Anchovy go belly up

[Oxbeast1210]

I feel they do die easier you need to circulate water through . If you want to make a live well let me know I can help ya out we can make one for pretty cheap or make a fancier one. what kayak do you use?

Oscar

[tamddo714]

what livewell were you using? homemade? hobie? i hear that having a 6volt powered live well will keep your chovies longer because it doesn't stress them too much and i dont have problems keeping them alive in my hobie livewell. goodluck

[Harry Hill]

Originally Posted by tamddo714

what livewell were you using? homemade? hobie? i hear that having a 6volt powered live well will keep your chovies longer because it doesn't stress them too much and i dont have problems keeping them alive in my hobie livewell. goodluck

my live well, which I haven't used yet, came with a six volt battery running a twelve volt pump, so the flow is way down, I'm not sure there is enough flow with six volts to keep the water circulating enough. I guess I won't know until I try it but I've always thought a live well needed a lot of circulation.

[DanaPT]

In my experience, it is not worth the $14-$15 bucks for a scoop (kayak scoop + tip). I like anchovies when I'm fishing near shore. If I'm going for a long paddle, they always seem to go belly-up. I had a scoop at DP bait barge a week ago. Unfortunately I didn't realize what the scoop was until it was in my tank.

The next worst thing... when you get home and realize 2 chovey's are rotting inside the bank tank (against the pump and tank.) You'll smell it in the garage and wonder WTF. by the time you find out what it was... it's just a slimy rotten smelly mess.

[Ro12]

I was using a homemade one
Had a little white aerator that I can't remember the brand or battery
I won it in a fish off raffle with scsurffishing
Unfortunately I lost it that day
I dumped out the last of the fish and water before I paddled in
The aerator went in too
Thanks for the offer Oscar
I'll take you up on that
I got an old ocean kayak xt
Not much space in the back
So I had to make a small one out of a cheap storage bin
It was all I could find that would fit
I'll make another
But I just wonder if it would be worth it or not
Thanks for the help and replies guys

[Hunters Pa]

Not too hard to make a bait tank. There are a couple build tutorials on here. I am in fullerton and would be happy to show you the one I built for my PA - bigger than you would want on a smaller boat but same concept.

[jorluivil]

Having a 12v pump with a 6v battery isn't the problem, 99.99% of the kayakers on this forum use this setup. I believe the problem may have been that you overloaded your tank with bait and regardless of whether you had a 12v or 6v battery this may cause a lack of oxygen in the tank. I know that many of the bait barges hate giving out smaller scoops to kayaks but try asking, this might help.

[RedSledTeam]

Sounds like he had a aerator or "bubbler" not a water pump. Anyway, he dumped it out, problem solved.

[octico]

Originally Posted by DanaPT

In my experience, it is not worth the $14-$15 bucks for a scoop (kayak scoop + tip). I like anchovies when I'm fishing near shore. If I'm going for a long paddle, they always seem to go belly-up. I had a scoop at DP bait barge a week ago. Unfortunately I didn't realize what the scoop was until it was in my tank.

The next worst thing... when you get home and realize 2 chovey's are rotting inside the bank tank (against the pump and tank.) You'll smell it in the garage and wonder WTF. by the time you find out what it was... it's just a slimy rotten smelly mess.

Holly Crap i am not the only that this happened too. I searched every where for a week and finally I found them after week. I scrubbed everything twice thinking it was something on the yak or seat.

[Ro12]

Hunter
That sounds good
Thanks for the offer
Would like to check it out
So bubbles aint no good
Gotta get a pump
Also what kind of material is good for the tank
How thick
Mine was see through and not too thick
Probably was cooking em and didnt know it

[Hunters Pa]

Originally Posted by Ro12

Hunter
That sounds good
Thanks for the offer
Would like to check it out
So bubbles aint no good
Gotta get a pump
Also what kind of material is good for the tank
How thick
Mine was see through and not too thick
Probably was cooking em and didnt know it

Lots of people make them out of pet food containers. Basically you will need a container, pump, hose for intake and maybe outflow, and a battery. A container for the battery is nice but not absolutely needed if you can stow in a dry bag. Rod holders on the tank are great and a switch is close to mandatory but not 100%.