Anyone Ever Built a Live Baitwell??

Chattanooga Fishing Forum

Help Support Chattanooga Fishing Forum:

WLG

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
1,436
Location
Cleveland Tennessee
I am in the process of building a live baitwell...getting ready for that live bait bassin this year!! I cant afford one of the NICE well built ones so I am having to make my own. I am using a round 20 gallon tank and 500 gph pump. I will have valves on it so you can either recirculate the water already in the tank...or pump lake water in and out. I figure that way the water will stay fresh and cool ( whatever lake surface temp is) and eliminate most of the ammonia the fish produce. I will power it with a deep cycle 12 volt battery. I have 5/8 hoses that I can throw over the side of the boat ( this will also make it portable from boat to boat or use on the bank ) .One hose is the intake ( with a filter ) and the other the discharge hose ( also with a screen to keep the bait from escaping out the discharge hose.) I will post pics of it when I get it completed...probably tommorow. I cant wait to try out. Now all I gotta do is learn how to throw a cast net!!!emoParty Chime in if you have done this before or have any good ideas to add !!!emoPlease
 
make sure you use a food grade container .. I knew a guy that used a plastic cleaning solution barrel, killed all his fish even though he had cleaned it multiple times. The chemicals are absorbed into the plastic over time and leach back out into the water. Also Id insulate it as much as possible to keep water temp down in warmer months. and also make sure you keep it toward the front center of boat as this will add much weight to your boat.
 
Wade, here's a basic plan that I found on the web: http://www.nesportsman.com/articles/article27.shtml

I don't know where you got your plans but there are some ins and outs of making it work well. I have never had a baitwell other than my livewells in my bass boat and it hasn't ever been that great. A circular baitwell is a must because if the shad can get into a corner they will die. The other problem that comes up is the scales that come off always clog my screens. Be sure that you can have some way to clear the screens from time to time or things will get gunked up. I hope that it works out well for you.
 
Wade, for shad, you need to have the water move in a circular motion, they need the current. Put some sort of valve in it to regulate the speed of the current. Holler at me and you can see how my bait tank works and get some good ideas. It looks like you'll get by at about 10% of what I had to pay by the time you're finished! You didn't mention any aeration. It will be a must if your're going to keep very many shad during the day. Another thing to consider is some kind of filter to get rid of the tiny scales - you'll get a zillion of them and they will choke off the gills of the shad. Better call me and we'll get together, there are some simple solutions.
 
My dad has built a filter on his. I will send you some info on it so you can do that if you want. it filters out the scales and everything so you can recirculate the water and not clog up the screens.
 
I would stay away from the re-circ pump since the force of it will knock the scales off the baits and you will have to worry about clogging the filter. An aerator is imperative. Depending on the type shad (gizzards vs threads a.k.a. yellowtails) limit the number of baits to one per gallon for the gizzards and two per gallon for the yellowtails. Over populating the tank simply speeds the dying process. I'm assuming you will be using the yellowtails for bass.

With water changeouts and enough aeration you'll do good to keep the shad for more than three days. Bait should be caught fresh daily. I have a 12 gallon cooler that I converted to a bait tank. It holds all the bait I can use in a day. Keep in mind that a 20 gallon tank loaded will weigh 170-180 pounds. I always keep a five gallon bucket around that I store my net in. The bucket also doubles for water changeouts.

Hope some of this helps.
 
Water circulation is the key as well as a good charcoal filter to filter the amonia out. To big a pump in the tank will over swim the bait and make them tired. My tank had a 500 gph pump on it and I wore the thing out so I put a 800 gph bigger is better right!!! Wrong. I was tiring my bait out. I put a 500 gph pump back on the tank and my bait was much more lively. You want a gentle swirl in the tank just enough current to make the shad swim and force water over the gills.

My tank is a 40 gallon tank and the pump injects air into the water (tiny micro bubbles) which help rid the water of harmful containments that the shad give off. I also use an air stone during the summer months with pure Oxygen to help with oxygen depletion in the tank which can happen quickly during the summer months.

Fishing with shad has become a science experiment with me and I can tell you all the pit falls to stay away from. Good luck with the project.
 
That's all great info from guys who have experimented and figured out what really works. Thanks for being so open with the info guys! Hopefully you'll have a great fish catchin' bait tank once you get finished WLG.
 
That's all great info from guys who have experimented and figured out what really works. Thanks for being so open with the info guys! Hopefully you'll have a great fish catchin' bait tank once you get finished WLG.
 
That's all great info from guys who have experimented and figured out what really works. Thanks for being so open with the info guys! Hopefully you'll have a great fish catchin' bait tank once you get finished WLG.
 
Back
Top