Livewell Upgrade

mrallen007

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Messages
234
Hey all,

I recently bought a new Tracker Pro 165. There is a single livewell in the bow. It is fitted with a basic pump located at the transom and a spray head inside the tank. It may just be my ignorance as a fisherman, but I'm unable to keep small bait fish alive in this thing. I've heard my system does little to truly aerate the livewell other than to pump in some fresh lake water which has some fresh oxygen in it. There are some aeration kits out there, but I've heard they don't do much good unless you actually have a way of oxygenating the water.

I know that water temperature is also a factor and I've not done much to regulate that. I've read that I should try to keep the water between 65 and 70 degrees to keep fish alive and well, an interesting trick in the Texas Summer. I intend to try and do better to regulate the temperature but that leaves me with questions about how best to manage the water.

Would it suffice to add a system that pumps air into the livewell and top it off with fresh lakewater when need be? Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can best aerate/oxygenate it? I apologize if this is just common knowledge I just don't have. I'm in the process of adding some upgrades to the boat and would like to set up a good quality livewell system while I'm at it.

Thank you for any suggestions you might have!
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,583
Hey all,

I recently bought a new Tracker Pro 165. There is a single livewell in the bow. It is fitted with a basic pump located at the transom and a spray head inside the tank. It may just be my ignorance as a fisherman, but I'm unable to keep small bait fish alive in this thing. I've heard my system does little to truly aerate the livewell other than to pump in some fresh lake water which has some fresh oxygen in it. There are some aeration kits out there, but I've heard they don't do much good unless you actually have a way of oxygenating the water.

I know that water temperature is also a factor and I've not done much to regulate that. I've read that I should try to keep the water between 65 and 70 degrees to keep fish alive and well, an interesting trick in the Texas Summer. I intend to try and do better to regulate the temperature but that leaves me with questions about how best to manage the water.

Would it suffice to add a system that pumps air into the livewell and top it off with fresh lakewater when need be? Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can best aerate/oxygenate it? I apologize if this is just common knowledge I just don't have. I'm in the process of adding some upgrades to the boat and would like to set up a good quality livewell system while I'm at it.

Thank you for any suggestions you might have!

Install a 12V bubbler (aerators), your pump puts water in but it sounds like the fish are running out of air. Just google
I have nor used one of these in years so I'm not pushing the one in the link below, just FYI
http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Metal-Power-Bubbles-12-volt/dp/B000EYWNVQ
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,758
Adding the small aerator as suggested is one method and probably the simplest. Livewell tiimers are available that allow the livewell pump to run for a minute or so and then shut off for a period of time. Each time it runs it pumps fresh water into the tank and the overflow expels the excess. Some timers are adjustable for on & off times. They have a continuous (manual) setting to allow filling the livewell initially. On our week long fishing trips we do not use the livewell/baitwell for our bait fish/minnows. We use the old standby minnow bucket to which I've fitted one of the 12 volt bubblers Alldodge referenced. We add fresh water and some ice cubes before we bed down for the night and then refresh the water in the morning before heading out. The bucket is hung over the side of the boat while fishing and it is stashed out of the sun when underway. Yes -- you still lose some but it does cut down the loss. Keeping the water cool and aerated is essential to keeping baitfish alive.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,758
I might add that if your baitfish are larger than minnows, then you might try converting a good quality cooler into a bait well. Again the bubbler and ability to pump in some fresh water will help. Ice cubes added in small quantities helps as well. Freezing a couple of small soda bottles filled with water and placed into the cooler works in place of ice cubes. I have one such cooler that would hold about two twelve packs. For long days on the water this works great.
 

Fed

Commander
Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
2,457
Leave the existing pump turned on when ever you have bait in the tank.
Constant supply of aerated water at the right temperature.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
I always used a frozen water bottle to control temp and a spray bar running on a live well timer to supply the oxygen. Never has much of any problems... In fact I would have both bait fish and the day's catch alive and kicking back home. And that was an hour and a half drive...
 

mrallen007

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Messages
234
Thank you for all the responses. I've not been online in some time. This is still a project I need to finish. But here in North Texas we had quite the spring. All the lakes in the DFW area flooded to the extent of flooding their spillways for a few weeks. Ramps are only just now reopening on the lakes near me. I finally got the boat out on the one open ramp in the area. Quite the day. Anyway, my boat projects have been on hold as there's been little chance of using it. Thank you for the insight!
 
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