Live well temperature variations stress out largemouth bass, study finds

A researcher at a lake holds a largemouth bass fish over a tub.

If you’ve ever been on a fishing boat, you might be familiar with live wells – small water tanks, built into the boat, where live fish can be stored. In bass fishing tournaments, these live wells keep fish alive throughout the competition, so that they can be released at the end. Anglers are always looking for ways to keep fish safe and healthy in these wells, since live bass mean higher prizes and more fish spawned for next year.

Researchers at U. of I. studied the