# How to build a livewell?



## FishJunky

What is the best way to build a livewell in a boat that does not have one? Any info would be great. Thanks


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## misfit

best way to get a lot of info on that is do a search for "livewell".
narrow it to the lounge and you'll find lots of discussion on it with ideas,pics etc.if i can find old pics of mine,i'llpost them,but they should be here somewhere.


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## Toolman

A cooler is the most common method of adding a livewell to a boat. Cabelas has a kit, I believe, with all the goodies to convert a cooler to a livewell.

Tim


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## Fish-N-Fool

I wanted something portable for live catfish bait. I already had an extra bilge pump, so I found an old coleman cooler with a working lid out in the garage and made a "hillbilly livewell". I mounted the pump in the lower left hand corner with small wood screws dipped in silicone. Next I ran a flexible hard pastic tube (buy at any hardware store in plumbing/bath section for cheap) from the pump straight up to about 1/2 inch below the top edge (so your lid will close. I used plastic U mounts with wood screws dipped in silicone to mount the hose flush to the cooler. I drilled 1/16 inch holes at 3 inch intervals in the hose. I drilled a 1/16 inch hole through the side of the cooler on top left hand side and ran the pump wires out through that. Lastly, I installed aligator clips on the pump wires to connect to battery terminals.

Sounds like a lot, but honestly only takes about 20-30 minutes once you round up the stuff.

I ran this thing 24 hours/day for 3 and a half days on a single charge of my trolling battery up in Michigan before battery died. Do not overcrowd your fish and they will live in there for days.


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## tunnelengineer

The cooler or the toho rig livewells are by far teh easiest and smartest way. For the trips you don't need them you can just leave them at home for extra space. 

They have extra advantages of controlling the temperature better due to the insulation as well. 

It's a no brainer.


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## flounder

I did this on mine after fighting with fiberglass and wood forms. Quick easy and looks nice. Just add aerator pump and a way to drain it.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat21314&hasJS=true


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## heyjay

This is a good set-up . The pump can be used to pump the water in or out . Then you hook it to the spray bar and it will add oxygen to the water .


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## Nipididdee

That's a shiny one HeyJay!!! Get that thing dirty this year!!!

All are great suggestions...

For any of those wells explained, take into consideration the basics (and also the biggest probs I have seen with our early season anglers at lado events)

*Aeration*: the spray bar is a necessity to pass the water through the air and force the OXYGEN into the water that is needed. Just piping through a hose, air stone etc. won't do the job efficiently enough to create the needed PPM of O2. Higher GPH (no less than 500gph) should be considered as well for your pump. 

You could also add an "oxygenator" that uses nano bubble O2 - don't use solo though, as it can impede oxygen passing to gills. Keep water moving with spray bar.

Also with air and water temps- a cooler style (insulated) is inclined to hold the temp put into it. The colder the water, the greater the liklihood of higher O2 levels. Insulation blocks suns warming- but also will hold summer water warmer longer- if not iced. Non-insulated boxes will warm quicker from sun and frequently need iced. Etc....kinda gotta think it a bit  

*Consider size*: the lbs of fish you intend to hold (bass-bait-crappie-etc) to the gallons H2O you can hold. You may need to take a simple bilge pump and accessorize with a long hose of some nature with long battery leads in order to make MUCH needed and FREQUENT water exchanges of the water held in the well. HeyJay showed his "dual purpose" rig.

*REDUCE STRESS:* Use a cull system to quickly ID fish for removal and release. Banging them around- throwing them on the deck to measure- taking in and out of water- etc all creates additional stress that can be reduced with a simple cull system. Especially in homemade-smaller-less adequate livewell rigs, keeping the fish from using up more O2 when stressed. Using approved livewell treatments also benefits them during this period.

There is some pretty creative stuff I have seen at lado- from large inexpensive storage crates - to extravagant air induced recirculating systems with 4 pumps. 

Toho rigs are good easy deal and last forever.

Nip
www.dobass.com


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## Blatz_N_Bass

Last year I wanted to put a platform in my 14' Mirror Craft with a livewell. I took out the center bench seat and put in a flase floor in from the front of the rear bench and rear of the front bench, where the center bench was I cut out and droped in a Gott 30 cooler that converted into a live well, here is how I did it.

On the bottom of the cooler I pulled the white "plug" or "cap" and cut a hole the size if the cap through the rest of the bottom (foam and inside floor of cooler) from the bottom. 

Then I bought a right angle bilge pump port drain the size of the hole, along with plastic tubbing (with wire mesh inside the tube - for durability) a shut off valve, and a live well pump. I drilled a hole in the transom near the floor and put the pump there with the shut off valve. 

This created a pump action filled live well with gravity drain. 

A year later and a great fshing season the live well never leaked or failed me

Oh yeah as a bonus I put an old boat seat cushon on top of the cooler to make a 3rd bench seat. 

If you want photos, email me 

Good Luck!


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## allwayzfishin

i made the same cooler type live-well with a 500gph bilge pump. only problem i had was the pump heating the water when left running for a day or so. the minnows(fatheads) turned to floaters quickly. so make sure to put a thermometer in the baitwell. besides that it worked great. i then bought a igloo ice box, the smaller square one. mounted a bubble box and inserted the air line thru the side below the lid. this works great for the minnows and i use the larger baitwell with frozen bottle of water for larger bait. have fun with it and dont forget to keep an eye on the temp.


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## Wiper Swiper

View the Toho rig here-- Link to Picture

I bought one over 10 years ago (at that time they were only 140 bucks), and have never had a problem with any of the components. I'm sure you can build one cheaper, but this dude will hold 10-15 gallons of water if you need to keep a limit of largemouth alive. I threw the straps away because I couldn't see the point of them...at least in my boat. The divider really comes in handy at times. Love the center storage and the trays on top...a tick pricey, but well worth the investment for me!


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