So I am at a tournament last week and when I was coming in on the intracoastal I got stuck behind a yacht and had to slow down.  When I did my bow went high, as they do at low speeds.  Once we got into the no wake zone I checked on my fish and they were flopping on the bottom of the livewell.  Now, usually I let it fill up and then close the valve because this has happened before.  Is this normal or is there something wrong with my system?

Is there by any chance a place in your livewells for drain plugs?  Mine has rubber plugs.  If you remove them, just running down the lake can drain the wells.

Depends on your system. What boat are you running? Usually the manufacture has a PDF on their website on livewell usage.

I have a '93 Javelin 379DC.  Since OMC has gone under it's kinda hard to find the schematics for it.

You have operator error.

I had a '93 Javelin 379T and to maintain any suitable water level for fish preservation, the drain valve (lever thingy behide the driver's seat) has to be closed all the time. The livewell has a piped overflow and also it will overrun the upper lip (space between the top of the livewell and the deck) and drain into the hull when the boat is bow up during take-off or as you described with the plowing water following the large boat.

The livewell fill pump is sized to not pump water faster than it can drain out of the overflow.

The best operation of that system is to fill the livewell at least 1/2 full (with the valve closed) before you leave the dock in the morning. That will give you enough water to maintain your first fish as you fill it the rest of the way after catching it.