20 Gallon Bait Tank Build Project

[Blue_Runner]

I want to start doing some livebaiting for stripers on the area lakes using mainly hickory and threadfin shad. These boogers require an act of congress to keep them alive. I had a 20 gallon tub laying around for years that I've alway wanted to use. My good buddy Garrett has an extensive background in stucco work, that coupled with his desire to catch the landlocked freshwater stripers is all I needed to get this project going. That and the ever-so-important input from the V20's most notorious striper king - Reelapeelin.

Here's the build pics. They are pretty self explanatory. I don't have the pump in yet and Reel says we gotta insulate the bottom so I'll circle back and add those pics once done. The tub is wrapped with 2 layers of 1/2 inch styrofoam, then another 3/4 sheet of styrofoam. Next is 2 layers of fiberglass mesh bedded in with some kind of rubber coating stuff and topped with an additional 3 - 4 coats of the rubber-like stuff. Garrett did a fantastic job...I only helped a little with gluing the first 2 layers of foam, he did the rest.


Here it is:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4O5KU4P9KXM/SltJoyb7pVI/AAAAAAAAAEw/Fy7iUgH6RD8/s512/0709091857.jpg
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http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4O5KU4P9KXM/SltKgo7n-6I/AAAAAAAAAF4/TI-VHWXAXns/s512/0712091817.jpg

[bradford]

Sweet!!!

[RWilson2526]

awesome...love the way you finished off the top edge.

[Blue_Runner]

Thanks guys, I wish I was that good Rwilson....that is my buddy in the pics. He did most of the work. At first we planned on making a redneck bait tank but it morphed into this. And I'm glad it did. It turned out about 100 times better than I ever thought! It will be interesting to see how well it holds up. I still have not found anywhere local to get the pump system Reel told me to get. I'm not too worried about it b/c I'll be at the beach this weekend and near a West Marine. They should have it if not sold out.

[Shawsee]

That tank came out great! Now where is mine? hahaha

[Blue_Runner]

Shawsee, get yourself a round or oval tub/container b/t 20 - 30 gallons....I'll tell you exactly what we did and all the materials you need.

Piece of cake! Reely!

[tsubaki]

I never thought about using the synthetic stucco that way.
Great post Blue!

[Blue_Runner]

I don't think it was actually stucco...heck I don't know what it is. It is some kind of rubberized waterproof coating over fiberglass mesh. I do remember him saying he could use the other stuff but it would be 10 x heavier than this stuff. Thanks Tsub! I'll send the compliments to my buddy.

[bigshrimpin]

Shawsee, get yourself a round or oval tub/container b/t 20 - 30 gallons....I'll tell you exactly what we did and all the materials you need.

Piece of cake! Reely!

Hey BR - Where did you get a 20 gallon bucket?

[Blue_Runner]

BS - I've had it for 8 or 10 years. One of my bro-in-laws got it for me. I'm not sure where he got it but it did not contain liquid, rather I think it was a container for some sort of beads. I wish I knew where to get my hands on more.

All of my projects seem to be on this 8 - 10 year plan, go figure.

[willy]

Blue you dont need a pump. just put a overflow pipe in the top with a piece of mesh on it and pour on a bucket of water every once in awhile, wprks great
Nice job

[bcraigan]

That is awesome! Isnt' there a west marine in Columbia?

Also, I have two of those tubs, and would love to build one of those! Can you pm me the materials etc? What a great job! Is it portable, or will it be mounted in the boat... Thanks again. Craigan. Oh, and i'm just on the other side of columbia above camden, sc. Nice to find other scarolinians here.

[bcraigan]

Oh, and I bought the tubs I have I got from a yardsale one day. The guy said they used to contain some sort of beads like Blue said, and were used at a local plant somewhere down near Conway. Not much help, but for what it's worth the guy was selling them for 50 cents a piece and the two I have left have lids with them.

[Blue_Runner]

It is a portable tank. It will be self-contained and primarily used with hickory and threadfin shad in my V and in dad's little boat.

