no live well

[bassmaster1983]

I was thinking of fishing a couple of tournaments this year. So I have 2 questions. First, my boat has no live well. What could I use to keep the fish alive (if I even catch any). Second, my boat is a 14ft. semi vee with a 6hp. The lakes I want to fish have a 10 and 15 hp. limit. It isn't exactly a bass boat. Would I be laughed out of a tournament with this kind of a rig? I do have a bow mount electric motor and a graph unit. Or should I just try to enter as a non boater? Any other useful info for a first timer would be appreciated. Thanks

Bob

[Infisherman1]

Mike Iaconelli went on for years fishing out of his 12ft jon boat before he won a better boat. Don't worry about what the other guys think. As far as the livewell goes, get a big cooler and buy a bubbler for $5. That solves that problem. You might just want to go non-boater for the first tournament to see what kind of boats everyone else has, and then decide what to do from there.

[bassfisher14]

Don't worry about the boat. Who cares what everyone else thinks about what you fish out of. At least you are out there doing it. They may say something, but they will shutup once they see that you can catch just the same amount of fish as they do without having one of those fancy 40 thousand dollar boats. My boat isn't that great looking either, but there is one thing I can say about it. IT'S PAID FOR!!! I don't owe a thing on it.

[fredhatch]

I agree, just fish and have fun. I used a jonboat, then small flats boat. My new BASSBOAT is a 1988 alumacraft. Serves my needs, runs, I own it. Yeah would like to get a 20-40 something custom pro boat, but I have other things to spend my money on. 8)

[catfishtonyd]

Ok. Â*I swiped this off another site called "BassJons.com". Â*It's a site dedicated to the guys who fish several lakes in southeast Virginia that are limited to 9.9 hp or smaller. Â*They know their stuff 'bout how to rig up a little boat. Â*

Thanks to Rob Brewer from http://bassjons.com/

I’ve been asked a lot of livewell questions lately. Seems to me maybe more of you are considering building one, or perhaps it’s the only thing keeping you from tournament fishing. I built my own from scratch for next to nothing. I’ll talk you through the process step by step, hitting on some highlights I think are worth mentioning. There’s no need to build one that’s going to kill your fish.


SUPPLIES NEEDED:


1 insulated cooler with hinged lid
1 90º PVC elbow with threads on one end
1 18" section of ½" PVC pipe
1 ½" PVC cap
1 36" length of ½" plastic hose
1 3/8" drill & 1/8" bit
1 500 –750 GPH bilge pump
1 screwdriver
1 stainless hose clamp
10’ 12 ga wire
2 stainless sheet metal screws (¾" long)
1 toggle switch
1 livewell timer switch (optional)

Before you run out and buy all the supplies listed, let me talk about them a little. First is the cooler. Don’t skimp on size. If you are planning on keeping a five fish limit alive all day get at least a 90 quart cooler and don’t hesitate to buy a 130 quart job. Figure your going to fill the livewell only half full, if you want it to aerate properly after all the water is displaced from that 30 pound limit inside it. 90/2 = 45 quarts = 11.25 gallons. That’s only 2.25 gallons per fish. More is better.


Next is the pump. This is the "heart" of your system. Set out to buy a 750 GPH pump. Settle for no less than a 500 gph. You want a considerable volume of water moving through the spray bar in order to achieve sufficient aeration. More is better.


Now comes the spraybar. You can make a better one than you can buy. For almost $2 you can get a piece of ½" PVC schedule 40 pipe 10’ long. Cut an 18" section from the pipe. Scribe or mark a straight line along its length. Rotate the pipe 45º and scribe another line. Along one of the lines, drill two 1/8" holes. These will be "pilot" holes for the screws when you mount the bar inside the cooler. Along the other line, you’ll drill "aeration holes". Drill 8 to 12 1/8" holes along this other line. The small 1/8 holes will ensure there is sufficient pressure in the streams flowing to "inject" tons of tiny bubbles into your livewell. More is better.


Once you drilled and deburred these holes. You’re ready to install the endcap and the 90º elbow. Do not PVC cement these in place! Friction alone should be sufficient to hold them without leaking. The reason for not cementing is you may have some scales or other regurgitated debris clog the spray bar. Simply remove the endcap and water pressure will wash it out. You can prevent 99% of this debris from ever entering the spraybar by placing a piece of your wife’s discarded nylons over the pump. Just cut a 6" section of the leg out. Tie a knot in one end, slip over the pump and tie another knot.


