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Portable Livewell

HangOutdoors

Jetboaters Admiral
Messages
7,288
Reaction score
8,404
Points
482
Location
Royal Oak, MI
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2020
Boat Model
AR
Boat Length
21
alright I want to do a portable livewell. Something large enough to drop Walleye, Trout and hopefully salmon in. maybe a bait bucket to float in it with minnows. Could also lash it to the swim deck to keep it out the way. Was looking at someone on Amazon, but don't mind modding something together.

Or should I just grab a large cooler with ice.........

Thoughts or Wisdom?

Loved the livewell on FSH when I was in Florida.
 
I made one a long time ago that worked well. Started with a large cooler and an old bilge pump. I rigged up some pvc with holes drilled in it and attached it to the bilge pump. Set the pump and entire works in the cooler. It squirts water just like you see in the bait shop when you get minnows. I wired the pump to some old alligator clips, and ran it off the battery. When underway, I would strap the cooler down on the back of the boat. The pump would run with the cooler closed and latched down. It worked pretty well and was cheap/easy to make. It might not fit your specific needs, but maybe gives you some ideas. Sorry, I don't have any pics.
 
I made one a long time ago that worked well. Started with a large cooler and an old bilge pump. I rigged up some pvc with holes drilled in it and attached it to the bilge pump. Set the pump and entire works in the cooler. It squirts water just like you see in the bait shop when you get minnows. I wired the pump to some old alligator clips, and ran it off the battery. When underway, I would strap the cooler down on the back of the boat. The pump would run with the cooler closed and latched down. It worked pretty well and was cheap/easy to make. It might not fit your specific needs, but maybe gives you some ideas. Sorry, I don't have any pics.

Thank you for the ideas.
 
As soon as I saw your thread title I thought of converting an ice chest, insulated and has a built in drain. seems like you could mount it on the lower swim deck. The trick is keeping the water oxygenated and cool.

Your challenge will be keeping game fish alive as opposed to minnows, they need a lot of clean, cool, well oxygenated water to keep them alive.

When you were on @adrianp89 fsh if you ran the aerator you may have heard a gurgling sound that sound comes from the MAX AIR set up. On the intake side of the aerator pump which is attached to the live well there is a small tap / hose hitting for a 1/4” piece of tubing that goes up to a small black holder mounted on the bulwarks where is sucked in mixed with the water and that’s where the bubbles come from. That’s one way to oxygenate the water, or you could mount a battery powered aerator on the side, I have a Frabill bait bucket that also can use a 12V plug in cord to run the aerator but that’s not nearly enough 02 for more than one wally.

Another way to keep the water aerated and fresh is to run the bilge pump as in @viper15 design all the time, but instead of just moving the water around inside the cooler run a pick up line into the water from the internally mounted bilge pump and let the bilge pump pump water into the cooler and flow flow out of the cooler through a drain mounted at the top. The 222 / 252 / 255 FSH live wells work this way, no aerators like the 190 / 195 / 210 have. The advantage of doing this is that when you have a bloody fish it will flush the water continuously and keep it fresh and cool, I do the same with my 210’s live well. Set up your pick up line so it can be easily removed and capped so at the end of the day you can drain the cooler toss in some ice and take your fish home in the cooler.

Something like this.

DD8571D6-A5AB-4A8A-B59D-81CB567844A6.jpeg

But the challenge is the vane style bilge pumps need to be mounted at or below the water line, preferably below. They can lift water 6’ or so from the pump to the outlet or in this case live well, but they cannot suck water any distance to the pump. I asked my friend about your request and he told me a lot of boats used have a transom mounted live well pump below the water line with a quick disconnect.

I also remembered these bags from when I was a youngster. SuperBags | Aqua World Bait Bags
B6DC3963-6B3E-4137-8C2D-1648E059D461.png

You could use the ice chest design but you will need some way to keep the water fresh, I think your best solution is with a transom mounted vane style pump with a quick disconnect hose to be able to move the necessary amount of water.