BC here is what you need:

1/2" styrofoam sheets - enough to wrap around 2 x
3/4" styrofoam sheets - enough to wrap around 1 x

Clean the exterior of the tub and dry thoroughly then ruff up with coarse sandpaper and you are ready to start.

Use 3M Sta-Put spray adhesive (follow instructions on can) to stick the foam on the tub leaving an overhang which you can cut off with a sharp knife later.

We used the sta'put in the blue can.
http://www.dyersonline.com/Images/products/medium/9574.jpg

Once you stick the foam and trim edges - we beveled the edges - you can use sandpaper on the foam to smooth out the bevels.

On the fiberglass mesh, we used stucco mesh as seen in the pics. Below is a pic of some I found online. Basically he put a bed coat of the rubberized coating directly on the foam and pressed the mesh into it, then went back over the whole deal 4 more times or so w/ rubberized coating, smoothing each time. He let the mesh overhang on the top and bottom then put slits every inch or so in order to wrap the bevels.

Then paint and lid. The yellow seal on the lid is an old garden hose w/ caulking.

http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f1j00sBCTwOdqSrkaM/Stucco-Mesh-Cloth.jpg

[bcraigan]

Thanks man!

[Blue_Runner]

Today I ordered the keepalive conversion kit part # KA200CB. It converts a Rule 360GPH bilge pump to an aerator. The kit was $48.31 which included the shipping charges.

Next I promptly ordered a Rule 360GPH bilge pump (non-auto) on eBay for $23.95 (I know I paid too much but can't find this locally!!).

I should get this stuff next week and install it soon after. Will update.

[lumberslinger178]

very crafty blue , nice project:beer:

[Blue_Runner]

Appreciate it Slinger....Thanks to Reel for giving me advice! Its nice to have somebody with a couple decades of experience in keeping shad alive. :clap:

[C YENSEN]

looks great man

[randlemanboater]

Looking good BR.....suprised that Walmart didn't have the pump you needed, or Gander Mtn, or Bass Pro (easy drive to either from your crib).

Let me know when you figure out the fish, I want to learn too.

[spareparts]

OK, I have to ask, why did you have to insulate the live well, last time I fished on Moultrie for stripers, we had a problem with the bait tank being warmer than the water(we were killing shad when we put them in the lake). Being a salt water guy, I wondered why they wern't using raw water from the lake rather than the complicted filter/charcol/ screen system just to recirculate water that was warmer than the air or the lake.

[Blue_Runner]

Spare first, I'm not the pro...Reel is the pro! You could probably get by without the fancy tank in the winter but insulation becomes extra important in the summer.

In the summer if the water in the tank gets too warm it will kill the shad. To combat this you need to insulate the tank as well as either add ice or some type of frozen water bottle to keep the water cool. Additionally the surface temps on the lake are much warmer and contain less O2 than the deeper cooler water, which is why the stripers go deep in the summer to begin with. Reel said you need to get the baits down quick in the summer so they'll be able to stay alive long enough to entice Mr. Linesides. If you try to fish them on top in the warm water they die quickly. I wouldn't think the shad would die going from warm to cold because the colder water should have more oxygen but maybe the sudden temp change just shocks them?

So that is water temp, now as you mentioned you have to worrry about the filtration and controlling the chlorine, ammonia, foaming, o2 content and sluffed off scales. Which is why you need the filtration system, an additive to remove chlorine (from using tap water or adding ice) and something to help slime and harden the scales like rock salt.

I'm learning and hopefully if I ever get this keepalive filter I ordered a long time ago I'll report back with some actual experience on this topic. :beer:

[Blue_Runner]

Spare, Flyfishin saw this post and reminded me to also add that we are going to be catching the shad in high rock lake and fishing in Badin lake. Another good reason for it to be a self-contained system.

I neglected to mention that.

