DIY Livewell - Need some help

I want to make a livewell using a cooler for my PA.  3 bills is tough to swallow for the Hobie one and I want to use it for keeping crab and fish after caught more than I want to use for keeping bait alive.  The large lid on a cooler will be much easier to manage than the twist and lock and will make it easier to get larger fish into it when on the water.

I have seen a great DIY using a dog food container, but nothing on converting a cooler.  Any help would be great!!!  I will post a thread on it when I figure out what I am going to do with it.

Thanks!!!

Hey Oly, I came across this the other day and thought you might be able to get some ideas from it. I'm sure you won't need a pump as large but it might work if you reduce the scale.

http://www.oregonfishingforum.com/showthread.php/22765-Homemade-livewell-for-under-20-bucks

About the crab...  If you have a livewell in your tank well, to keep the crabs alive, where are you going to put your crab traps?

The PA rear deck is big enough for both:)


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Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

The livewell might be a bit of overkill IMO. I looked at building one myself out of a dogfood container and Tsunami bilge pump. I abandon the idea after fishing this state for a season or two. Should I move back to a climate where I frequently fish live bait I'll revisit this. A catch cooler will keep your fish cold and ready to process, and a divers bag or milk crate with a lid periodically dunked overboard will keep your crab kicking. Just my 2 cents. I still have the dogfood container if you want it, I'll bring it to you next time we fish and show you what my plans were.

If you need a catch bag I have the Large 42" PrecisionPak for sale $40 brand new. I just use a net style dive bag for crabs and just give them a dunk.

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My biggest issue, and the reason I am looking into this, is because I cannot get to the front hatch when on the water.  I am too big, and even the wide girth on the PA is no compensation for #325 going from seat to knees to front hatch without getting squirrely or tipping...especially if I have a ling or a larger fish I want to store.

I can hang the legs over and get to the back without issue, especially a cooler mounted right behind my seat.  With my fish I can bleed them, throw em in the cooler, and have the recycling water keep the fish fresh and the blood out of the boat. 

The fishing bags mount on the front, so those are out for now.

Thanks for the suggestions and the comments.  I love to hear from the group.  Lots of knowledge here.

I never mount my fish bag, I just throw it in the tank well.

I would not recommend leaving dead, bled out fish submerged in water. It will ruin the texture on the meat, makes it mushy. Ice is fine but just water is not the best idea.  I have all my fish bags on the stern, works great, no reason they have to be on the bow.  Plus if you get into rockfish and Lings, a limit, at least an Oregon limit , won't fit very well in any cooler small enough to use even on a PA.  I can recommend the Precision Pac kayak coolers and Techni ice.  Great combo that works well. 

I would not recommend leaving dead, bled out fish submerged in water. It will ruin the texture on the meat, makes it mushy.

Seems from my observations and experience on the rivers that keeping the bleeding/ bled out fish on a stringer in the water on the river is how most fish are kept until transported home.  I did this with all my salmon last year and had no issues.  I could see keeping them in their all day without any flowing water....

I do have a burlap that I can keep on the back, but it gets back to bleeding out fish and having that mess to clean, not only from the boat, but getting blood out of burlap is no fun.  $5 a piece for used burlap coffee bags gets expensive.

It's not the best way, and river water is colder than puget sound and ocean water.