DE8DCC55-D3D1-42AD-83CD-7F6CD11E2D89.jpeg

Perhaps one of these tanks that could be easily mounted and removed


Edit:

So my friend and I were talking about your need for a livewell… we think you should put a plastic 20 gallon live well on rhe swim deck and tie it down, then install thru hull fitting on the bottom with a seacock. Run a 3/4” line to a vane style Pump for your live well fill / aeration, and tap off of that 3/4” line to feed an electric diaphragm style pump for a raw water wash down with quick disconnect in the bulwarks. You can also have a quick disconnect 3/4” line in the bullwarks for the live well source. Both of those pumps can be controlled by switches on the dash. The drain for the live well can just dump off of the swim deck. This way you can install your live well when you want to fish in 5 minutes, and you’ll have a raw water wash down on your boat always.
 
Last edited:
@FSH 210 Sport Great ideas. I was thinking of modding something similar and you have made some great points.

If I can find a cooler that is big enough, that will keep cool for good period of time that is not expensive..... Couldn't bring myself to buy and cut a Yeti :)..... then the solutions would be two fold. Mount a pickup on the coolor with an external hose that I can secure to the transom when needed. Also a return hose right next to so that I can keep recurcilating the water. Also then put an aerator in it and mount that to the cooler as well. That way it is fully portable and can be used and removed. Put a couple of things on the outside of the cooler so it can easily be secured to the swim deck if put there.

Maybe I am over thinking it. Figured there may be something already out there I could buy reasonably that would have pickup and discharge tubes, cooler style that I could just secure on swim platform.
 

Considering I have only been out once on my boat this year, that would of been bad and I would have had to listen to "Why did we upgrade and you spent all the money again on the things" conversation all the time.....

Maybe next Year, maybe the year after. Depends how life rolls...
 
I think the simplest way to make it would be to just have it pull water in and move it through the live well… no need for an aerator that way, but I can see the advantage of having an aerator inside like that one pic. And if you were to install the plumbing the way my friend and I suggested it would be a single plumbing hook up that will be totally out of the way when not using the live well. All the wiring and plumbing will be below deck and the hull will be clean so to speak.

Admittedly I had a similar thought to @kgower ‘s . And I totally get your response, but, seems like the bow section of the 25’ FSH could be made pretty comfy for lounging as well as the 5 across bench seat… in the back.. And “I” think the 25’ fsh would be a lot more salty so to speak for that huge body of water you have right next door.. while not boating related I have heard the same thing; "Why did we upgrade and you spent all the money again on the things" conversation all the time..... to which I responded because that’s what I wanted, and then proceeded to make my case in further detail.

Maybe next Year, maybe the year after. Depends how life rolls... I just got word Sunday of another person I know that died… just more proof to party like its 1999… again, I get your situation, I really do, just a friendly nudge to suggest you move forward with that passion, they’ll get over it, and may even like it better than they will like to admit in the beginning.

But to be fair, I don’t think the 222 fsh live well is big enough around to serve as a live well, the aft starboard one on the 25’ FSH might be big enough for this, but I’d have to see one, which, would be dangerous for my pocket book and all of he sweat equity I’ve put into my boat. LOL! That‘s why I do not sit on new dirt bikes and play with the controls…

Back to live wells… I think having a dedicated 20 gallon or larger tank with an elliptical or round design would be the way to go so the fish can swim in circles in the tank, might be able to get one with the vertical water flow header that swirls the water in a circular fashion. The 26 gallon one on my boat would probably accommodate 4 20” walleye and keep them alive.
 
Considering I have only been out once on my boat this year, that would of been bad and I would have had to listen to "Why did we upgrade and you spent all the money again on the things" conversation all the time.....

Maybe next Year, maybe the year after. Depends how life rolls...
I know that conversation.. Hope your season turns around.
 
You know, if you put a pool in the backyard, it is probably big enough to have enough O2 and the pump will circulate it.... You could just put the fish in there.

Got a spot in your yard you could fit one?
 
You know, if you put a pool in the backyard, it is probably big enough to have enough O2 and the pump will circulate it.... You could just put the fish in there.

Got a spot in your yard you could fit one?

Funny!

1689216147653.png
 
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