Homemade Baitwell?

[GailWins]

I was looking at using this for 3-4 bunker at a time. I do not do alot of bait fishing and have limited deck space, but would like to be able to try it when the timing is right.

Do you think 8-9 gallons of water, an air pump and this cooler could sustain 3-4 bunker for a couple of hours?

I was going to get the blue version.

GW

http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd150117

[FLOATSUM]

IMO, first issue is the air pump.
Blowing bubbles into the water does next to nothing. You're going to need "dissolved oxygen" in the water. Not that easy to do without getting involved and expensive.
The bait willbe frantic! Scared crapless! This sucks up oxygen really fast.
Far better would be a raw water pump with overflow... and a bigger bucket.

[reelfishin]

How about buying a icechest with a extra door on top and putting raw water to it. It already has a drain on the ice chest that you can add a hose to and take it to a drain on the boat.

[SOUNDBOUNDER]

It seems too small IMO.
It looks like its simply a taller version of a 5 gallon bucket.
There's not enough diameter, at least compared to what I am familiar with.

[FirstCast]

You should look for a barrel in the 30-gallon range like this :

http://www.bayteccontainers.com/30galpolbar.html

If you are resourceful, you can find one for free. We have the pickleworks factory in Staten Island, who are willing to let them go for nothing. My friend in Jersey gave me one he got from a cleaning company - it had soap in it.

Take the washdown hose on your boat and use it to pump water into the barrel. You will have to cut a hole in the top, and rig up a standing drain using pvc pipe. It has to drain from the top so that enough water stays in it.

I'll be building mine in the next few weeks. I'll post photos as I go. This should easily keep about 50 bunker alive (you could probably double that number). If you are going to liveline, you may as well do it right.

My barrel will actually fit between the leaning post and the console on my 20-foot center console.

[CABCAF]

http://www.aquatic-eco.com/subcatego...g-Bait-Aerator


I used one of these in my old boat. It would keep 50 4" peanut bunker alive in about 8 gallons of water but you had to change the water every half hour or so because of the fish poop!