To stop the water draining out when turned off, I think you have the right idea with adding teh in line tap. If you have the tap in a place above the waterline of the tank where you can have it open a little and have a bit of leakage, that little bit of leakage should then stop the vacuum when you turn the pump off (in case you forget to adjust your valves)
Originally Posted by nthqld
Hi Norm, what I do, and has worked well for years is to use a 20 ltr bucket, I have 2 setups incase I need a lot of livies and for when I have both mullet etc and sardines. I keep the 2 seperate. Sardines are fussy
Two 20 ltr buckets fit just nice in the butchers tub I have in the boat.
I made cages out of stainless steel mesh with a solid alum top / lid that fits into the 20 ltr buckets.
The alum top is important as when you hang it over the side in strong current, the bait take shelter against the lid as it hangs in the current.
I have a small bilge pump that sits in the cage with an elbow on it and then a piece of pvc pipe to the top of the cage..another elbow and short length of pvc to provide a sprayer bar across the top of the cage with a cap on the end.
I just drop the pump setup in the cage when I need it.
To make the sprayer outlet I cut a slit in the pvc and then fitted another piece of larger pvc [tapered like a v to cover the slit] over it so I can slide it over the slit to in / de crease the flow rate.
I net bait and drop them straight in the cage [sitting in the water]and then drop the cage into buckets of water in the boat when I'm ready to leave.
If I have to motor for any length of time I pull up every 15 minutes or so and change the water but otherwise I just leave the door in the lid open to allow air in. I mostly fish near where I catch the bait.
When I arrive at the fishing spot I drop the cage/s over the side.
I hardly ever use the pump thing.
I see ppl whack a bit of air tube near the outlet of the pump to use a venturi air feed to put air into the pumped water.
Haven't tried it myself but looks good.
Good luck with the livies, mullet sards whiting and prawns are all I ever use.
Photo would be great
What I use is a bit primitive to some of the descriptions already posted here but it works just as well for me.
Has every one seen those plastic containers in Bunnings/other hardware stores that their chain comes in, with the screw on lids? I just use 2 of those 1 for mullet and hardier fish and another for herring and other fussy baits.
For the mullet I just fill one with water and use one of those battery operated aeraters (little bit noisy but you can get some almost silent ones from BCF and the likes) where by the lid has had a hole cut in the top to allow the air tube access to the bucket whilst the lid is on and perform a complete water change every hour or so (more frequently in hotter weather) Using this method I have kept mullet live and reasonably healthy for up to 3 days. As I said not as effective in warmer weather and on really hot days I use the below method.
For herring and on just plain hot days I have another of these buckets with holes drilled all over the lower 1/3 to 1/2 of the bucket and use a rope threaded through a couple of the holes just dangle the bucket over the side of the boat when stationary. When under way i simply pull it up and sit the container upside down for the move, and because holes were not drilled all the way to the top there is sufficient water in the bucket to keep them alive for 15-20 min. Some baits will start to lose condition in this time (especially herring) so you can either use them for bait first or try to liven them up a bit by leaving them in the bucket once it has gone over the side at your spot. Using this method, when I am moving a greater distancethat will exceed 20 min I temporarily put hte herring in a larger 40L bucket with fresh water, and transfer them back once I have stopped moving. Using this method and letting the bucket suspended in the water overnight on longer fishing trips I have kept herring and prawn alive and kicking for just under 2 days.
I should probably mention that once the lids are screwed on tight it provides a water tight seal so you wont get water in your boat.
some pic's of the bait cage and spray bar for splash
looks a bit rough...20 year's old now
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