The External Kayatank prototype brought to you from your friends at OEX

[Matt]

The External Kayatank prototype brought to you from your friends at OEX
So just to add to your already overwhelming choice of baittanks that are already currently available, CJ, Brett and I decided to try an build a new style of external kayatank similar to that of Art's or Aquachico as some of you may know him. One of the many reasons both CJ and I wanted a slightly different style bait tank was due to the fact that the OK Prowler Tridents have a rather unique proprietary tank well that we thought could be used more efficiently and could also have a better fitting bait tank in the well.
Now I have tried the thresher tank from Liquid fishing, bristol bay tank from Shimano, and the reliable 5 gallon bucket and all left me wanting something slightly different. These are all great bait tanks but I felt there was something better just out there and I hadn' seen it. About 4 months ago I ran into Art on the beach after an midweek evening session in LJ and he had the style of tank that I wanted, the original version of the external kayatank, that he built himself many years ago, Art was nice enough to let me check his baittank out and it went from there to the new generation.
There are two ways to plumb this tank, CJ's is done via an internal kayatank pump, very similar to the way Grego plumbed his bucket tank on his new x-13, and the other way is exactly the same as you would see on a standard bait tank with a bilge hanging over the side. Now the drains on both of these style of external kayatanks is achieved using a standard drain like you would see on any of the bucket tanks, however it is placed directly over one of your scupper holes in the rear tank well and is modified by drilling holes in the top of it to drain more efficiently and then glued in place to the "vinyl-like" kayatank material(see the pics below). In order to allow the kayatank to maintain its shape we have glued two square pieces of PVC to the inside of the tank the sides of the tankwell take care of the rest. This is also what allows the pump attachments to stay in place, as well as the drain plug, which I haven't installed in my tank yet. The lid of the tank also has the same PVC material glued to it, in order to let it sit flush and keep pressure on the cover so your macks don't escape and swim away, the lid has a cut through the pvc making it two half circles and allowing the tank to be easily accessed for that final bait that is hunkered down in the back of your tank.
The plumbing of the external kayatank is really clean with a on/off switch up by the fish finder run to the tank via a deck plug outlet so it is a superclean system that still allow you to use your plano box if you are so inclined.
I have found that the roughly 4+ gallons is more than enough to keep over 15-20+ mackerel swimming happily along all day on a 12v 10ah or 12v 7ah battery. The external tank while being somewhat of an oblong square allows the macks to swim in a semicircle and keep plenty fresh and ready to be used as bait.
"So why build an external kayatank?" Well that is a fairly easy question,
1. It sits flush with the tankwell so therefore lowers your center of gravity nicely.
2. Super easy access to your bait and keeps your bait really fresh with a massive amount of water flow and nice semi round shape to allow them to swim in their more natural motion of a circle.
3. If you are coming in during some larger than normal surf this tank is able to be folded up and put inside your kayak, not a neccesity much of the time at LJ but a definite nice advantage in other locales whether down south in Mex or Marine St or Big Rock in LJ or any of the North County launches.
4. Let's say you have a multiple fish day and you don't want to store your fish down your hatch you can lay them on top of this tank with little to no problem and they sit pefectly well on top versus having to try and figure out how to store them with say a more "rigid" sided bait tank.
5. I just think its a cool idea.
6. You can make this tank in almost any shape or size to fit any yak out there.
I have used this tank now for about 2weeks or so with no problems or concerns, it is super easy to wash out and clean, easily folded up and put in the hatch (i tried this out of my own curiosity to see how it worked and it did so just fine). There are currently only 2 of these that OEX has made but more will be on the way now that the design is pretty solid and we have worked out all of the kinks and the few problems we had. There are pictures below, if you have any questions regarding the tank feel free to PM me or harrass CJ all you want as it is his job!!!

[Siebler]

Art came in today with some suggestions from his old tank. There seems to be some interest in this model so I am going to play with the ideas Art gave me and hopefully these will be in full production very soon.