Anyone ever made ether own bait tank? I have a couple of old 10gal Gott coolers that I think would make a pretty good tank. Any ideas / suggestions would be appreciated. Pictures would be especially helpful.
Thanks!

EW

I am not familiar with the cooler you have, but try to stay with something with round sides on the inside of the tank. Your bait will swim into the corners and wear themselves out if you have 90 degree corners.

If by 'bait' you mean shad, I'd say save your time, money, and headaches and invest in a good manufactured tank. Grayline, Sunshine, Creekbank, Bluewater, etc.

If you do decide to make one you'll need a pump and filter system. You'll have to figure out how to incorporate those either inside or outside the water can. You'll need to come up with a lid for easy access. The screw on lids like the Gotts have will be a pain.

After all that's done, a correctly built 10 gallon tank will only hold mayby two dozen baits, less in this kind of heat.

Been there, done that, used the t-shirt for filter meteral. A name brand tank is cheaper, better, and easier.

There is a great thread on here that you can surely find doing a search.

That being said...... Buy a good one so that when your baits die, you KNOW it is something you did and not your equipment. I bought the 17 gal Grayline and it works beautifully.

This is one I made originally for fishing crappie tournaments in our flatbottom that didnt have a livewell. Its also been used for a bait tank. It keeps perch alive all day and does ok on shad. I can keep a couple dozen alive for a couple hours but thats it. And even then, I have to change the water prety frequent and there still not as lively as I would like them to be.

would you guys say the Grayline is worth the extra money over the other brands?

I think so. I just got a 50 gallon and it holds bait extremly well.

Sunshine Grayline is the way to go. Call George at 580-920-2085, he will answer all your questions before you make the purchase. He did me right. I ended up getting a 25 gallon slimline tank with a removable filter tray. Well worth the extra money.

While fishing yesterday evening, we were pulling in fish, one after another. Several boats gather around, then left. One guy asked what were doing different them them. I told him to save his money and invest in a Subshine Grayline tank. Live shad, 1 1/2 inch long was the key.

And he gives you the option to upgrade with another aerator. I did and the thing keeps big 'ol gizzards alive all day long. Actually, it keeps small shad alive, which is even harder to do.

Good luck.

JB

Buddy of mine has a 100 gallon insulated shad tank he made himself. Complete with scale and debris filtration system. Used it last weekend and had about 100+ threadfin in it. left about 25 of them in there after a day of fishing in 100+ degree heat. Came back yesterday and they were still alive and kicking.

I also have a 30 gal oxgyenator tank that keeps about 50+ shad healthy and alive on hot summer days in twok. key thing in the summer is frozen water bottles in the tank to keep them frisk

Years ago I had one made out of a old water cooler. Worked great.

I built several but they aint near as good as a Sunshine tank. I have a 28 gal oval thats works great

Not to Hijack, but can yall recommend a timer for these tanks so that it does not run all the time