:beer:

[Blue_Runner]

More to come on this project....Fly has the tank DONE and now we need to play around with the aerator placement before gluing it in place. It comes with suction cups but I can't see those holding for more than a minute....I figure we'll use the suction cups to test the placement by putting a dozen or so shad in the tank and see about where the discharge should point. Chime in here Reel but I'm assuming place it off center to get a "swirl" going. Also not too close to the side such that they jam up and hurt their little noses. Once the optimal placement is found I will glue it in place with aquarium glue as Reel suggested.

P.S. Went jug fishing over the weekend. Only 8 jugs and 8 channel cats. Biggest went 8 ish lbs. Good times!:nice:

[reelapeelin]

More to come on this project....Fly has the tank DONE and now we need to play around with the aerator placement before gluing it in place. It comes with suction cups but I can't see those holding for more than a minute....I figure we'll use the suction cups to test the placement by putting a dozen or so shad in the tank and see about where the discharge should point. Chime in here Reel but I'm assuming place it off center to get a "swirl" going. Also not too close to the side such that they jam up and hurt their little noses. Once the optimal placement is found I will glue it in place with aquarium glue as Reel suggested.

P.S. Went jug fishing over the weekend. Only 8 jugs and 8 channel cats. Biggest went 8 ish lbs. Good times!:nice:

Sorry I'm late gettin' in here, BR...bet you got 'er all buttoned up by now...how'd it go?...


BTW...you were wise not to use the suction cups...they hold the pump off the bottom just enough for the herring/shad to get their noses under and can't get out and they die...

Hey Spare...I've used my "self-contained" tank in saltwater as well...all the salties think they gotta have fresh water pumpin' in/outta the tank, so gotta deal w/all the plumbing...w/a self-contained tank, all the water is filtered and aerated so all you need to go to the tank is 12 volts...much easier...

[Blue_Runner]

I did a test but it left me with more quesitons like, how close is too close to the side for the pump? Is 6" enough or more? And what is the preferred additive - I've heard of some stuff called "Better Bait??" Any good?

[reelapeelin]

I did a test but it left me with more quesitons like, how close is too close to the side for the pump? Is 6" enough or more? And what is the preferred additive - I've heard of some stuff called "Better Bait??" Any good?

4-6" should be about right and have the stream go toward the wall on a fairly sharp angle to get things turning in the tank...

Shad Keeper and salt in the tank for "fixins"...rock salt or Kosher salt best...gotta keep water around 55* tops...careful adding ice as some store-bought ice can have chlorine and kill 'em all...if you add ice from a store, add a little more Shad Keeper

http://www.wholesalebait.com/product.php?pid=174

or here's yer Better Bait...good too

http://www.wholesalebait.com/product.php?pid=63

and get some of this too

http://www.wholesalebait.com/product.php?pid=70

in case ya run outta Coffee Mate

It won't take much to 20 gals of any of this stuff, but drop in about 1/2lb salt...lemme know how it goes, DAWG... :beer:

[Blue_Runner]

Great info, thanks Oz! This seems a lot like rocket science - only a little more complicated!

One thing I'm having a hard time understanding - which has been touched on in this post by someone else - is how to get the water down to 55 without killing them. They'll be coming out of 80 ish degree water, so I assume you start out with 75 degrees in the tank, and lower it slowly as to not stress them?

Thanks Oz for all your expert advice. I know its gonna pay off!
:beer:

[reelapeelin]

You wanna keep tank around 55*... hook the bait as quickly as you can and GET HIM DOWN...we generally use 1 1/2 oz barrel over a swivel and 4-6' leader...sadly the fact is eventually the lake water will lose it's D.O. and you'll have a tuff time using livies...:cry:...that's when we go to draggin' umbrellas and lead-core line...:party:

[Flyfishin]

BR, When are we going to put this thing to use??

Next weekend Weather permitting.

Reel, Thanks, for all the help.


FF

[reelapeelin]

BR, When are we going to put this thing to use??

Next weekend Weather permitting.

Reel, Thanks, for all the help.


FF


Anytime, DAWG!!...and yes...OK to harvest bait in one lake and use for bait in another...:party: