easy portable livewell project for the bay

[HOTPURSUIT]

I have missed going live lining on the Chesapeake bay since I bought my parker and it came without a live well on it, So I got an idea and made one out of a big old cooler I had laying around that had seen better days. The outside was all cracked from the sun but the inside liner was still good. The first thing I needed was inlet on the bottom, just so happens the bigger coolers have drains that are already threaded to accept a hose, so the connection to the raw water wash down was a breeze. I did put a hose splitter on the wash down fitting so that I could hook up the livewell and my wash down hose too. Next was a drain, with epoxy I fastened some 1-1/2" pvc thru the top side of the cooler, then epoxied a 1-1/2 PVC coupling to some 1-1/2"flexible hose to get the drain to the scupper well, the coupling slides on and off the pvc, it is not glued so that when I am done with it all the hoses, bait nets etc get packed in the cooler I have used it twice and it works great. one nice feature is that there is kinda like a clam shell on my pickup for the raw water, ever since I bought this boat I noticed if I had the sea cock open and nothing connected to the deck fitting it would pump water out onto the deck while underway. Well that works great for this setup, without the pump running it still circulates water while underway. The first trip out when I got to where I was going to catch some bait I opened the cooler to find it had already filled with water on the way there. This might be a little cheap but it works!

 

[Shannonigans]

This might be a little cheap but it works!

. . .. . .cheap hell. . ..great idea and good job! I did something very similar with a 30 gallon blue drum I had. Works great as a small work station too. .....don't forget to show us how well it works by posting a few pics of what you catch!

 

[TimC2520]

Great job! Question, if sitting on the hook, how often do you have to run the washdown? Do you have to run it constantly?

 

[warthog5]

Baits don't like square corners. Unless it's shrimp.

 

[DaleH]

Baits don't like square corners.

So true, corners will kill lively baits like mackerel or fragile ones like menhaden.

FWIW, I'll be making this mod to a 165-qt new cooler I just put aboard, but I'll add thin 1/32" plastic baffles, pop-rivited w/ 3M 5200, to each corner to 'round' them off. Works slick! Will post pics when I get er' done! Note, I use thin cutting board sheeting as the corners, just enough for 4" radius or so, enough not to trap the noses of the bait!

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

Great job! Question, if sitting on the hook, how often do you have to run the washdown? Do you have to run it constantly?

I run it for a few minutes enough to make a complete water change about every 15 min or so. really depends on how many bait fish

Dale some pics on improvements would be great,

 

[warthog5]

This takes up less deck space and is tall enough to discharge over the side. We run constantly here. The water would get to hot....to fast. Threadfin, menhaden , Elywives and Cigar minnows is bait of choice down here.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12419&start=300

 

[DaleH]

This takes up less deck space and is tall enough to discharge over the side ...

You missed the point, at least as far as my use of a cooler as a livewell. Whereas the cooler is always on the boat, I can use it anytime it is needed, even if not the best option.

Like you, I too use a tall 55-gal sized blue barrel as my 'primary' livewell, but I don't bring it aboard for each & every trip, as it might have started out as just a family cruise.

Barrels will, like you say, hold MUCH more bait and keep it livelier. And if you want less stressed baits ... switch to a BLUE-colored poly barrel I did or at least paint the ID a blue-green color ... proven up here in the NE to keep baits better!

 

[warthog5]

Like you, I too use a tall 55-gal sized blue barrel

Mine is 30gal.

But I have to ask......A plumbed cooler, would not do well reverting it back to a cooler I would not think?