Keeping yabbies alive

[jim_farrell]

I'm taking my nephew for a fish on sunday morning. High tide at 05.30 means no pumping in the morning. I rarely pump them and want to show him how.
Can they be kept overnight, and if so what is the best way.
Thanks jim

[Got_the_Fever]

Jim once you have pumped them drop them into some dry untreated pine shavings, they will keep for days. My dad used to do it all the time. All you need to do it check them now and then and if there are any dead ones take them out.


Kel

[Noelm]

I guess you are talking about "pink Nippers" if so, just put them in clean water while you are pumping them, before you go home, change water and get a small fish tank pump and airstone, stick it in bucket and they will be just fine next day (even a few days is OK)

[shayned]

Cool and dark does the trick, if you can change the water even better. If you go this way bring another bucket of water home with you and change before bed. The easiest way to do it is have another container with lots of drilled holes in it, sitting inside the bucket to hold the yabbies. Use the same system when fishing to make water changes fast and easy. Even on the hottest days this helps keep the heat down. The other trick is to buy a cheap coolite 6 pack holder as your outer container and rescue an unused tuppaware container from the kitchen to sit inside it, put the holes in it and keep it hidden from your wife and its a great yabbie keeping system for even the hottest summer day.

Hope this helps.

[banshee]

Drain them and wrap them in damp hesian or newspaper.

[ida]

i keep mine alive in 10 ltr bucket of water in my shed .change water b 4 u go home keep in dark & get dead ones out .bring home spare water 4 changing they'll keep for a few days cheers ida

[Owen]

I reckon you need to treat them differently depending on whether they're left handed or right handed.
The left handed ones you keep for bait as they're defective anyway.
The right handed ones you return to try to cleanse the gene pool

They are pretty hardy little buggers.
I usually just keep the water as fresh as possible. An air pump would definately help, but I've had them last overnight with no more than some fresh water just before I went home.
I was living on the river, so home was only 50m away though.

cheers,
Owen

[Feral]

Just stick them in a half full bucket of sea water, they will last overnight ok, just change the water when you get there in the morning to freshen them up and keep them alive for the day.

I generally can keep them alive in a bucket of sea water for upto 5 days using an aerator. Just take out any sick or dead ones as soon as you see them.

Dont take to many, lots of people think they need heaps. For 2 people 30 or 40 is generally heaps. If the fish are biting, that will have caught you enough, if they are not biting, it will take you all day to drown that many yabbies!

[jim_farrell]

Thanks guys. I've caught plenty, but never kept them over night. Sounds like the aerator will do the job.
Owen, it brings back funny memories.

[NeilD]

They keep well in just enough water to cover them then placed in a fridge or esky on ice. They will last days this way. As with other methods discard the dead ones

Neil

[bungie]

keep them moist but not in deep water, believe it or not they drown if kept to long in a bucket of water (they are used to the tide movement)

[mangomick]

I'll go with the clean untreated pine shavings tip. Give them a wash in clean water ,drain ,put them in a shallow tray with pine shavings and put them down in the vege section of the fridge. If you leave them in water they tend to get too soft. Any dead or half mutilated ones should be thrown out no matter which way you go otherwise they poison the rest.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure theres a quantity limit on them now, dont suppose it wont be long and we'll have a size and sex limit too

[mikedel]

Bungie is on the mark. I use to get them for the whole fishing club and keep them going overnight, up to 1500 yabs. Lots of shallow containers, eskies, esky lids, broccoli boxes ect. Only just enough water to cover thier backs, change it once during the night then again the next morning and pull out any soft or dead ones. Always break off the big claw when you pump them or some will get crunched up. We only put them in wood shavings the next morning and then only in summer. Those old foam six pack eskies are great for this, layer of shavings, layer of yabbies, layer of shavings ect ect ect, and then put in a frozen bottle of water and tape up the esky, but only in summer. This time of the year you could transfer them into bucket just before you go fishing. OH beware of treated wood shavings.
Hope this helps. Mike

[magicmarlin]

mate fresh grass clippings seems to be the trick....keep em in a dark spot and throw out the ones that go belly up. always seem to last for a couple of days...

mm