Livewells for Carolina Skiff

[Bullitt34]

I have a 16ft DLX series Carolina Skiff that i use for a variety of fishing.  It also serves well for me when bass fishing on the lakes.   Recently I have aquired an interest in fishing some of the local bass tournaments however I have no livewells on this boat!  The only one i have been able to find is one that completely replaces the back deck and has two livewells / 18 gallons.  This will set me back about $1000.  I guess what I am asking is - are there any available alternatives/livewells that are a generic type that could be installed into the existing back deck??    thanks for any comments.  

[Yankee_Bassman]

I don't know what tournament rules require, but I  made a portable livewell for my old skiff as follows:

I took one of the really large Igloo coolers and two small bilge pumps. One pump is attached to the inside of a 2 gallon (approximately) plastic pail, using hose clamps thru slots cut in the side of the pail. I epoxied a brick to the inside bottom of the pail for weight, and drilled a bunch of holes as well. A rope attached to the pail loops over the stern cleat. The pail lowers over the side of the boat and pumps fresh seawater thru plastic tubing into the cooler. I used a cheap spring clamp to hold the hose on the cooler side.  The other pump sits in the cooler, and pumps stale water out thru plastic tubing I dropped over the side of the boat. Both pumps are hooked to a good sized deep cycle battery.

The way it worked, I'd fill the cooler with fresh seawater, catch mackerel, pollock or pogies for bait, and throw them in the "livewell". While we're traveling to where we want to fish for stripers, I'd pull the empty pail on board, put the hose that removes the stale water in the cooler, and run the pump, so that it recirculates and aerates the water. When we'd get to where we were going, I put the stale water hose overboard, pump the cooler down a little, and bring in fresh seawater by hanging the other pump in the pail over the side of the boat, tied off to the stern cleat.

I didn't pump fresh water in constantly,  just every once in a while, while running the "recirculator" to aerate the water the rest of the time.

It really isn't as much work as it sounds, and kept 90% of the baitfish alive and active. It wouldn't have held legal stripers alive, I don't think, for long, but I'm sure it would have kept smaller species alive. I only used it for baitfish, but I'm positive it would work for bass, except maybe in the hottest parts of the country.

On really hot days,  throw a bag of ice in the water, or a couple of partially full frozen 2 litre bottles.  

I got the big cooler for $5. at a yard sale; the two pumps, tubing, and wire  were about $70., and I bought a new battery for the boat motor and electrical, and used the old one for the livewell system. Buying one new would probably be about $85. Sure beats 1,000., and you can remove the system in 2 minutes if you aren't going to need it. Everything, including the battery, stores inside the cooler when not in use.

I gave it to a friend when I got rid of the boat, and as far as I know, he's still using it.

YB

[Bullitt34]

thanks for all of the information Yankee_Bassman,  We had a setup similar to that that we used to use for baitfish when we fished trotlines and bushhooks on the river.  I just might have to give that a try...  looks like there aren't many alternatives that won't cost me $$$$  Thanks again!