clarence2society wrote:im gonna have to get a third bucket for down here only and fill it full of fresh saltwater and chnge it out from what i see after five hours.... if i buy bait at or 6 pm then come to work... i change it at 1030 11ish andthen i go fish by 430 and change again.
I do it 2 ways, but the reason i do it 2 ways is because i have a saltwater aquarium. When i make a new batch of saltwater the old water i take out is what i used. (Still good) Chris is right that most of the bait shop water is bad, so i change it right away. The other way is i head down to the bay and have 5 gallon gas container (5 of them) and fill them up. I change the water everyday. If i have crabs 12 plus I keep 6/7 in each bucket. If I have them for more then 2 days i feed them so they dont feed on themselves and keep them healthy. Once im heading out to fish they all go in the same bucket.
Now, the day of fishing you can put them in a ziploc bag in your cooler so you dont have to carry the bucket or change water. Plenty of guys have done this(I have done this too) and they bite. Why i still keep them alive the day of fishing... just a habit i have. Try it next time. Put 2 rods with the crab on ice vs the live one. The 1 on ice might still be alive just sleeping but its still fresh and that is key for me.