Livewell plumbing help (no holes in boat, please)

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richg99

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I haven't had much use for a livewell EXCEPT now, for a local bass tournament, on our little lakes nearby. To date, I've struggled by with a large black PVC tub; two RULE pumps; a raised PVC spray arm, and some cigarette lighter type plugs for electricity.

Copying a design from a local guide, my "water-in..water-out" has been an 800 gph pump with a large hose. The pump is thrown into the lake and plugged in. The hose end is pointed into the tub and water flows IN!

To move the water OUT, the pump end is dropped into the livewell, and the water flows OUT.

While in operation, ....and switching from IN to OUT, and back again...that process looks hokey, but actually does the job quite well.

The raised spray arm also works, but it gets in the way a lot.

I've recently read that using a spray arm splashing on top of the water is harmful in that it induces some sort of chemical breakdown to the water, to the detriment of the fish. Any idea if this negative theory is true?

What I envision is....#1.. Put the spray arm on the side of the tub to get it out of the way...OR...replace the spray arm with a decent sized "bubbler". Of course, I could add the bubbler in addition to the spray arm. It's only money, and, after all, it is for my BOAT!

#2. Add a piece of white colored Coroplast on the bottom of the black tub. Yesterday, we were trying to cull, and couldn't see most of the smaller fish to get them out! I see that Dale H (smart guy, Dale) uses a blue or green color because the bait prefers that color combination, or for some such reason????

#3. To make the IN and OUT nicer...I am thinking of building some sort of PVC (what else) framework that would hang on the side of the tub. That framework would contain PVC fittings.

One set would be attached to the 800 gph pump to push water OUT.

The other side would connect to a flexible hose and another new pump that I would drop INTO the water to provide for the IN side of the equation. These little lakes are all NO WAKE, so, even if I were to forget and leave the pump over the side, no harm should come to it.

I will not drill any holes in my hull for this project. This tournament nonsense may not last for me, and I don't need a live-well for anything else.

I am hoping, by posting here, that someone already has made something similar and I can copy their best ideas.

Any and all input ( other than Drill, Baby, Drill) is appreciated.

regards, richg99
 
Rich:

We found, with fragile baits like pogies (menhaden) that a colored interior on the lifewell kept them better, but this may be specific to my saltwater experience.

We don't use (and have never seen one used in SW) bubblers or sprayers, but I'm a big believer in big pumps to move as much water as we can. But even then, if/when we noticed baits slowing down or turning on their sides, I'd take a 5-gallon bucket, pull 2 or 3 out, then dump in 2-3 but from a height above the well surface, so the falling water aerated the well pretty good.

On many of my small boats I rig portable 20-gal tanks with the pump hooked up like yours, where we just toss it over the side of the boat. But I rig them so the inlet is at the bottom but I ALWAYS use an overflow, mounted high on the well (need it above the rubrail, so it will free drain).

When running to another spot, we just pick the pump up and toss it into the well to keep water circulating. Avoid square corners in your well if you can, using that plastic sheeting trick I had mentioned before, as in my experience baits that don't move … die.
 
Dale - when I had my big 275 gallon tub, I kept freshwater minnows and shiners
in it and since it was square, the shiners would constantly bang their
heads on the walls resulting in trauma where they died early . . . .
I wrapped some black plastic around the tub and the longivity rate went way, way up.
so you do have a valid point about making it dark in a livewell.
minnow bucket.JPG
translucent is not a good idea.
lots and lots of bubbles from the spray bar helps oxygenate the water as well



.
 
Thanks, guys. This device is going to be used far more for a livewell for keeping bass until weigh-in.... than for bait (which aren't allowed in the tournaments, darn!)

I have received another recommendation to put a sheet of white or light-colored plastic on the bottom, so I'll give that a try. I just need some contrast to see the smaller bass when we are culling.

Yesterday, we could only turn five fish in, but we had ten in the livewell. We didn't cull as we went because, in my small boat, we had them jumping OUT of the livewell and almost lost the biggest one over the side!

So, culling is best accomplished when we are on dry land. They can jump, but they can't run.....

richg99
 

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