Baitwell Pump

[Mariner]

If I were designing the perfect baitwell for my use, it would have the inlet at the bottom, as you described, with at least something to direct the flow to the side, creating more circulation. There would be a drain at the top that would lead overboard. The overflow drain would have a mesh or grated cover to keep small fish from going over with the water. There would also be a valved drain at the bottom that routed through a macerator pump and led overboard. The well would be insulated to keep the water cold, and so it could serve dual purpose as a beer cooler when not being used for fish. A light would not be necessary, since our fish live in a dark environment anyway and are not sensitive to light. It would, however, be able to be fitted with a mesh or grate divider so that you could store bait and catch in the same livewell without having all your bait eaten by your catch.

One of the key differences is that a livewell on my boat would rarely be used for storing bait. We tend to fish here with metal or plastic lures, and only occasionally use live herring as bait (frozen or alive, it doesn't make a difference, neither seem to work well). The purpose of the live well would more be to keep your catch alive and fresh that much longer, so that when you get home, it's as fresh as it can possibly be prior to gutting it and planking it for the grill.

Truthfully, a livewell would most often be used for keeping crab alive until it can be processed (killed, cleaned, cooked and eaten or frozen). Constantly circulating cold water is essential to keeping crab fresh, as they die once the water temperature reaches 70 degrees, and their flavor starts to greatly diminish in water over 60 degrees. Once one dies, they release a toxin that can poison the others if the water is not constantly refreshed. Light is actually a negative, since it tends to rile the crab up and can cause them to fight. A crab that has recently been in a fight will suffer in flavor, since the adrenaline will remain in their tissue for hours. Also, a crab that has popped a leg or claw is considerably less desirable.

I'm currently drawing up plans to turn one of our transom lockers into a large livewell. It is probably a good 50 gallons in size and would make a great livewell for both salmon and crab (not together, obviously).

[Russell]

It is amazing how different the requirements are for the same piece of equipment. I too like to use artificial lures or cut squid and mainly use my bait well to store the wreck anchor rode. But local fishermen are having good luck using live bait for large flounder, kingfish, etc. so we may give it a try. When I first started fishing I put my catch in the live well but did not like to fillet them while they were still alive so I just put them on ice in the transom fish box.

[Pitou]

The ideal baitwell it is not, but it does the trick. The interior is rounded to protect the baits, I added a strainer after losing a spike mackeral through the outflow (it stunk for weeks until it could be blown out) and I have added a light for night fishing. My primary bait uses have been for live mackeral, pollack, eels and the occasional small blue fish for tuna bait / it works well and I have not lost baits. For the money, on the 28 TE, I think it works for the finish of the overall boat. We can always make improvements to our boats.

I do have an additional free standing baitwell from Kodiak that has the inlet on the bottom and overflow on top with a strainer. This is left over carnage from my last boat. I now sometimes take it on a friends boat as he has nothing.