Trophy 1903 cc fish pump operation

Can someone please explain to me how the fish pump and livewell work on my 98 Bayliner Trophy 1903 cc? I purchased another bilge pump thinking the fish pump reservoir was just a secondary bilge pump (in case your primary fails). I finally removed the center floor deck and understood a little better how everything was connected to each other. I assumed the fish pump pumps fresh water to the livewell and port / starboard side fish wells? And I should have a separate aerator for the livewell itself? None of these pumps I could find on my boat besides the float assembly in the fish pump reservoir that had wires cut from it.

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Nate

Re: Trophy 1903 cc fish pump operation

I had a 98 1903 a few years ago. In my recollection, there were only 2 pumps. The bilge pump and the live well (bait well) pump. The live well pump sends water to the live well (bait well). The port and starboard fish boxes had a drain, but water was NOT pumped into them. They were designed to hold fish in ice (or an ice-filled fish bag). So, you should have just 2 pumps in the bilge area. The bilge pump is hooked to the hose that exits the side of the boat. The bait well hose should run to the bait well. Hope that helps a bit.

Re: Trophy 1903 cc fish pump operation

jm_bullard said:

I had a 98 1903 a few years ago. In my recollection, there were only 2 pumps. The bilge pump and the live well (bait well) pump. The live well pump sends water to the live well (bait well). The port and starboard fish boxes had a drain, but water was NOT pumped into them. They were designed to hold fish in ice (or an ice-filled fish bag). So, you should have just 2 pumps in the bilge area. The bilge pump is hooked to the hose that exits the side of the boat. The bait well hose should run to the bait well. Hope that helps a bit.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the info! So I am assuming I need another bilge pump to install in the live well pump reservoir. I have two hoses returning from the live / bait well: one is a drain / overflow tube that connects into the rear scupper exit and the other connects to the live well pump reservoir. I guess the bilge pump outlet would slide into the hose inlet connection on the live well box..??

So you have to manually pour fresh water in the box to be pumped up to the live well..?? Seems odd no when you can just fill up the live well alone.

Re: Trophy 1903 cc fish pump operation

Doh! I forgot about the drain box. There is also a pump in the box. You should have 3 pumps total. A bilge pump (in the bilge), a live well pump (also in the bilge) and a bilge pump in the drain box. The live well pump picks up water from an through-hull fitting in the transom. There should be a metal screen strainer fitted over the through-hull fitting in the transom. The box you are referring to is a drain box. The live well and the fish storage boxes DRAIN into that box. The pump in the box then pumps this water overboard. This prevents the water draining from the live well and fish boxes from going directly into the bilge.

The pump in the box should connect to a hose that drains to a through-hull fitting in the right rear side of the hull. The bilge pump also connects to a (separate) hose that drains to a through-hull fitting in the right side.

Here is a link I found useful when I had my boat. Just pick out the year of your boat (1999) and the model (1903 FK) and you can get some general information about how the boat is supposed to be set up. Good luck with it! I really enjoyed my Trophy, but it was too big for the marsh I fish these days. I sold it and got a 17 foot bay boat. My Trophy handled well, and took rough water like a champ.

Owners Manual: http://www.trophyboatparts.com/Manuals/1708205.pdf

Parts list: http://www.trophycustomercare.com/manuals_index.htm