If I put shad into my grayline bait tank I assume they will stay alive overnight. How do I keep the tank from running my battery too low. Can I just leave the battery on the maintainer over night? Will that keep my battery charged up with the load of the pump for the shad tank?

Also, any ideas on this issue would be helpful.

You can buy a battery operated aerator at Academy and use it in your bait tank overnight

I have a 30 gallon Grayline and have no problem keeping the shad alive and the battery charged with my in boat charger. The problem arises from the circulation system of the Grayline tank. It has two pumps on my tank and running them overnight causes the water to heat up. The hot water is bad for the shad. Adding ice periodically is the simple solution. It is never simple. I had to add ice during the night and it was a pain. Lively shad are very attractive to the fish and I broke down and bought a water chiller and circulation system for them. It was pricey but it would keep them alive in the heat of the summer. It's crazy what we do to catch fish. By the way, I live on the dead sea and even the live shad did not produce fish consistently this year. We can only keep trying.

Where did you find a water chiller and recirculate system?

A group 24 battery runs my Grayline overnight, the next day, and the night after that. I unplug the aerator pump and only run the top pump.

Go to Walmart and spend $25/$30 on 2 dual bubbler pumps and 4 12� blue stones in the aquarium dept. when you get home with your shad tank full, turn tank pumps off and install the 4 stones and plug them up. I have done this for several years. Keep the stress down and does rn your battery down or heat up the water.

The above info will get you by
Please be aware of the new bait laws - I am not sure if they are being enforced, but you can not transport bait in the boat - even if its city water. Bait must be moved to a vehicle tank filled with fresh water.

Bait chillers are expensive and available from Penguin Aquarium chillers

You can run the pumps while the battery charger is charging the batteries

I wish I knew where to see the actual law written on this. I have seen a few different vague versions of it put out by TPWD.

You can transport bait from ramp to ramp at same resovoir, and since PKfishing lives on the lake. He can by launch his boat, get bait and return home for the next day of fishing.

That�s the way I understood it as well.

Hard to understand the way it�s written. That�s why I asked a game warden face to face.

I leave my tank on and throw some shad saver in it. I have a 30 gal greyline.

My recipe.
During the summer I stop at the bulk ice place at PK. I buy several 16lbs bags of ice.
I put 1-2 cups of salt in my 30 gallon greyline. I built a system that has one pump to filter and areiate.
I fill the tank with Lake water and add most of a sixteen pound bag. Catch the bait and leave them alone with the exception of filter changes. Plug the onboard battery charger in and go to bed.
Put shad down catch fish and repeat!

In the cooler months I use salt and lake water. Plug it in and go to bed.

Small threadfins don�t keep well. If your going to keep shad overnight gizzards are your best bet.
On PK Striper fishing normally means two fishing trips.
One on the muddy high end for shad and another down the lake for stripers.
It take a little driving and a few extra boat launching but if you can catch good bait you can catch good fish

Randy, won't the chlorine in the ice kill the shad? I've heard guys dechlorinate water and freeze it to use when it hot out.

If he puts 16 pounds of ice in a 30 gallon tank, that's not a lot of chlorinated water by percentage. Sixteen pounds is just under two gallons - with possibly 28 gallons of lakewater in the tank. The chlorine is very diluted at that point.