Homemade Live Well Bait Tank

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
I am sorry if this subject has been covered in the past. I told a few on here that I was making a tank and would post some pictures once I finished. I am sorry this is long but wanted to give ya'll a detailed way to make your own tank. Commercial tanks sell for multi hundreds of dollars where I only have about $50-60 in the construction of this one. Keep in mind some of these supplies are scraps from around the house and may cost a little more if you don't have them available.

With rockfish season here, I needed a way to keep my shad minnows living. Unfortunately they are very fragile fish and require a bit of work to keep em swimming.

I obtained a 30 gallon plastic drum. You can get them online. This one had soap concentrate in it for one of the local carwashes. I traded a little fishing time to the man who owns the carwash for the barrel. It was a win win for both parties.
The plastic barrel I got has a couple "ribs" or lines around it where the plastic was a little thicker. I used the top rib as a place to cut to make sure my cut was at the same distance from the top all the way around. Then clean your barrel well to get all residual soap or chemicals out.


Cut a top for the barrel from plywood. I used 1/2 inch ply that I had laying around the house and gave it a couple coats of Tompson's water seal so that I will last a couple seasons. When It wears out, I want to replace it with a thick cutting board type plastic, but the wood top works well and gets me fishing for now. The screw in the middle of the board helped me to hold the top in place while placing the screws through the barrel into the top. I cut a section of 6 in pvc (also scrap from an old deer feeder) to use as part of my filtration system.



Trace the hole for the filter and then draw out the lines for the door. I cut my hole for the pvc pipe tight enough that it had to be forced in. My intent for this was so that friction would hold it in place, which kept me from having to come up with a method of locking it to the wood. It also makes it removable so that when I am ready to put the tank away in the off season, It will have a flat top. It just makes it easier for stacking more crap on top of it like a table; which seems to be main method of organization in my garage.



I used a $12 cutting board from Walmart for the caps to the pvc filter section. You will need to cut two caps for the pvc and then another circle of cutting board that fits very snuggly to the inside of the pvc. Hold the bottom section of cutting board to the pvc and drill pilot holes to let you place some screws through the plastic and into the wall of the pvc pipe. This bottom section of cutting board will need to have a lot of small holes drill through it for the water to trickle through and back into the tank.
Screw the top section of cutting board to the circle that just does fit inside the pipe to make your cap. Once my cap was in place I put two small holes through the side of the filter into the section of cutting board that fits inside the pipe. I used two removable pins (pop rivets) so I can access the inside of the filter as needed. The pins will be shown in another pic later.



Shad minnows have a bad habit of shedding scales when stressed. The scales have to be filtered to prevent them from clogging the fish's gills and killing them. I found a set of plastic strainers at Walmart for $1.75. With the handle trimmed off one of the strainers, it fits nicely into the pvc pipe to filter out the fish scales.



Now with your filter made, your top screwed on the tank, and the door hinged; you are almost finished. It's time to plumb your tank. Used a $19 bilge pump that runs 500 gallon per hour. 1/2 Pvc pipe is cheep and works well for this. The pipe extending up through the top of the tank has a few holes drilled in one side along it's length to provide a little counter clockwise rotation in the water. From what I'v read, shad do better if they have a little current to swim against.



The plumbing will run through the top of the tank and into the side of your filter, then 90 degree down onto your filter.





Run your wires up through a small hole in the top of the tank and to your 12 volt battery. I ran the wires (black and grey) to a 12v battery under my center console. I tend to like to catch my shad the evening before I go fishing. To prevent running my battery down through the night, I put quick connects on my electrical lines. I use an old 12v power supply with the connections to fit the tank so that I can run the pump off the house power. It works pretty well and was easy to hook up. I didn't include the cost of the 12v power supply in the estimated cost of the tank. I think you can find one online for $30-40 if you look around. This one has been on a shelf around here for a long time and just needed a use.



The silver wrap on the tank in the previous picture is a bubble wrap insulation from Lowes. I think the role was $15. I used a 3M 77 adhesive spray to hold the insulation to the tank. The reflective insulation helps keep the sun from heating the water so you don't "cook" your shad while out fishing. The silicone tube was used around the edge of the lid on the tank to keep from splashing water out when in transport.



I hope this has been helpful to anyone looking to build a tank. Shoot me a message if you need any other details or pictures.
 

23mako

Ten Pointer
Awesome setup. I am going to give craiglist a go around here and see if I can find the materials for cheap. I think this could double as a good livewell for my saltwater fishing as well.