You ready to start putting this thing together? Ok then. Chose a location inside the cooler, close to the very top and on the side opposite the hinges, to mount your spraybar. Mount it in the center, so you can easily remove the endcap or the 90º elbow if needed. Now before you start screwing it in place, make sure the aeration holes are pointing towards the bottom of the cooler and not the lid. Also make sure the elbow and the endcap are already on when you crew on the spraybar. Screw the spraybar in place with the two stainless screws. Don’t screw it down supertight. You want it tight, but too much. Again the tightness of the screws affects the ease at which the fittings may be removed.


Now that your spraybar is in place and your happy with it, attach the hose to the elbow. Mine is threaded. I just twisted it into the hose. You may need an additional hose clamp. Now attach the pump to the hose, using the hose clamp. Leave the pump "freestanding". Don’t fasten it in the cooler. This so you can hang it overboard to fill your livewell.


Now everything is done except for the wiring of the pump. I really can’t go into details on this, because it is done differently depending if you use a timer or toggle switch. Just follow the directions, it’s not hard to do. Once you have completed your wiring, you have made a livewell that will keep your fish alive on the longest, hottest day.

Another great feature about this design is it’s removable. You can leave the cooler at home if not fishing in a tourney. The only thing that’s "stuck" in the boat is the pump.

[catfishtonyd]

After posting that I thought I'd say what I did. Mine is even simpler because I don't use a livewell a lot. I've got a plastic livewell from Cabela's that fits in my boat perfectly. Most of the time it's more a dry storage box than anything else, but since I might want to keep a fish, I wanted a way to fill it with water.

Rather than run a pump to the well what I did was took a bilge pump and rigged it up so I can toss it over the side of the boat, pump the water into the livewell and later on use the same pump to pump the used water out of the livewell, then toss it back overboad and refill it. Back and forth, back and forth. This way I can still use the pump as a bilge pump if needed on a rainey day. I can use it to pump water off the boat cover, etc.

[macgyver]

Well you could definately do what Cajun did, or just buy this
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...=SearchResults

I just got one very similiar to this, for my trip to FL, or any tournaments I will do on small lakes with my boat. As for the look or style of your boat. Well looks don't mean squat to the fish. So just go have fun. Most folks who fish those smaller tournaments will also have smaller boats also. I also just decided I needed a spare live well aerator so I'll have to get another one. Last thing I would want is to have the fish die, if I have a limit in a tourney. Probably be a good thing for all tourney guys to have as a back up in case theirs goes out for whatever reason.

Lizards

[catfishtonyd]

Bob, I forgot the second part of your question. I usually advise people who are just getting started tournament fishing to go as a non boat if you can. Get your fieet wet at first without having to worry about things like handling the boat. Just go, watch, listen, and learn. Later on you can go as a boater if you want.

[bassmaster1983]

Thanks guys. All great replies. I'll let you know how it goes. The first tourney is in April that I can fish. I am also going to put a small deck in the front of the boat so I can put a seat up front. As it is now I have to use my hand to control the electric motor. Short wires are the problem. Kind of hard to control and fish that way. It is an older model motor. It came with the boat when I bought it. Works ok but would be a problem of time if fishing a tourney. I am a big guy and there is a swivel seat mounted to the little front seat but when I try to sit on it the boat tips too much. So I figure with a deck and a seat mounted a little further back I'll be ok.

Bob

[macgyver]

[quote author=bassinbob link=board=Boats;num=1111976997;start=0#8 date=03/28/05 at 23:33:30]Thanks guys. All great replies. I'll let you know how it goes. The first tourney is in April that I can fish. I am also going to put a small deck in the front of the boat so I can put a seat up front. As it is now I have to use my hand to control the electric motor. Short wires are the problem. Kind of hard to control and fish that way. It is an older model motor. It came with the boat when I bought it. Works ok but would be a problem of time if fishing a tourney. I am a big guy and there is a swivel seat mounted to the little front seat but when I try to sit on it the boat tips too much. So I figure with a deck and a seat mounted a little further back I'll be ok.

Bob[/quote]


Putting a deck on it won't make it better. If I was you, I would, just take some plywood, and mount the seat to it farther back, and if you want raise it a couple of inches. If you put a deck on it, it will make it even less stable with all of your weight higher up.

Lizards