Simple Hack To Keep Shrimp Alive (Without A Livewell)
- By: Austin Moon
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Live Bait Tips, Shrimp Tips, Weekly Newsletter: 7-11-21
Can shrimp come back to life if they’re kept on ice?
You’ll have to watch this new video to find out.
And if it does work, this could be a game-changer for anyone that does not have a livewell.
Or if you only have one live well and want to bring multiple baits.
So in this video, you’ll see if this live shrimp experiment succeeds or fails.
Check it out below!
DO THIS To Keep Your Shrimp Alive [VIDEO]
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How To Keep Shrimp Alive
Step 1: Fill cooler with ice.
Step 2: Soak newspaper in the water that is holding your live shrimp.
Step 3: Layer newspaper just on top of the ice.
Step 4: Put live shrimp on top of the newspaper layered on the ice.
Step 5: Fold over the top half of the newspaper to cover shrimp and close cooler.
Step 6: After some time (this experiment was an hour), put shrimp back into water or on a hook to fish with that’s placed in the water.
Step 7: Let the shrimp revive for about 10 minutes and get lively!
Conclusion
This could be a great solution for paddleboard and kayak anglers, as well as those without a livewell.
Have you tried this before?
Do you have any other tips for keeping bait alive?
Let me know in the comments below!
And if you know someone who loves to fish with live shrimp but doesn’t have a livewell, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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G Juice has been my salvation with a bunch of Finger Mullet in a 5 gallon with a Bubble box. Keeps the Creek Shrimp alive as well.
I have witnessed saw dust used by an Old Timer that I used o run into on the Surfside Jetties way back in the 80’s. Worked like a charm!
That is great! I learned something new today.
Doing this for years. I’ve kept them alive for 4 days in the refrigerator. Probably would live longer but never tried. In the fridge you dont have to worry about ice melting and the shrimp getting wet.
They may act dead but when they get back in saltwater and acclimate to the temp they get very lively.
That is awesome Rick, thank you for sharing this!! Ill definitely have to give that a go!!
Rick,
How do you keep them in the fridge and what’s the most number you’ve done (dozen, couple dozen, etc? Thanks for sharing!
Great idea.. years ago I used frozen bottle water in cooler with live shrimp laying in wet Spanish moss. Last several hours.
Thank you Darrell!! That is really that it works with Spanish Moss as well!!
I use an engel cooler, a bubbler, a larger aftermarket air stone, frozen bottles of water to keep the water cool but salty, and if I bring the shrimp home for the next day, I use an ammonia sequestrant to keep their waste from killing them. All available on amazon! 🙂
Excellent information Christopher, thank you!! I do the same thing, but I’m going to have to check out the ammonia sequestrant, ive never done that!!
Will last for hours, just don’t drown the shrimp in the “fresh ” icewater..
Thanks so much for the helpful information Don!!
We do something similar in NJ with Killifish (minnows) that we use for Fluke fishing. They will actually last better than in an aerated bucket. I use a regular little plastic bait bucket, put a quart sized ziplock bag of ice on the bottom, making sure there are no leaks,(double bag or vacuum seal) and put a small wet towel on top of the ice. Put the minnows on top of the towel, put in a cooler and they will last all day while fishing. Single layer of minnows so they don’t suffocate. They get very lively when they warm up. I’m not sure if they would last overnight, because we usually use them up or release any leftovers at the end of a day of fishing. Make sure not to use chlorinated water on the towel, but it doesn’t even need to be saltwater.
Wow that is amazing Lara!! So awesome to hear that this works with more than just Shrimp and can be done so many different ways!! I cant wait to try all of this out!! Couldn’t do it without great information like this, thank you so much!
This is a time tested method that will out fish and out last the old bait buckets. The key thing is the keep the cold and OUT OF THE FRESH WATER (this will kill them ). What I’ll do is place the shrimp 🦐 in two heavy duty GALLON ZIPLOCK BAG. Place the shrimp in the first bag, try to get the air out of the bag then place it zipped up in the second bag ( the second bag is to protect the shrimp from the small punctures that the shrimp horns etc WILL CAUSE. This prevents the fresh water from getting in the bag KILLING THE SHRIMP). I then place them shrimp ON TOP of the ice leaving the zippered portion of the bag hanging out of the cooler and close the lid which now leaves the bag sitting on the ice and makes it almost impossible to fall in the ice water ( unless you get lazy and dont re-zip the bag fully and lock it down with the lid. The shrimp will do into a catatonic state and may even appear to be dead at first sight. You will see that their Legs are moving snd they are in fact alive. Once you remove the shrimp and hook they will some of the suspended state and be WAY MORE LIVELY then you bait bucket. This is a really great technique where 100 degree days and 80+ degree water can wipe out your shrimp quickly. Another trick is the reusable frozen pack or better yet frozen water bottle (kills to bird with one stone when it melts and very refreshing) but I don’t think it keeps them as cold as long but it eliminates the melting ice/ water issue.
I use this technique on on skiff or Yak and have only one cooler to deal with saving LOTS OF SPACE !!
Keep them out out of the ICE water unless you like fishing dead ☠️ shrimp or Shrimp 🍤 in the Barbie!! DO IT RIGHT IVE KEPT SHRIMP ALIVE FOR DAYS!
This is GENIUS John, makes a lot of sense!! Thank you so much, this may be the way I do my next test, I think it makes much mores sense, bags are much more common than newspaper, and less messy, and will save space!! Thank you John!
Works with cabs too
Wow, that is awesome!! Thanks so much for the information Mark!!