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home made bait tank

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dannyott1106

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any one have any pointers on building a home made bait tank for herring?

 

 

Keep it round with no corners , keep it very well oxygenated with a big pump or two separate pumps (i use two for herring ) and keep the water at a stable temperature ( you can buy rolls of thin foam insulation that you can use to line the inside of a big cooler or big tub. Building one that discharges old seawater and brings in new is the best method for these baits. One last tip is to never crowd baitfish in the herring family ala, Alewife,Threadfin, Menhaden etc... they won't last long.

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5 gallons is really limiting the amount of bait you can hold. For something larger you could try using a rubbermaid water trough. They are relatively cheap for the gallonage, and have round corners. Just set up a large pump that goes into a 5 gallon bucket that has filter floss and holes punched in the bottom. Then set the bucket over the the tub for cheap and simple filtration and aeration.

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i was thinking a 5 gallon bucket. or something close to that. i fish a tributary of the hudson and also ill be getting into kayak fishing this spring. i think the bucket would be a good size for both. thanks cnnashman for the help.

 

ht

tp://www.stripersonline.com/t/834401/home-made-bait-tank#

 

 

 

 

Danny, for certain types of baitfish(finger mullet) a five gallon pail with one aerator does the job. Even a two d size battery model works well with mullet but Herring is a totally different ballgame. When i fish Herring it's critical that you have (especially with the size of a five gallon bucket) two aerators, one on each side they can be portable units that run on two d size batteries, just make sure you use two)

 

This is the only method that truly works for these delicate baitfish ( when portability is essential like in a kayak). When i tell you that i have tried everything, i mean i have tried everything and this works well. You still cannot crowd them but i have been successful keeping them frisky for all day trips with this method. You also want to tape the tubes against the side of the bucket and at the very bottom add two quality airstones. The bigger the better. If you get a chance to change out the water during the day do it, after a few hours it's a good practice.

 

One last thing , try not to handle these type of baits because it effects them much more so than it does with other baitfish like Mullet.

 

 

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I think he wanted it for his kayak. I use floating homemade bait pens out on the dock, i have made them out of hardware cloth with a big pool noodle that encircles the top to keep it upright. I also have some nylon mesh ones but the crabs tear it up. I have to heavily reinforce the bottoms because the crabs eventually get through that also. I use the 5 gallon bucket with the two aerators in the kayak though, the two aerators cost about $10.00 each and as long as you have one on each side it works very very well.

 

The problem with many cheap aerators is they seem to stop producing bubbles after a short time but this is an easy fix. If you take it apart( just the plastic housing inside the box) you will notice a black rubber sleeve, leave that part alone. What you want to get is the small round plastic ring that holds the metal rod, ( it is attached to the motor shaft) use pliers and pull the rod off and heat it with a lighter until its hot enough to stick back into the plastic near the edge. Make sure its secure and reassemble. The aerator should work like new now.

 

I have heard guys in the past voice their disappointment with these cheap aerators,( not on this forum but through the years) and it's an easy fix so i thought i would mention it.

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