building a livewell

So i fish a lot of musky tournaments (WMT/PRO-MAC, IMTT)and last year talking with the head of the PRO-MAC he told me they are getting rid of judge boats completely and want all muskies transported in a livewell to judge stations before release. (which i think is stupid for a catch and release tourney) Anyway, my boat is a 2004 Tuffy Osprey 1700 which has 2 livewells as opposed to one 52″ livewell they switched to in 2005, neither one is large enough to safely transport a musky measuring more than 35″ or so. Does anyone know how to build a livewell/add on to one, or know of anyone who does this? I would like to stay away from converting a cooler into one since a cooler large enough is almost 500 bucks by itself. Any help would be great!

I built one many years ago on my first boat. I believe I used 7072 Aluminum. I bought a sheet of it in a decent size gage. I designed a deck over the top of it but the livewell itself was over 50″. I called around and found a guy who was good at welding aluminum and I cut out the bottom / sides. The top had a large opening but also had a good size edge for a splash guard. From there it depends on were you would want to go with a cover but the biggest trick would be making relatively if not completely leak proof. Back in the day I used heavy duty door seals though I am sure there is something better out there now. I would steal as many design ideas off of current boat livewells and use them for your situation, it would be very easy to design in such features as water pump, overfill realease, circulating pump etc. Good luck!

I bought one smaller than this with lid from these guys

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BAYLINER-TROPHY-50-GALLON-BOAT-FISH-LOCKER-LIVEWELL-/200394508149?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&vxp=mtr&hash=item2ea8718775

they[/url] also have own web site off

Just a thought… Might it work if you buy a huge coleman cooler and run a hose from your LW fill into it and then a 12v pump to dump water out thus providing circulation???? Im not sure if this even works for you, it was just a thought that would save $$$ on something that is not used often.

Your nuts to pay 500.00 for any cooler, iv seen em ya they do have something special about them but still not gonna be worth it for your needs, whatchin to much tv for a day outing, once you put in your areator (sp) and handle your fish properly or as well as one can, it won’t matter, do you really think they put that kinda money in the livewell in most boats?