Battery Powered Air Pump
 

I'm just getting into yaking and recently, I bought a Stealth 14. I have seen the bait tank plumbed with a bilge pump, but I was wondering if anyone has used one of those portable battery-powered aquarium air pumps, with an air stone, to keep the live well alive? Does it work or do you recommend plumbing the bilge pump or using an external live-well bucket?

Thanks

I have a stealth 12 with the pump kit installed and it works great. No problems keeping fish alive.

I dont think the arreartor would work very well

Aerators work fine for a live well (i.e. for tournament fishing). But, they suck for bait tanks.

I have a stealth 12 with the bait tank plumbed. The hardest thing I had to do was decide whether or not to drill a 1" hole through the bottom of the boat. All said and done no leaks and hope for no failures in the future.

I found that you can mount the bilge through the drain hole in the bottom of the bait tank (with a thread adapter) if you don't mind the bilge taking up space in it. I ran it that way for a little while before mounting it through-hull.

An external bait tank would work and you could use the built in bait tank for storage instead, but then why get a stealth? Keeping all that water low in the kayak probably helps stability as opposed to the weight up high in an external tank.

portable air pump will supply oxygen....but bait poops so they die of intoxication

Thanks everyone for the feedback - I guess I'll try to convince myself that drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat is a good thing...

They work ok if in a well insulated container, because if the temperature changes even a couple degrees it will kill the bait. The cheap battery connectors and internal parts corrode almost instantly though in the salt environment.

An air pump will not keep sardines or anchovies alive for very long. Maybe if there was like 3 baits in the bucket it might keep them alive for a couple of hours at most.

You need fresh circulating water to keep the temperature, toxins and oxygen levels in a good place for bait to survive.

In my experience, even the best bait tanks only keep bait alive for a finite ammount of time. This is especially true for bait that you buy from the barge which may or may not have a full cure on them.

I have a malibu x factor with the bait tank plumed and it works great no issues with leakage at all.

What does it mean to have "cured bait?"

No pump needed
 

I have a 14 and don't use a pump or air. I leave the plug out put a piece of screen in hole ( squid will get out ) and bait stays alive all day the swell action of water will circulate the water. Try it before you drill a hole my bait never dies even when fishing 8 plus hours

I tried that on the 12. The water only filled up about half way, maybe less. I didn't think it was enough to keep a good amount of bait alive.