Home bait tank

I remember reading a post about bait tanks, but I can’t find it.
I am thinking of building one, but I have a million questions.
Like, I have noticed that minnows live longer in the winter in the minnow bucket, so would it be better to put the bait tank inside the house (air conditioned).
So I got to thinking, it could go where my wifes dishwasher is currently, water pipes going in and out already there. Almost too easy
Thanks for any and all info!
STCROIXER

This is a good post. Lots of guys use old freezers. I only keep bait once in while as I am not as active as I used to be. I put a big rubbermaid on the downspout of my garage eves. I can keep bait alive for a long time. It is in the shade. Take care using chlorinated water. The best setup I ever saw was an old milk tank. This guy I know has an artesian well in his yard that flows through there. If we want to eat a few small ones we keep them in there for a day or two and they seem to taste better.

Here is a post from 12 June 2005 that should answer most of your questions. Here is the link: Bait Tank Information I’ve been running a 100 gallon stock tank with a filter setup and airstones for the last 3 years with no problems. I keep bullheads for catfishing and they are hardy bait and easiest to maintain. As long as you do weekly water changes and some occasional maintenance you can keep bullheads alive for the whole season.

Thanks Steve. I was going to search out the link, but in the process I saw your reply.

I checked out that link, but it seems to me last year or the year before there was a thread complete with pictures.

I think it’d be kind of cool if everyone could post a picture of their set up, including the ones people use for shore fishing to transport them. Fisher Dave has a great cooler with wheels that he converted to a portable baitholder.

I’ve done ok with having my cooler and then I use an aerator to keep the bullies a lively when transporting them in the truck. The aerator is nothing more than a aquarium jet (not a air pump) and I have a converter to plug it into that plugs into the lighter. However, I am hosed if I then fish away from the truck. I also could modify it to keep the bullheads from getting suctioned onto the pump. You see a guy swerving down the road in a old black explorer, it’s me reaching back and freeing the bully.

I think it is very important to keep the water moving and aerated. Your bullheads, and any minnow for that matter, will be more lively and ready to go. Once they become sluggish, it takes a while on the hook, depending on the temps and oxygen content, to get them really kicking again, if at all.

In a related note, last year I was fishing a spot at Lilydale when the water was low. There wasn’t much current where i was fishing and the bullheads on the hook were lifeless and changing out the water didn’t help the ones in the bucket either. So you can use the bullheads as pigeons. Obviously there wasn’t enough oxygen there to support an Ollie and even if there was one in the area, you could bet the low oxygen would have been making him sluggish and not in the mood to feed.

Steve,
Thanks a million! I also found this:
Portable Bait Tank
Any reason, besides price, not to use stainless steel?
I used to work at one of the recycling centers Downtown MPLS as a kid and we would buy the sports therapy tanks for scrap prices and then I would buy them from the owner for my aunt who would use them to collect water for her horses. Man I wish I had kept one I am going to call the place I used to work to see if there are any laying around, I’ll let you guys know if there are any available cheap.
Thanks again for all the help!
STCROIXER

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So I got to thinking, it could go where my wifes dishwasher is currently

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You be looking for a divorce there Jarrett?

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So I got to thinking, it could go where my wifes dishwasher is currently

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You be looking for a divorce there Jarrett?

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Coming from the guy who nuked some mooneye last year…

Last year?? 4 pounds of shad takes 25 minutes on defrost…and if the FW would have come home…I would have a new under counter mic in my garage.

By the way, Steve, do you use your garage blender much these days?

Brian –

I don’t use the blender much anymore. I would be glad to donate it to your new garage bachelor pad. You can mix some margaritas in it while you enjoy a shad sandwich fresh out of your garage microwave.

stcroixer, for longer term you need a lot more water per fish. For short term you don’t need that much. I have a 5 gal round beverage cooler that I carry bait in. It has a battery powered bubbler screwed on and that is all you need for an evening trip.

Maybe you guys go through more bait than me, but I can put 20 4-5″ baits in there and fish and they come home with me and then they go into the big tank for long term storage. They won’t live in that small space forever but for a 10-12 hour trip they are fine without a water change. I don’t fill the cooler full of water, either.

Once water hits about 80 it holds a lot less oxygen and I put in a 20oz soda bottle that’s been filled with water & frozen. It lasts a lot longer than ice cubes, they don’t last very long. Ice cubes dump their energy much too quickly and shock your fish and then it starts to warm up.

I got a frabill rotary bubbler last year and it is excellent! I went through a few cheaper ones much too quickly. They were very loud, to the point you wondered if they scared fish away. It was about $30 but still a bargain.

Fyi, aerated and aggitated are one and the same in effect. As long as you have water movement on the surface, O2 is being replenished into the water. If air bubbles do the moving, or a pump does, it doesn’t matter.

When you set up a long term storage tank, you need to cycle it and get the bacteria growing. There aren’t any bacteria you need in a new filter and without them the fish waste will poison fish. So start off with just a few fish like four in a 50 gallon tank for two weeks before adding more. it is tempting to add a truckload of bait when it is easy to catch but if it all dies you just have a mess and it doesn’t help you out. Goldfish are great for cycling tanks.

I am too windy and I know it but it is very frustrating dealing with nasty dead bait when you just want to go fish.

A year or two ago I killed off a coffee can full of suckers/shiners by not cycling the tank first. There was an ugly situation where the circulation pump didn’t have a proper screen and it sucked shiners in and mulched them. it belched out gook and scales and of course in that nasty stew all the fish died again.

Thanks a ton guys! I really appreciate your willingness to share your personal set-ups. If my bait tank comes to fruition I will definately post pictures.

I called 3 recycling centers, all said: “We do not sell to the public”, which means you need to know someone there “better”. So no luck there, anyone else have a source for a stainless tub? I’ll keep digging.

Brian – my wife said you can have her dishwasher for your garage pad and then started crying when I told her what a bullhead was

I may look into this for my excursions. The cooler gets awkward in the boat. All I need to do then is to go over to BK’s when he is out fishing, and load up for a night out.

(As long as those two ankle biters of his are in the house. )

CAUTION!!

The FW has a carry permit and the FD knows how to use a 12ga.

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(As long as those two ankle biters of his are in the house. )

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Who’d you think I was talking about, your hounds from he!!?

(Just kidding FW & FD. God knows you shoot straighter than the old man. )

(I think?? )

I use a 100 gallon poly stock tank and put it on the north side of my garage, so it’s always in the shade. I think I got some ice out there right now, but during the summer it works real well. I have a piece of PVC cut into the tank that has an attachment to a garden hose on one end, so all I have to do is turn on the water to put fresh water in. I have a well, so my water situation is good. I use a dual air pump and pump air into it all summer long. I used to have a 120v aerator too, but it’s a bit frozen up, so I may try to work on it a little bit to get it going again. This whole system has worked well for me for the las 8 years…..it keeps a lot of flathead bait real lively for me!

When it warms up…we want pictures!

I can do that!