Bait tank

[Tarpon guy]

I started out pretty early on Saturday to pick up a shopping list to put together my live bait tank.

It ended up taking most of the day. The first Walmart I went to did not have the Attwood pump. I tried Boater's World and West Marine. West Marine had one, but the outlet on the pump was straight barbed and I wanted a threaded outlet. I found one at the Walmart in the Long Beach town Center on Carson St. They also had the drain 1/2" plugs. Home Depot in Lakewood was picked clean as far as PVC fittings were concerned. They were also a little short on tubing. I did some shopping there and the rest at a Home Depot in Long Beach.

This morning I picked up a 6 volt battery and on/off switch at Fry's in Fountain Valley.

Got it together and everything works well. It takes no time at all to build, just spent too much time finding parts. The thing about Home Depot and Walmart is that it's almost impossible to call ahead and see if they have something. Oh well...

I built mine like Piranha's. Very simple. I really liked the way he eliminated the whole discharge assembly. I'm a big believer that less is better. following his lead, I just drilled a series of small holes in the bucket, in a horizontal row and let the water cascade down the back of the bucket and then out the yak scupper holes.

I wanted an on/off switch, but Fry's didn't have a waterproof switch. I did find a rubber boot designed to fit over the toggle with a threaded ring incased in the rubber that screws onto the toggle housing. Once I soldered my leads, I painted the entire switch and leads with a thick coat of Marine Goop. It's anybodys guess how that will hold up, but it gives me time to find a better switch and still get my bucket wet.

I didn't have anything on hand to make the lid. I ended up getting two lids with my Home Depot 5 gallon bucket. I cut a hole in the one that would go on the bucket and cut a larger hole in the spare lid. The "hole" from this lid became the lid for the bait tank.

I picked up an anti-siphon valve from the Home Depot garden department. It turned out this one cannot be used on a suction system. It needs to have the fluid pumped through it. I'll make some calls and see what I can find tomorrow at work. If anybody has used one and knows the part number or general info. I'd appreciate the heads up. The valve in the picture is the one you don't want, in case anybody else is looking.

Here are a couple of shots from when I first got started. BTW, I used a brass hinge, nuts and bolts.

Might not be able to get out on the water again until Friday afternoon or Saturday. In any event, I'll be keepin' live bait when I do