# New Bait Well



## jojo

I'm getting excited for spring, so I built a portable bait well. Equipped with a switch panel that operates the aerator and an underwater light. Also has a drain plug.

I will also be building a larger one with a pump out system instead of the drain plug.


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## Jim

Nice work! 

That looks mint!

How do you fill it?


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## jojo

Jim said:


> Nice work!
> 
> That looks mint!
> 
> How do you fill it?


I will either be using a bucket or a bilge pump to fill it.


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## slick

Good idea. What size container did you use? How many gallons do you think it is? I like how you have the controls out of the elements.


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## jojo

It is 10.5 gallons

This is it here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Styleworks-Tough-Tote-10.5-gal-Black-Silver/19888931

There is a 25 gallon one as well. I will be using that for my larger one.


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## jojo

Here she is boys. This is the latest one I built for a friend. It's the same 10.5 gallon container.

This thing can do it all. It can fill itself, pump out, re-circulate internally and externally using an overflow. All can be done turning on and off some valves and/or hooking up the fill kit.


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## muzikman

=D> =D> =D> 
Excellent!
I do believe I'm going to "borrow" those ideas you have and build my own....well done!


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## Jim

Article for the homepage? PM me if interested. I myself would love to have it on there. :beer:


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## jojo

Here is what the inside of the switch panel looks like.


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## jojo

Here are some more pics of it in action pumping water in using the overflow. The bucket of water would be the river or lake.


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## fool4fish1226

Very nice work :beer:


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## counterstrke

fool4fish1226 said:


> Very nice work :beer:




Very nice, what was the total cost? Are you planning on posting more details?

thanks


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## jojo

counterstrke said:


> Very nice, what was the total cost? Are you planning on posting more details?
> thanks


It wasn't cheap. It's hard to say an exact price. Some of the stuff I already had. The total parts cost was probably around $180.00.

I wasn't planning on posting any more details. What do you want to know?


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## huntinfool

Down here in Texas, that would get pretty hot, pretty quick. But the craftsmanship looks great.


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## jojo

huntinfool said:


> Down here in Texas, that would get pretty hot, pretty quick. But the craftsmanship looks great.


Using an insulated cooler instead of the storage bin would help, and/or using frozen water bottles. Pumping in fresh water and overflowing it keeps the water temp down as well.


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## redrum

I don't think you will have any trouble with temperature since you are pulling from the lake/river. If you just recirculate then yes it will get pretty warm. I've considered building something like this using a cooler but everyone says shad can't handle anything except a round or rounded tank.


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## bnt5

Check out flow-rite.com no more garden hose fittings needed, makes building a livewell or bait tank a breeze. Used their fittings on my last boat and a diy bait tank build for shad, worked great.


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## jojo

Thought I would share my new baitwell I built due to the hinges breaking on the old one.

Issues with old baitwell:
1. Overcrowding
2. Foam
3. Over aeration
4. Difficult to drain
5. Weak hinges

I use this baitwell for holding bluegills for flathead fishing. Most of the time they didn't seem to last long enough due to over aeration, which caused a layer of foam on the top. This was caused by the spray bar I was using. The new baitwell is using a flow-rite powerstream aerator. This will pump more oxygen in the water with the venturi inlet and it releases under water. I also added a couple vents in the top to bring in oxygen from the outside.





Another issue for the gills not lasting long would be they weren't getting enough fresh water every so often and overcrowding. I added a pump out system to make it easy to remove old water, then I would just dump in fresh water from a bucket. I decided not to add a pump in system due to the weight of having to move the baitwell around when its full of water and the extra work and load of the fill kit. The tank is also double the size of the old one at 20 gallons and has more heavy duty hinges.


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## BillPlayfoot

That beats my laundry basket, pool noodle floatation and a lid livewell. I released all the fish in my livewell.
Great job


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