topwaterrob

Ok so I finally got a chance to try out the chiller. I filled up the wells and the temp was 85 degrees. I put the radiator in a pumped ice water through it and to my surprise it worked really well. Inside of 10 minutes it brought the temperature down 7 degrees. It quickly melted the ice in the cooler but worked pretty fast.

I fished Holiday on Monday while dodging rainstorms. It was really slow and like previously mentioned there is a ton of water moving through there...Anyone hit the lake recently?

Excellent info.... Thankyou

Hey Bruce, are the flats still high enough or is it canal only?

Here is what i got. Pretty simple and portable. I'll put it in the wells and give it a run here in the next day or so..

Don't get me wrong my livewells are great I got two sets of intake and recirculating pumps. I run them all day just to bring in fresh water and recirculate. The problem is that when fishing shallow like lake okechobee, the water itself is really warm. I'm probably being over zealous but I'm almost done building my contraption so ill see if and how it works this weekend.

Doesn't that beat the fish up while you're running about or do you strap them in place? I tried two liter bottles but could hear them crashing around which I figured was pounding the fish so I stopped using them.

The last tourney I fished, there was a larger (to me) amount of fish that died than i'm used to seeing. I think it had alot to do with the extreme heat here in south florida and the fish cannot take being in the livewells for hours as well as they can in cooler months. I've heard of putting ice in the wells, but read somewhere that the chlorine and other chems used to purify the water prior to turning it into ice can be harmful to the fish as well. I looked for other ideas and found some radiator style systems, but I dont want to tap into my boat's plumbing system as that's a major pain in the butt. I got an old transmission cooler and a bilge pump and i'm going to try to construct a "portable" chiller that i can use during the super hot months to lower the temp in the livewell. It might be a bit trashy looking, but if it works and helps keep my fish from suffering then it'll be worth it. Ill post some pics if i can figure how to do that... Anyone else use something like this?

I'm a carpet guy myself.... I like to take my shoes off alot of times while I fish. My buddy has the non-slip stuff youre considering. It cleans up nice, but hurts my feet.... Just my two cents

Yea I was looking for anyone who might if looked familiar. Met some cool folks. Weather was great and had a blast fishing but just struggled to catch big fish which is par for the course for me lately. Blew my main fuse on Saturday and had to toss the little bit I had back which took us out of it. Anyways it was a great time just to fish on the lake all weekend. We'll do it again next year.

Anything dark soft plastic like senkos will generally get some bass this time of year.

I'm trying to figure where the sign in is gonna be at Saturday morning. There's a few other tourneys out there this weekend.

Fred you gotta have a cop or fireman on your team....

Yea supposedly running back towards dock somewhere on the south end.

Were heading up on friday afternoon, hopefully some of this wind subsides....

Awesome work....

My hands itch whenever I handle LMB. I talked to my dermotologist, she says i have an allergy to either the slime coating or something along those lines. Its pretty common and she said just keep alcohol wipes on board to clean hands and it keeps the itch at bay for me...

I am over cautious when it comes to releasing them.... From handling them to getting them back quick, I do my best to ensure survival.... Even if I have to go without a picture I'll let the fish go regardless of it's size..

VERY COOL.

My first boat was a 1986 Tracker with a 50hp Merc. Unfortunately I spent more time fixing that thing then fishing out of it. It was before the hulls were welded, only riveted. It leaked like crazy... Sold that and went to a 1993 Cajun with a 150hp Mariner. Ireally learned alot in the Cajun, like rebuilding livewells, wiring etc... Sold that and now have a 2001 Procraft Super pro with a 200 Merc. I just put on a new Maxxum 80lb TM & absolutely love this boat... Hopefully in about 2 more years ill be in the market for something newer...

maybe you can post a pic of what youre looking at when you get a chance....

I did the exact thing with mine. the four existing wires are setup to run the batteries in parallel which you are probably not doing. if you are currently using a 24v wired in a series then two of those wires arent connected to a battery. cap the dead wires and then attach the red and black to the respective places on the harness and you should be good to go.... Hope i didnt confuse you but i was in the same situation a few months back.

Now that's a fun day on the lake,,..

Sorrry I was away, yea the resin molds can be sanded and they pick up the lure contour much better IMO... I use cheap flashing from Home Depot and duct tape just like above and be careful, once you mix in the hardener it gets hot as crap so have it sitting on the floor (learned the hard way)...