Additional Round Baitwell (Removable)

reelgrimm

I'm thinking of putting a 30 gallon ROUND baitwell in place of my cooler on days I want to heavliy live bait chum offshore.

I go out of Miami a lot and have a steady stream of pilchards and big threadfins. Unfortunately, no matter what mods you do to your baitwell, threadfins really need a circular baitwell as they keep ramming the sides of anything else. THese baits are sailfish candy and I can't afford to have them die off on me.

I don't need anything fancy, was thinking of just taking a hose from the port livewell pump right to the baitwell and then have the overflow go right over the side. Hate to do it on the egret, but it needs to be done in order to get me some primo baits out there.

poleposition

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=keep+alive+bait+well&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9334715568278476446&sa=X&ei=QIYAT7a-E-fr0gH4xsC2DQ&ved=0CHkQ8wIwBQ#ps-sellers

Have heard good things about Keep Alive wells.

rbtbryan

Have a friend that wants to get rid of his round tank he had on the 18.
Here is his number if you are interested.
Mike at 516 852-4229

reelgrimm

Tried using my baitben out there yesterday and what a difference a round well makes. Unfortunately the baitben is designed to use the same water, but the baits did much better. The probably with my egret well is not only they bang into the sides but they try to swim around the pipe and get stuck. The threadfin herrings are the only baits I've had with this problem. I can keep gogs, pilchards, etc in there no problem.

poleposition

Threads are notoriously fragile creatures. Many well set-ups struggle to keep them alive let alone frisky all day long. The only luck I have is reducing the density by several factors if that is the only bait available. Usually we just dump the net and keep throwing for whitebait. As for the standpipe, I have been encouraging Frank to consider hiding the pipe behind plexiglass much like the system currently offered on the Maverick and Pathfinder boats as I agree it gets in the way.

reelgrimm

Good to know. The threads are just so easy to get in miami and usually have great days drifting or slow trolling them.

I can get pilchards pretty easily, so I may just stick to them if I don't bring the other baitwell.

We got a serious cold front on the way, I'm probably going to get some Gogs and give it a try on friday.

waldnerr

I've plumbed quite a few permanent and removeable livewells, but not in an Egret. However, it should be easy to do. You could feed a livewell pump (with a seacock) from the skiff's sea chest, run a 3/4" I.D. hose from the pump through one of the skiff's access tubes to the console and out the front of the console through a through-hull located just above deck level. I don't mean connect to the through-hull; just run the hose through it for a clean look (the through-hull could be cut off flush with the nut). The through-hull's could be plugged when the livewell was not being used, to waterproof the console. Put a Marelon seacock on the bottom of the livewell to receive the input hose and drain the well from the top by running a larger (1.25 to 1.5" I.D.) hose from a through-hull out one of the skiff's scuppers or directly over the side. This would give the boat a very clean look when the well wasn't needed, but would allow a very easy hook-up when it was. The inside of the livewell would remain completely smooth, other than for the heads of the two through-hulls. I plumbed a circular, 30 gal. well similar to this in an old Pacemaker Wahoo, and it kept threadfin herrings/greenies and other clupeids alive without any problem. The only other thing that might be necessary would be to attach a piece of coarse mesh over the outlet, to avoid having your baits wedge themselves in the outflow line while still allowing scales and waste to pass through.