What to do with old livewell pump hole?

The previous owner of my boat didn't use the livewell in my boat so he unhooked the hose from the old livewell pump and siliconed the inlet and outlet holes on it, Not a problem for me as I dont fish tourneys and anything that goes in my livewell ends up on a plate. Problem is that the thru hull fitting started leaking during duck season. I took the whole thing off now and am left with a hole in the transom under the waterline. What would my options be besides welding for patching and sealing up this hole?

Put another fitting in the hole and fill it with silicone is a simple solution.

To "temporarily" seal it off, I put a couple layers of Duct Tape over
the nipple and put on a hose clamp. If the old fitting is still good
and not brittle, use it, if not, get a new one.
It is a bit more complicated if you want to remove it completely and make the permanent fix.
Personally, I would suggest the temporary fix. You never know if
you will need it later on up the river.

Jus my dos centavos

:WELCOME:

Here was my solution, one piece on either side sealed with 5200 and bolted.

Might try the 2nd idea, thanks. The old fitting is pretty wore out and the nut is cracked so I don't want to use it. I'm thinking about replacing the livewell pump and hooking it up to the livewell but have never messed with one before. It looks like its been many years since the livewell was functional with a working pump to it and im not sure what condition the water line is that's not visible. There's what looks like a metal (aluminum?) pipe that runs down the side of the boat where the old pump was mounted but it was cut off a couple feet short of the pump. The more I think about it I may replace the pump and turn it into an actual aerated livewell. If I were to do this and want to keep water out of the livewell when not in use would I need to install a valve of some kind?