Livewell question

I just acquired my new to me 1993 Princecraft 162 DLX. This is the first boat I have ever owned with a livewell. There is just one fill tube and one drain with an over flow pipe stuck in it. My question is do I keep the pump running the whole day continuously adding fresh water letting the overflow manage the amount of water in the well or do I fill with water and stop the pump?

apfonk said:

I just acquired my new to me 1993 Princecraft 162 DLX. This is the first boat I have ever owned with a livewell. There is just one fill tube and one drain with an over flow pipe stuck in it. My question is do I keep the pump running the whole day continuously adding fresh water letting the overflow manage the amount of water in the well or do I fill with water and stop the pump?

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You have to stop the pump. The over flow tube won’t be able to keep up with the pump. And will over run. Rule of thumb is to fill as high as you can. So that when you launch out of the hole, and the bow rises. The water doesn’t slosh onto the deck. When the water needs to be refreshed. You just pump some out, and refill.


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I have been using a livewell for...well...decades.

The normal rule of thumb for me has been to turn the pump on and off periodically to keep the water freshened. This works fine in freshwater to keep warmwater fish like bass and pike alive for example. I don't like running a livewell if I'm working a shoreline, for example, as I think the noise of the motor turns fish off. And I don't like tunning the pump while underway because the intake for the livewell is in the stern of the boat and while the boat is underway the pump is sucking nothing but air. So my interval is as I'm idling toward a spot to fish, or as I'm about to take off to go to a different spot. I did take about an inch off the top of the overflow tube to keep the water level just a bit lower and prevent sloshing on deck in choppy water.

That said, I also use the livewell in saltwater to keep bait alive such as mullet and bunker. My experience with this started out dangerously for the bait as the livewell could handle only a few at a time due to high oxygenation requirements. If I'd get a castnet full and dump it into the livewell, the baits would expire pretty quickly. The solution was two part: 1) to add yet another machine - a recirculating livewell oxygenator that forcefully lifts the water from the bottom of the livewell and sprays it over the top creating lots of bubbles. Worked great, but the technical issue with this was that the filter mechanism would clog up with scales if there were too many baits in the well. and 2) putting fewer baits in the livewell and focusing on quality amd friskiness! I know some people also inject oxygen from a tank into their baitwells to perk up the bait, but I've never done that.

The recirculator also works well when you pull the boat up on the trailer to go home. If you keep it going it will keep the fish alive so when you go to clean them they will be fresh (alive) and not dead, waterlogged and punky!

Ohhh. Another thing. Be sure you keep a screen on top of the overflow tube when using the livewell for bait. Nothing like a dead finger mullet (or other life form small enough to get sucked into it) jamming up your overflow tube. Don't ask me how I know that one....

So my perspective on this depends on the situation.

Hope this helps.

My new boat has some sort of circulate mode, I don't quite know what it is, but doesn't matter, livewells are illegal to use here in NH anyway.

Just read about a bass pro fisherman who only puts water in in the morning. The rest of the day, he adds chemicals and ice but not new water. His theory was that adding new water just heats up the livewell and he wants it cool.

I can count the number of times that I've used a livewell on two hands, so my opinion isn't worth much.

I've never had or used a live well. I guess the closest I've come is a minnow bucket. If I keep a fish it goes directly to the ice chest. I guess a live well is essential for LMB tourneys.

jethro said:

My new boat has some sort of circulate mode, I don't quite know what it is, but doesn't matter, livewells are illegal to use here in NH anyway.

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Interesting. What is the rationale?

thedude said:

jethro said:

My new boat has some sort of circulate mode, I don't quite know what it is, but doesn't matter, livewells are illegal to use here in NH anyway.

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Interesting. What is the rationale?

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In both Maine and NH, it is illegal to posses live fish at any time. If you are going to posses (take) a fish, it must be dispatched immediately and become part of your "bag" for the day. Culling of fish is illegal. I would assume the rationale is to avoid stressing the fish, but maybe it's something else like preventing bucket biologists.

please delete...I couldn't verify my remark.

jethro said:

thedude said:

jethro said:

My new boat has some sort of circulate mode, I don't quite know what it is, but doesn't matter, livewells are illegal to use here in NH anyway.

Click to expand...

Interesting. What is the rationale?

Click to expand...

In both Maine and NH, it is illegal to posses live fish at any time. If you are going to posses (take) a fish, it must be dispatched immediately and become part of your "bag" for the day. Culling of fish is illegal. I would assume the rationale is to avoid stressing the fish, but maybe it's something else like preventing bucket biologists.

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In California culling is also illegal, except for bass tournaments it is allowed. I suspect another possible reason is concern that fish will be transported & introduced to another body of water. Not sure what a bucket biologist is.

richg99 said:

please delete...I couldn't verify my remark.

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I was thinking of making some general statements about the states in question...maybe they have some very good reasons! [emoji3]

While fishing you may want to have the pump off. I found that I see way more fish in my canoe paddling as quiet and smoothly as possible compared to being in a tin boat. While canoeing I see fish directly under the boat that I don't see while in a tin. Be stealthy.

LDUBS said:

jethro said:

thedude said:

Interesting. What is the rationale?

Click to expand...

In both Maine and NH, it is illegal to posses live fish at any time. If you are going to posses (take) a fish, it must be dispatched immediately and become part of your "bag" for the day. Culling of fish is illegal. I would assume the rationale is to avoid stressing the fish, but maybe it's something else like preventing bucket biologists.

Click to expand...

In California culling is also illegal, except for bass tournaments it is allowed. I suspect another possible reason is concern that fish will be transported & introduced to another body of water. Not sure what a bucket biologist is.

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Bucket biologist...people that move fish around to different systems that may not of had that species before. Same as what you mentioned. Bad enough we have had "offical" stockings that wrecked systems.

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Different boats have different setups. Some have stand pipes in there with a drain big enough that you can run the pump continuously and it won't overpower the drain. Some have timers you can set on different settings or intervals between run time. I have used my livewell for a bait tank here during cooler weather and they keep bait just fine.