How much bait in a Malibu Stealth tank?
 

ATTN: Malibu Stealth Owners

I am curious... in your opinion, what is the optimum quantity of pieces of bait you have had the best luck with in your Stealth bait tank? I'm talking about mostly Spanish & Greenbacks (mackerel) here... or sardines for that matter... stuff you catch yourself.

I'm new to using this tank for macks and was wondering how many one should load up in there without overcrowding. Opinions?

When I was using my tank last on Long Island, we'd flyline live Bunker (Atlantic Menhadden) for catching Stripers... and they are HUGE baits... so about 3 or 4 in the tank was MAX... more like 3... :)

+1 I have a Malibu Stealth 12 and would like to know this as well. I think the bait tanks on the 12 and 14 are the same but I haven't seen them side by side

I had a Stealth 12 and you can put a good amount of bait in it. I had as much as 2 kayak scoops of anchovies in there which is too much (tipping the bait guy goes a long way). They started dying off so I just released some until they stop dying. One scoop is a pretty good start, the less bait in the tank the longer they last.

For sardines one kayak scoop did fine with only a few of the weaker ones dying off.

For macs it depends on the size. I'd be good with up to a half dozen usually, then make more later if needed. I never really tried to see how many I could stuff in there. With macks sometimes you get calm ones that kinda of just sit there allowing you to have a few more, or you get these crazy energizer macks that will beat up anything in their path, meaning you can't keep too many at a time.

Also, with bait (anchovies especially) I found it critical to turn down the water flow valve so they didn't get tired out and die. Better yet, make sure to use a 6v battery for the pump along with turning the flow valve down a lot. What they need is fresh water, what they don't need is a tsunami to swim against.

If your bait has bloodied red noses, you probably have too many stuffed in the tank.

Have you ever put bait in there without the pump on, with just the drain plug open? I've read that some people do that, which fills the bait tank up to the water line and as the kayak moves, fresh water is forced into the tank through the drain hole. For smaller bait, you might have to put a screen on there

Yep, I did that when I was undecided whether I wanted to drill a 1" hole in the bottom of my yak. I did use a garden hose screen in the hole to keep anchovies from exiting the tank. There just wasn't enough water in there to support a full kayak scoop of anchovies. It should work fine for a smaller amount of bait but I just never tested it that long before installing the pump.

I used to keep about a dozen.. Seems to be more or less depending on size survive better.. No point on 2 dozen only to have the rest die..

How much water was in there, about half way? Was there decent water movement in and out when you're sitting still or do you have to be moving?

I have a stealth 9 and I also wasn't sure if I wanted to install a pump in the bottom. I'd say just letting the water come and go with the plug in it fills the tank about half way, yes. Water will still flow in and out when sitting still but probably not as much. Definitely can keep more bait alive if you are pumping water though. I was also told you can screw a 90 degree angle tube into the bottom of the kayak which would force water in when moving forward but I didn't try this...seems like a good idea though.

Here's my experienced opinion on using a Stealth with bait pump. After six months I quit using the bait pump all together, and just pulled the drain plug.

I liked ten sardines or macs. They would be fresh and lively after several hours in the tank. However, you should experiment with the number because the water level depends on the stealth size (weight capacity) and your weight.

The one inch drain hole was large enough that it did not require me to be on the move to keep the water fresh. A screen is required.

One reason the bait was still fresh was a pump creates a current in the tank, bait will wear down constantly swimming in a current.

I also took out the window hatch and replaced it with a solid twist and lock. every time your arm or leg cast a shadow over the window hatch the bait will panic, this wears them down and they sometimes they'll get injured. Open the smaller hatch (not the entire lid) a minimum amount, slip your hand in, and you'll often find them still leisurely circling in the tank until your fingers wrap around them. It's the shadows above that spooks them.

Remember, if you're a fresh water fisherman or you go ashore when you get out of the kayak, it floats higher and no water is left in the bait tank for the bait. If you go ashore, a bait pump is needed.

Good luck, this is just my experiences.

Thanks, good tips :cheers1:

I also agree is depends largely on the size of the bait. I have a stealth 12 and have had 14-16 good sized macs last for hours (until the dogs took em all) with the pump running but normally thats more than is needed. Like others have said, I prefer to leave the noisy pump off and just open the drain. I normally will have 6-8 macs last all day in there without any issue.

Another benefit of just opening the drain is less weight on the yak and therefor less drag in the water, makes paddling a little easier.

On a kinda different note, I have found the bait take to act as a gear ballast tank when I am throwing jigs in the bay for spotties. Run the pump till she's full, shut it off and I can definitely notice a difference in balance when standing and casting.

I have the stealth 12 with the bait tank but wired it with a 6 volt battery. I found that having the 12v just pushed too much water through making almost a toilet bowl effect in bait tank.
After the conversion to the 6v the only problem i had was I once got a load of small anchovies that started to clog the drain holes. By the time I noticed they had become stuck inside I had some water in the kayak from overflow going into the side hatched I had open, no biggie but definitely made a low-rider out of the Stealth.

If I can keep 6-8 decent sized macs in there with just the drain open, I don't think I'm going to bother with the pump setup. As Loozer noted, most people seem to recommend a 6V battery so that means I have to buy a new battery in addition to cost of the pump kit.

How big are the "good sized macs" you are talking about?

All good input... thanks guys!

I forgot to add that I do have mine plumbed for a bait pump, and it also has a bait pump timer... so it doesn't run all that frequently. CJ from OEX Mission Bay helped me rig my yak when I bought it in 2011 (that was when I was living on Long Island at the time). I also had CJ add a 6" Hobie hatch in the center of my bait tank lid (that was before Malibu started adding the clear hatch to their line of Stealths). It's black, so that's a good thing. Great observation though about the bait getting 'spooked' from the clear hatch... makes sense... wanna keep them c a l m . . .

It worked beautifully with the 'bunker' and kept them nice and lively. I'm guessing from what I'm hearing here, I can expect to put about 12-14 pieces of mackerel in there without a problem, which should suffice.

Thanks for chiming in!