mistake in my dads boat one time and had to fish with dead minnows all day. Pretty damn funny.

 

[MSA]

Bleach in a spray bottle, let soak for half hour or so, rinse it out

 

[eliminator]

Getting ready for winter I crumple up newspaper and put in there and leave for a while and when you take it out it has pretty much absorbed all the stink and you simply throw the paper away. Works pretty well for me

 

[guywhofishes]

My hypothesis:

If you bleached it (pour strong water/bleach solution in and leave it with cover down for 2 days) and it still stinks - your stink is coming from somewhere else.

 

[KDM]

Best thing I've found is to take a 5 gallon bucket of HOT water. As in just below boiling, add a quart or so of bleach, and pour the solution into the livewell. Close the lid and let it sit there until cool. The steam will volatilize the chlorine therby allowing it to get into every little crevice of the container including the carpet if you have any around the lid. The heat will soften the cracks in the plastic container (livewell) allowing the chlorine to get into them better and when the mixture is cool, you can scrub any surfaces you deem need it. Then when you drain it, the mixture will clean and disinfect the plumbing as well. This process cleaned my bait well when about a half lb of leeches were left in it for two weeks in July. Hope you can get it cleaned up.

 

[MuleyMadness]

Best thing I've found is to take a 5 gallon bucket of HOT water. As in just below boiling, add a quart or so of bleach, and pour the solution into the livewell. Close the lid and let it sit there until cool. The steam will volatilize the chlorine therby allowing it to get into every little crevice of the container including the carpet if you have any around the lid. The heat will soften the cracks in the plastic container (livewell) allowing the chlorine to get into them better and when the mixture is cool, you can scrub any surfaces you deem need it. Then when you drain it, the mixture will clean and disinfect the plumbing as well. This process cleaned my bait well when about a half lb of leeches were left in it for two weeks in July. Hope you can get it cleaned up.

Yummy. I am still trying to figure out how dead nightcrawlers can smell so bad.

 

[CatDaddy]

Yummy. I am still trying to figure out how dead nightcrawlers can smell so bad.

Still trying to get my kids to understand that dad's fridge in the garage doesn't "magically" keep nightcrawlers or leaches alive forever ;:;banghead