Have always wanted to install a live bait tank not only to keep live bait fresh, but to keep keeper fish as fresh as possible, especially on long day fishing trips....I also wanted to remove the very comfy rear lounge seat when i go on fishing trips with more practical seating for two...this also allowed me to put in the old bait board i had.....

The main floor of the boat has an underfloor fuel tank and an esky.....so there was no more room to place a tank in the floor....After careful consideration, i installed the tank in the rear aluminium platform / pod of the boat...
The pod can probably fit 200 litres of water, but i would never ever fill it up as it will dramatically weigh the boat down......40 - 50 litres of water will be more than enough water for the fish i catch...with a 150HP engine, i am not too worried about the extra weight at the back...

Basically what i did was remove the old small round screw on hatch cover (which i could barely get my hand through) and replace it with a rectangular waterproof hatch....I cut out the required hole with a jigsaw and drilled the holes. I then cut out the carpet around the hole to ensure that the hatch fixes to the metal only...cleaned the metal with thinner, siliconed all around and fixed the screws...Although the pod is aluminium, I still sprayed the inside of the tank with a waterproofing / rust agent i bought from Bunnings... .looks great and very practical...I did not install a bilge pump as i didn't really want to drill anymore holes in pod. It doesn't really worry me if a have to fill it up manually with a bucket.....I bought a $15 battery operated aerator which seems to do the job ok...

Question: To keep the fish alive for long periods, do i need to refresh the water regularly or not?

I have attached pictures of the hatch, and the new seating configuration....

Looked @ the pics 1st & was scratching my head as to where on the goat ewe fitted the brurry thing

Then I figured it out

Majed not sure it's a good ide but wont say why yet till ewe take a pic from rear of goat showing all the transom in other words a rear view shot

I'd also want to know where the water line is on the goat only then will I comment

ps] I'd put a lock on it if I were ewe else christos will use it as a Red Undies Washer

I know a bloke with a welder who could weld a plate over that big hole in your boat Majed.

Here are some more pics....




Why would I want to weld a plate over the big hole? There was a hole there in the first place...i just made it a bit bigger....I don't think a 100% full waterproof hole is going to make a difference....there was no structural intrusion to the platform / pod.......

2 replies and yet no ans to mr majed question.....

as far as i know which is next to nufin i think as long as the bubbles are poppin as is good

Majed, your idea seems great but for it to be functional you need to reduce the size of the bait tank-2 reasons for this....1 good luck trying to get the live fishy's out of it and 2 you would need to put a lot of water in there to keep the fish alive. I'm sure bias and other places liuke that have live tanks with a lid like yours that will suit your purpose, they are moulded as a bait tank and hold around 40-60l of water, you really need to keep the water frash to keep the fish alive, a aerator will only keep them alive for a short time......

JG-you're the ideas man whats your thoughts?

Wouldnt a large hole like that affect the structure around the motor. It would need some sort of stiffener in there...

The structural beams have not been touched....It is solid as. The hole is only 13cm wider than the old one... it will not affect the strength of the platform att all.

Nark Nark

Okee Dokee now that pic of transom setup is up I can see the layout

No probs with wot you've down majed, piss the airator off it's not needed nor is a pump

Wot ewe need to do is use say a 25 mm hole saw & cut out say 3 holes in the bottom skin of the pod, be carefull that ewe miss the stringers [ upright flatbar welded to pod.

These will allow water to fill the pod

Next I'd be cutting out another 2 holes either side of the pod BUT wait till next ewe take the goat out & mark where the water line is then cut these 2 holes out just above the water line.

Basically wot ewe end up with is a live bait tank very similar to the wuns in my goats, the pod being independant to the actual hull will work a hoot

Downside ??

ewe have to be carefull handling fushies in & out the opening hatch cause I can see a few sliping away

Oh ! water in the pod will also act as a ballast to a certain degree & once you're up planing the hole the water level will drop cause the water line alters

Before you go overboard Majed (CAN YOU SWIM?) I think you'd have to get out onto the marlin step to get livies out of the tank.
I'd like to see some better pics taken from down low of the rear & the side because to me it looks like it would nearly drain out completely when you're underway.

Jumpy, does your tank level drop much if a licensed driver takes your boat up to say 20 Kts?

ROFLMAO!!!!

I think it looks good.

All depends on the towel head I'm wearing @ the time

:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic:

The waterline on the pod is quite high....probably about 20cm below the platform.....if i cut out holes that far up, then the pod will have in it probably 200 litres of water most of the time....won't this be too heavy? I understand some will drain out when the boat is underway, but when stationary it will be pretty full....

I guess you don't have to be a good swimmer when you're eleven feet tall, you could touch the bottom in most of they River & Bay.

20 cm's is not high @ all & wont have any major probs

Only prob I can see is that ewe weigh twice as much as me & if ewe have a couple of heavy weights like yourself putting their weight aft, the the goat will dip lower in the water.

But this will happen if the pod is full or empty

Weight of the water inside the pod wont effect the boat's waterline much @ all simply because of the holes I told ewe to cut out, they take the pressure back off the weight factor.

A bit like if you were to cut out bottom skin off the pod entirely water inside has downward pressure & only the weight of the alloy pod factors into the equation


Worst case senario if the goat sinks do as Fed Sed just walk along the bottom water level should only come up to your waist line

Maybe i should do a round at Jenny Craig........

I wouldn't do anything until you've checked the waterline at rest & underway Majed because I'm sure the pod will be out of the water even at modest speeds.