Baitwell aerator

[Guest]

Hey guys I am seriously considering getting into the live bait game. Cast net, bait tank and all the stuff that goes with it. I have a 15 gallon bait/live well on my boat. The only aeration is the pump that fills the well. I know it won't keep bait long because it won't keep craqppie too long. My main question what kind and brand aerator is the best for the application I am considering.
(Don't worry guys I'm not looking to bass fish and fillet what I catch)
I want to be able to catch live shad or whatever for catfishing. I may stay with the cut bait but am reading about a lot of people catching trophy cats on live stuff.
Thanks,

Cheez

 

[Liveliner]

Fifteen gallons is on the small side so you have to really have to work to keep your bait alive. You must keep the temps down. That is where an insulated tank is a must in the summer months. The only way to really keep bait alive for a period in a small tank is to have cool water pumping through it at all times. Like Eric pointed out the other day, if you suck up some of that heated Nuke water it will cook and kill your bait. About the only way you can keep Shad alive is to have an insulated tank at least twenty gallons with a charcoal filtering system and air injection. If you are fishing in hot weather you will also need water treatment in your tank for the fish. Frozen half gallon milk jugs help keep your water cool. Just do not cool it too quickly or over do it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks David, I should have just asked you instead of wasting the bandwidth. I'll probably just stick to cut bait for now.

Cheez

 

[DHaun]

Cheez - if you are going to fish with your bait quickly then you can possibly use what's already on your boat. I catch my shad and just throw them in the standard G3 uninsulated square aluminum livewell with the aerator running all the time to circulate the water. It's by far not the best setup but it has allowed me to catch a few fish without spending any real $$. One thing I never do is keep too much bait which has not been an issue lately with my catch rates...Only about 2 dozen max. I also have a cheap $7 wal-mart battery operated aerator I use in the livewell just to see if it helps. A jug full of frozen water would probably help too. That's the economy bait tank...keeps them alive just long enough to fish with quickly but they wither away pretty fast (within 2-3 hours after 5pm) in this heat. Also, if you are catfishing they don't really need to stay alive anyway unless you are targetting flatheads (from what I have heard)...I think they do better for blue cats with a slice down the middle.

Good Luck!

 

[Guest]

Dhaun the livewell on my G3 is a little different than yours. Mine has round corners and is called a bait/livewell. I was hoping that I could keep 3 or 4 dozen shad or maybe a couple dozen bluegill alive. If I just run my "aerator" pump it will quickly overflow into the boat as the pump has more pumping capacity than the overflow. Most of my fishing is for blues but I would really love to get into the big flatheads. I may try one of those oxygenator pumps and see what happens. Ice is never a problem as I use 2 liter Coke bottles filled with water and frozen in my cooler.
Thanks,
Cheez

 

[Liveliner]

Cheez you make me feel bad now. Are you saying that I am acting like the "Everlasting Know-it-all"?

If you are then here is some more advice for you. Get as small a water pump as you can find and attach a 1/2" clear plastic hose onto it about 10' long. Somewhere in about the center of the hose attach a hooking devise of some sort so as to hook it to your boat and keep the rig from sliding into the water too far. Add wires to the pump with either battery clips or a Cig. lighter outlet. Turn it on, throw the pump in the water and stick the end of it into your bait tank. The pump in hanging down into the water pumping. If that over flows your tank then add a second hose about twice ths diameter and 3/4 as long. Turn the pump on with the ends of both hoses in your bait tank. Fill the second hose with the water being pumped in so as to get it syphoning. This way you can run one small pump on your battery and it will fill and keep your tank from over filling at the same time. If you cut your pump off pull it from the tank orit will empty it.

I made a larger rig similar to that to fill and empty my 30 Gallon bait tank. I do not have the running over problem as you do in your boat. I usually let mine run over into my boat for a long time or untill it changes out all the water. If the water runs into my boat it doesn't matter. It just runs out the back.

 

[Guest]

Cheez you make me feel bad now. Are you saying that I am acting like the "Everlasting Know-it-all"?

NO!
Quite the opposite. I respect your advice in matters like this. My point was that I should have just called you for advice on my project. Then Dhaun posted some more help and between the two of you I have some ideas to try without spending a big chunk on something I might not like.
Thanks David and David.emoWorthy

Cheez

 

[rsimms]

Liveliner or others... I've used my Super Bait Tank (30 gallons) in the Spring, but not in the summer. How many frozen milk jugs of water are you typically going to have to haul around/use to keep shad cool/alive in the heat of summer?

 

[Carl Guffey]

Two things, In the summer it is not about keeping water cool as much as not letting it get hot. I generally use only two half gallon frozen jugs a day in a thirty gallon livewell without ill effects(keep in cooler until needed). The other is to add table salt, 1/4 cup non-iodized table salt per fifteen gallons, aqua-farmers have use this for transporting live fish for years.

If you have an extra temp sensor from a depth/ sonar insert it into your livewell or baitbucket to monitor temps. It really dosen't take much ice to make a difference.

 

[BigFishGuide]

rsimms - 6/11/2007 8:43 AM

Liveliner or others... I've used my Super Bait Tank (30 gallons) in the Spring, but not in the summer. How many frozen milk jugs of water are you typically going to have to haul around/use to keep shad cool/alive in the heat of summer?

Richard,

I have been using a 1 gallon jug AND and 1/2 gallon jug to cool my water. First put the bait in the water. "I use tap water with de-chlor" and then add the ice so as to not shock the bait. It will gradually get cooler on the bait instead of putting them directly into colder water. Generally 70 - 75 deg water is perfect but that much difference in water temps during the summer will kill the bait.... say the lake surface temp is 83 - 85 deg. and you cool the bait tank temp down 10 deg. Much more will send the shad into shock. Even if you get the shad accustom to the tank water at 70- 75 when you fish with them in the lake going back to the warmer water will kill them also. So in saying all this I would not make a temp change of over 10 deg. watch the Thermometer and take the Ice out once you get around the 8 and 10 degree water temp change if it has not melted all the way in the jug. And I add about 2 cups of Ice Cream salt to my tank water to promote slime coat and harden scales and to keep the red nose on the shad away.

 

[Liveliner]

I carry my jugs of ice in my drink cooler and drop one in when I feel it is needed. I've got another Everlasting idea - How about dropping in one of those floating aquarium thermometers into your bait tank to show you a quick reading of the temp.