How does a livewell work??

I’m going to be putting a livewell into my boat, and i will be making it from a cooler, so i have a few questions as to how a livewell works…

Do most livewells that come on boats just have bubblers, or a pump that pumps up existing water, or do they have a pump that pumps in fresh water from the lake, or possibly both?

If fresh water is being pumped in, how is it coming in, and where? How is the water regulated, as in, stopped from just flowing in uncontrolled?

Does a cooler work well for a livewell, and can i get away with just a bubbler?

The reason i am adding a livewell, is so i can do some fishing tournaments with my new boat!

Thanks in advance!

Depending on the boat you maybe better just using the inside bench seat area for a livewell then buy a livewell top and seal…

Most livewells bring in lake water via a livewell pump then it over flows back into the lake. For tourneys a bubbler would almost certainly NOT be what you are looking for… they are ok for bait in a cooler but I would imagine any game fish you put in that you want to keep would be at great risk of death if kept for long at all in cooloer with bubbler…

Better way is to remove bench seat (if thats the style) seal the sides so it holds water (or add insert) then cut hole for pump intake, one for overflow and viola… livewell.

This is alot of work and will cost $60-$100 depending on equipment, and if you get a “real” livewell top (has to seal or water will splash out)… Timer is another $35.00.

Good Luck !!!

So where would put the tubing for the watter pumping into the livewell? Just drill hole in the transom, seal the tubing, and connect it to the pump? Does the pump stop water from continuously coming into the cooler (like a the drain plug on the transom drain?) Thanks again!

I built a livewell into an old 14′ aluminum boat several years ago. First I welded up an aluminum well that would fit inside of the middle bench seat in the boat. I then set the new well inside of the seat and put a new seat over it with a hinged door. The door was made to cap over a raised lid area so that water would not splash out. I put a $20.00 livewell pump near the transom of the boat with hose going from the transom fitting to the livewell. I made a livewell aerator out of a 3/4″ diameter length of PVC pipe with holes drilled in it that the water sprayed out of. Instead of drilling another hole in the transom for the drain I used a pvc ball valve that I could open so that the water would drain out of the same hole as the water intake. I did put an overflow hole on the side of the hull that went directly to the tank so that when the water level gets near the top of the well it will not overflow. I also wired a timer switch to the pump. Keep in mind that if you do put a live well inside of a boat seat that you will most likely need to remove a large chunk of floatation foam from inside of the seat to make room for the live well. Adding the additional weight of a live well full of fish and water to the mid section of an older boat can also put structural stresses on the boat that it was not engineered to handle in the first place.

Livewell pumps do not stop pumping in fresh water unless you put them on a timer or switch them off. That is why you will want an overflow that send water back to the river/lake. Otherwise you would be just as well off scooping water into the cooler with a coffee can. The whole idea of a live well is to circulate the water to provide fresh, oxygen rich water for the fish. Just filling the cooler with water will not keep the fish alive for long.

Eyehunter

FYI….
I have a brand new 120qt cooler that we used one time for a livewell in my jon boat.
I have the cooler as well as the plumbing and pump.

I am in Champlin, Mn
and I can be reached at 612-860-9329.
I will trade for some beef sticks!

Here’s a link that might help you…

Portable Bait Tank

I’ve seen two main styles of livewell:

1. Single pump systems that have an overflow tube. The tube is stuck into a rubber grommet in the bottom. below the grommet is the drain tube that goes to the transom of the boat. The single pump is near the transom – a second hole – and pumps fresh lakewater into the well. To drain, you pull the overflow tube.

The problem with this style, in my opinion, is that the boat has to be on the water to recirculate. The other issue is that any fresh water coming in is surface water, which during the summer is at 70+ degrees, doesn’t hold a lot of O2, and doesn’t keep the fish as fresh unless you’re constantly adding ice.

2. Two pump systems. This style has one pump on the transom for filling with lakewater as decribed above. The other pump is a submersible/bilge pump inside the well and serves as a recirculation or evacuation. The way mine is set up, there is a simple two-way valve to select whether or not you want to pump the water through the aerator nozzle or out (drain the livewell).

The only downsides I’ve found with that system is that there is more equipment/cost/stuff to go wrong, and the livewell doesn’t drain completely – it leaves about an eighth inch of water on the bottom, which hasn’t been a big deal if I at least hose out the fish smell.

If you’re in Minnesota, and are prevented by law from transporting a live fish, then it probably doesn’t make much difference. Here in Iowa, I’m not aware of any such restriction, so when I go to the big river (assuming I can catch an edible fish), I can keep the fish alive with a cup of convenience store ice and the recirc pump for the 2 hour drive back to the garage, where the fish are still nice and lively.

When I get home, if I remember, I’ll take some pictures of how mine is set up. The only difference between mine and what I described above is that the freshwater intake is inside the well, so if it leaks the worst it can do is fill up the livewell. If I were to have to drill the holes, I would put it on the transom, though.