Bait tank bilge pump - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

gear junkie · 05-11-2013, 10:13 PM

This is on my 2012 PA. The bilge pump was a little too big (2013 should fit fine) so I had to remove the 2 opposite screw holes with my dremel and mount on a piece of star board to bring it up a little higher. The hose came from home depot and the bulkhead thru fittings came from a store called hueneme port supply....they sell all kind of great stuff. To give the reader a price diffence, the 1" bulk head fitting cost $5. Also have a cam clamp on the inlet hose which allows fast draining. The tank came from petco and is used to store dog food. The hose for the bilge pump is long enough if I ever needed to pump out the kayak, I could do this easily...disconnect the cam clamp, put the inlet hose in the kayak and pump away. Total price as you see is about $120 in material.

Just a couple pumps every 15 minutes or so does the bait fine. The white pipe inside is the drain and the water level inside can be raised or lowered by tilting the drain pipe up or down.

FishNinjaY · 05-12-2013, 06:30 AM

good design.. I have almost the exact same setup.

You can also adjust the inside water height with different size vertical tubes. I have basically a 4gal and 7gal "setting".

On your outflow pipe, do you have some type of strainer to keep small bait from swimming out and plugging it? I drilled holes across and threaded 50# mono across it back-and-forth as a cheapo DIY strainer. Works fine.

gear junkie · 05-12-2013, 06:59 AM

No strainer, haven't found it to be a problem but will remember your mono trick if it does. To adjust the water height, I just tilt the drain tube up or down.

Raskal311 · 05-12-2013, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gear junkie

No strainer, haven't found it to be a problem but will remember your mono trick if it does. To adjust the water height, I just tilt the drain tube up or down.

Small chovies clog mt pipe causing an over flow, I found out the hard way on my last Dp trip; quite a few of them made it out too. I placed a net strainer on my pipe before heading out yesterday and it over flowed again after the scales clogged the net.

Do u think not running contant flow helps?

FishNinjaY · 05-12-2013, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raskal311

Small chovies clog mt pipe causing an over flow, I found out the hard way on my last Dp trip; quite a few of them made it out too. I placed a net strainer on my pipe before heading out yesterday and it over flowed again after the scales clogged the net.

Do u think not running contant flow helps?

haha.. I didn't even know.. until my buddy saw fish escaping out my drain tube over the side.. lucky little bastards earned their freedom!

I think a net strainer is going to be too fine. I'll take a pic of my ghetto monofilament strainer. Works fine now.

Willy · 05-26-2013, 06:07 PM

No issues with the fish being unable to swim freely in that tank setup?
I like how you have it rigged, if the little guys can swim around and not get pooped.

I just bought the same container, and have rigged it up so the inflow comes from the top down, and the drain out the bottom. Haven't tested it yet, but I did so to give the fish a chance to swim around like little happy fishes...

chuckt · 05-26-2013, 07:28 PM

Any info on the pump? Who sells it. Is it hand operated? Very good idea, not having to deal with electronics.

Baja_Traveler · 05-26-2013, 08:24 PM

Same setup here, except I changed from using an overflow tube to using dual screened overflows. The bottom elbow has a valve that I can close to double the volume of the bait tank. I don't typically use a deep tank unless I'm keeping fish alive for a weigh-in during a tournament.

05-12-2013, 06:30 AM	#2
FishNinjaY Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Seal Beach, CA Posts: 428	good design.. I have almost the exact same setup. You can also adjust the inside water height with different size vertical tubes. I have basically a 4gal and 7gal "setting". On your outflow pipe, do you have some type of strainer to keep small bait from swimming out and plugging it? I drilled holes across and threaded 50# mono across it back-and-forth as a cheapo DIY strainer. Works fine.

05-12-2013, 06:59 AM	#3
gear junkie Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Ventura Posts: 76	No strainer, haven't found it to be a problem but will remember your mono trick if it does. To adjust the water height, I just tilt the drain tube up or down.

05-26-2013, 06:07 PM	#6
Willy Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: La Jolla Posts: 189	No issues with the fish being unable to swim freely in that tank setup? I like how you have it rigged, if the little guys can swim around and not get pooped. I just bought the same container, and have rigged it up so the inflow comes from the top down, and the drain out the bottom. Haven't tested it yet, but I did so to give the fish a chance to swim around like little happy fishes...

05-26-2013, 07:28 PM	#7
chuckt Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 80	Any info on the pump? Who sells it. Is it hand operated? Very good idea, not having to deal with electronics.

05-26-2013, 08:24 PM	#8
Baja_Traveler Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Table 17, Bay Park Fish Co. Posts: 943	Same setup here, except I changed from using an overflow tube to using dual screened overflows. The bottom elbow has a valve that I can close to double the volume of the bait tank. I don't typically use a deep tank unless I'm keeping fish alive for a weigh-in during a tournament.