Thanks Cat Guys/Gals

Last year at this time I had a post out on the cat forum about a cat trip I took Wats on and was totally bumming, because I couldn’t keep our bait alive. I asked what you dudes did to resolve this problem and received answers and pictures of everyone’s live bait set ups. Thanks a ton. I now am set up myself Well somewhat

This brings me to a 2 part question

Number 1, I bought a Super Saver Aerator/Pump System (super saver sounded cool ). It Draws a maximum of 2amps.
I have flasher 12v battery with an intial current less than 2.1a. How long do you think this battery will last? This will answer if I make it portable or just hook it up to the boat battery!

Number 2, The cooler that I have the sprayer in now holds just over 6 gallons of water (I do have larger coolers if needed). When there are 2 of us fishing I plan on filling the cooler with 18 gills from 5-7inches (maybe a few larger), keeping in mind the first set up has 4-6 gills being thrown over the side. Is my 6gal. cooler large enough to keep the other 12-14 gills lively for a good period of time? As far as making sure my pump does not heat up the water, I always have ice on hand to help keep things chilled

Again, I know I am going to get answers that will only help Wats and I have good bait Friday night
Big thanks in advance for everyone’s input

Bret

For those that missed the first post and might be interested in the response I recieved

Click Here

I went the other direction in keeping bait alive. I bought an inverter and then purchased an aquarium bubbler (they run on AC). If I recall correctly I got the initial idea from Steve Demars, relating to lighting.
Cost varies but the bubbler uses very little power and you don’t have to worry about water temp. (Which is important to some of the more delicate baits.)
The one bonus that I really like with this set up is the times when I want to keep 3 different types of bait separate and can do so by dividing the air lines. Or if I’m league fishing and my partner and I decide to keep bait separate.
Very very little noise, less than any other method that I found.
You can pack a cooler full of bait and it will keep for ever. There are times when I get home and just leave the cooler in the boat in the garage for 1-2 days and the bait is still lively and keeps. With no noticable drain on my batteries.

Good luck
Catch another big one… sounds like it might be WAts turn.

I would say a 12 gallon/48 quart cooler would work alot better. I am limited to bullies most the time and I think you could put a dozen of them in a coffey can and they would stay alive But when I am running big chubs I loose some in the 28 qt cooler I but not too many in the 48 qt. And I freeze about a half dozen pop bottles and use them to keep the water cool. A bait shop guy told me one year to do that because if you toss the ice in the water and let it melt it will put off amonia or something???? that is harmfull to the bait. I can usually keep 14-18 alive for about 24 hrs before they start to go and with them I think its half heat stress. To be honest I dont know how well the panfish hold but hope it helps! Good luck out there!!

I don’t want to Hi-jack this thread, but…

My wife says I should feed my bullheads…I told her they are bait, not pets!

Anyone feed their bullheads? (I’m only getting out about 1-2 times a week).

Crappie minnows work well…but it will dirty your water.

They really don’t need to be fed though…if they are kept long enough that they have to be fed…they lose there “attitude”.

Bret, I keep 24 to 36 bullys in my cooler…for an evening. Now I just have to see how big the cooler is.

And if you don’t feed them they get lean and ornery!

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But when I am running big chubs I loose some in the 28 qt cooler I but not too many in the 48 qt. And I freeze about a half dozen pop bottles and use them to keep the water cool. A bait shop guy told me one year to do that because if you toss the ice in the water and let it melt it will put off amonia or something???? that is harmfull to the bait. I can usually keep 14-18 alive for about 24 hrs before they start to go and with them I think its half heat stress. To be honest I dont know how well the panfish hold but hope it helps! Good luck out there!!

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Buschman has the right Idea…. I’ve managed to keep 25-40 chubs alive for over a week with an aqaurium bubbler. You need to do water changes fairly frequent the more you have in a smaller container. The Ice water bottles is the way to go.. You don’t want to introduce any other chemicals into the water by putting ice in direct.
Last note. If you have good air on the bait. You can allow the water temp to warm up. Which most times is a good thing especially later in the year with warmer temps in the river. What you don’t want to do is shock your bait with more than a 15-20F degree variation from cooler to river. It will kill a sucker and the chubs sometimes can have a hard time with it. Bullheads…. I think you could freeze them solid and hook them and let them thaw in the river and they would come back to life. To bad all bait isn’t that tough.

I went with the larger of the 2 coolers last night. Wats and I filled it with 20 some gills and they were the liveliest gills I have fished with for some time now. I should have been set up this way years ago. I never noticed the water heating up from the sprayer either, but it is something I will keep an eye on.
When we left at 2:00am the left over gills were still kickin’ hard and lookin’ good
Thanks to everyone here for your input

Just ask Wats, I had fun playin’ with my new toy

Is there a law in WI about fishing in the bait cooler??

That had to be the ultimate sacrifice Buddy Bret. Giving up your beverage cooler to keep the gills kickin’ and drinking warm Old Style all night.