Thanks again.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have made several similar. I put a cutoff 30 gal inside a cutoff 55 gal. I then insulate the void area. Where you used a strainer I used scotchbright for filter media, you just pull it out and back wash it and it is clean again. I fiberglassed the plywood and it has been in use for 15+ years. Pretty much impervious to water.

Mine was a little bigger or heavier than I wanted so I wound up buying a Bait Jacuzzi but I still use it all the time for overnight storage when I catch bait out of ponds a day ahead of time etc.
 

GTC

Guest
Looks great. My late great uncle made one very similar to this that my dad has now. I've been meaning to make one for awhile and will probably use this as inspiration.
 

crittergitter

Ten Pointer
For anyone in the High Point/Archdale area there is a place on Baker Rd, Covington Supply, that has some of these from time to time for a few bucks. I bought two several years ago for $2 each. They usually have industrial washing liquid in them and are easy to clean out. i would call to make sure they have some if I was going to drive out of my way to get one though.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You can use the blue filter media like you get at Lowes and just swish it out and it makes great strainer material. You won't have to mess with fitting the strainers. In fact most bought bait tanks utilize it.
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
Spring is upon us. Time to bring this back to the top.

Thanks for the bump rrednek. You are right, spring is upon us and I have a lot to do before breaking out the tank. I just got the duck blind off the boat and have a few projects to do on the boat before fishing season hits. unfortunately I need to pull the floor of the boat out and run a few lines below the floor level. I had better get to work.
The tank worked great last year and with being able to hook the livewell up to house power while charging the batteries at night was awesome. I was able to keep shad minnows for days at the time with only a few floaters. I want to figure a way, and it shouldn't be too hard, to hook it up to the wire harness on the truck for taking long trips.
If anyone needs to come by to take a look at the tank for their own project, just shoot me a message.
 

rrednek

Spike
Can't PM yet. I was trying to become a little more active on the site, but apparently it was considered "padding" so the bumps were left but the Posts count was reduced by an admin, so I am still below 50 :( In answer to your PM, you do in fact know me. I usually see you on Sundays. I saw the most precious candle lighting this past Sunday. We have even hunted together a couple of times in the past, though it has been a while. I really do like the shad barrel and hope to get a chance to use your write up to make a copy.

Take Care! Jeff - rrednek (double "r" red neck)
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
Have you tried it out yet?

It works great. Will hold shad minnows for few days and will hold bass minnows longer when doing water changes. I dont have a air bubbler on it, so am considering different ways to put some air back in the water. The best thing I have done for air so far is drive to the ramp a couple minutes away and do a water exchange.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It works great. Will hold shad minnows for few days and will hold bass minnows longer when doing water changes. I dont have a air bubbler on it, so am considering different ways to put some air back in the water. The best thing I have done for air so far is drive to the ramp a couple minutes away and do a water exchange.
Make one of these and it will double the time bait will live in there. I actually attached mine to the pump. But you can put it on a separate pump.
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
The water fall effect from the water going through the filter and drain holes in the bottom of the filter chamber back into the tank helps provide a little oxygen but not as much as what the commercial bubbler would.

NCcatfisher, what kind of set up are you running. How did you attach the bubbler to your pump. Pic's..
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The water fall effect from the water going through the filter and drain holes in the bottom of the filter chamber back into the tank helps provide a little oxygen but not as much as what the commercial bubbler would.

NCcatfisher, what kind of set up are you running. How did you attach the bubbler to your pump. Pic's..
Dang, I meant to put a link in my post the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9FjlusIv0k
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Had several DIY tanks of various fashion, never had a problem keeping shad alive....... Except for loading up on gizzards and forgetting to clean the filter after the bastards slimed it up :mad:
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thats about genius. I wonder if i could rig that on the same pump that i have running up to my filter. Air enrich the water as it is going to the filter. What are your thoughts.
Yes you can the bait jacuzzis come that way. I would go with a 500 GPM pump.
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
looks good...and will work as well as commercial bait tanks. Job well done

Thanks poppop. I have been using the tank for a while now and it does work good. On the hot days I will add a couple frozen 20oz bottles to the tank to help keep the shad a little cooler. I absent mindedly threw a couple scoops of ice in it once trying to keep them cooler. I neglected to think of the chlorine in the ice. My result was a tank of floating bait. I have not worked an air system into the tank yet but will at some point, For now, I tend to do a couple of water exchanges while out on the water. It helps add a little more air to the system.
 
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