Livewell questions.

I'd like to add a livewell to my tinboat mod but I know absolutely nothing about livewells. I'd like to make one out of a cooler. I'd also like to for it to not have pumps and whatnot taking up a lot of room on the inside. Would I be better off just buying one. If so where could I buy a live well. I guess can someone point me in the right direction for making my own?

Here's an article on building one out of a tote, coolers work too.
https://www.tinboats.net/projects/13-building-a-livewell

There are many different types of livewells used by different members, checkout the Mods section.

I think buying a livewell would be quite expensive. Get an old cooler and make one. You can do it with one pump, get 4' of hose or so and throw the pump in the water to fill, put it in the cooler to recirc and just use gravity to empty it.

FishinChips87 said:

I guess can someone point me in the right direction for making my own?

Click to expand...

You will need:

cooler
pump
hose
extra wire + terminal end (plug, clamps, rings, etc)
spray bar (can be easily made from PVC)
silicone or sealant (better to run the power through the cooler to make it shut completely)

Ask if you have any other questions. Good luck.

These are available at my local Academy Sports or can be ordered on line. Just add your own container. ET

https://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_12072_-1?ICID=CRT:0133-01730-0212

https://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_12070_-1?ICID=CRT:0133-01730-0031

I guess I'm just not sure what a livewell needs. Could I just have one pump (on top) coming in with a spray head/aeration tip and one pump on bottom pumping out? I'd also have a drain towards the top so it couldn't over fill.

I really don't know what kind of pumps I can get but I'd prefer to only having the aeration spray hose on the inside of the livewell and the pumps on the outside. I guess this would mean I'd need to put two holes in the side of my boat for pump in and pump out/drain.

I should have said this earlier but I'm looking for a permanent live well. I plan on putting a deck on the front of my boat forward of the front seat and a foot or so behind with the live well at the widest point. Since I plan on filling all gaps with foam I don't think a cooler would have more of an effect than previously planned.

I didn't go through all the mods so maybe I missed one that has done what I'm looking for.

If you're trying to keep baitfish spunky, a bought tank is a good investment. I have a Grayline brand tank that I am very satisfied with. Some guys have some really nice, functional DIY livewells on this site.

If you fish with live shad the container or livewell should be round as they will stack in corners and die. FYI

try ebayclassifieds.com/user/bill5500 he has them cheep 8)