Bait live-well for my boat

[rob v]

I've got a couple of live wells in my Crestliner Fishhawk but no bait well. Anyone have any ideas on an easy way to keep live bait (minnows) in one of these livewells - I'm thinking of some sort of containter that could be dropped into the livewell to hold the bait. I know there,s some very creative people on this board and any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

[jwl]

I just simply stick my bait bucket in my livewell,I lift up the hatch and check the bait and if needed I just turn on the tap and run some fresh water into the bucket every now and again

[Billy Bob]

I have the OLD galvanized 1 gallon bait bucket with the inside strainer. I just use the inside strainer part in my livewell. It floats upright in there very well. When I need bait I take out a small dip and put in into the outer 1 gallon bucket for immediate use while having the strainer part hold most of the minnows within my livewell and the livewell pump coming on for 30 seconds every five minutes as it does when the pump is set on cycle. This has work GREAT for MANY years.

[OhioFisherman]

I have always used my livewell, I just glue some screening over the overflow to keep the minnows from swimming out. Just found that the livewell with the timer was the easiest way. Screening I used was plastic and it`s been on the boat for twenty years or so with no problems.

[irishfield]

I used to just stick my yellow plastic bait bucket in the live well.. as well. My current boat has a sliding bucket in the livewell. Almost looks like a bathroom garbage bucket with holes drilled in it. It sits in an aluminum ring.. that slides along the live well lid. I can take a pic tomorrow if you'd like Rob... when I'm gettin the boat ready to go to Niagara.

[danc]

My last three boats, dating back to the mid 80's, had a stand pipe with a screened end that allowed the live well to fill/drain and not let minnows escape.

[irishfield]

Mine's that way too Dan... just hard to chase them buggers around the whole tank. I never use the item I mentioned above... it gets used to hold the pee bucket! I use the bow livewell for minnows, the few times a year that I even use them.

[OhioFisherman]

http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/26066-bait-w...d-cummings.html

 

I also use one of these in the livewell make them minnies easy to catch.

[rob v]

Thanks guys - my current minnow pail won't fit in the live well - tried that. and I've tried just putting the minnows in the live well, but like Irishfield mentioned chasing them around can be a royal pain. Irishfield if you think of it tomorrow and take a picture or two of that set-up that may be helpful - maybe I could copy it somehow.

 

I may try and rig some type of mess netting with a pvc frame to hold the top out of/on top of the live well. I saw something like that in the store a while back.

 

thanks again.

[OhioFisherman]

Rob a couple other ideas on this site.

 

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/tacklesh...ome.php?cat=707

Edited December 12, 2008 by OhioFisherman

[profisher25]

Hey Rob, I can give you a few suggestions.

 

 

1. Instead of keeping the minnows in a live well, you should just hang them on the side of the boat, ( in a container obviously) but what container to use??.. Well, if you wanted, you could just get any kind of large tupperware contanier and poke holes at the top. and on the side of the container, make a hole and tie a rope through it.

 

2. If you wanted to keep a live well in your boat, you can get a large plastic tank or bucket, one that you would essentially use to store kids toys or perhaps some sort of storage bin. From there, you can get aerator which basically keeps the water inside the bin or tank, constantly moving, its like a filter in your ordinary fish tank.

 

3. Your last and probably best option, is to buy a portable live well, either one you can easily install in your boat, or one thats hand held. I have a hand held live well, and it works perfectly... i bought it in florida, and we kept shrimp in there, it could hole about 4 dozen shrimp in there, all i did, i attach a string to the handle and let it sit in the ocean. Worked like a charm!

 

Hope that helps you out Rob!