has anybody turned a cooler into a livewell?i have a 12 foot jon boat but want to fish small lake tournaments.do those aerators they make for them keep bass alive?

They make a kit to do that.

May have to do a little custom fabbing, but everything there to make it happen.

http://www.rule-industries.com/products/pumps/livewell_pumps/livewell_aerator_kit/iid_311/index.htm

need a big cooler.

You will need:

1) a pump with a hose to throw over the side of the boat to fill the well.
2) a bilge pump in the livewell to pump water out of the well, and possibly with a 2 way valve to where it can either pump water out or valve over to a spray bar to recirculate.

those two things will get you by, might want to think about an oxygenator, or something like that to oxygenate the water if you are in a poorly oxygenated hot lake during the summer.

you would be good to have a floating thermometer to read water temps.

its real easy, i've transported all kinds of bass in coolers. all you need is a sumbersible pump like a bilge pump, and put some eyes on the pos and neg cables so you can hook it to a battery. let it run all the time. all you are doing is rolling the water.

now here is the trick. when you get fish in there, they will try to get right next to the pump, when they do they will block the water intake, stalling the pump. to fix this, all you need to do is drill a bunch of holes in the intake neck, that way it can't be blocked off.

buy some catch & release and use it all the time. ice in the summer.

I have one and agree to all the above except I don't use a cooler, I use a big rubbermaid tub. They make one now that has a hinged lid and 2 latches to keep it locked closed. These are a bit bigger than a standard cooler so the fish have more room. It does require more water though so if weight is an issue you may want to stick with cooler, either works fine.

Salt helps keep oxygen in the water.

http://www.catfishing.tv/Main/tips-section/aerator1.html

Here is one I made. I use it for shad but it will keep fish alive too. This is a 100qt cooler. Might be a little big for a 12' Jon boat but you get the idea. The pumps like I used are about $25 from Academy. I had the cooler laying around. I was out about $40 total making it.

Paul,

I noticed that theres a small plastic or rubbery hose no top of the pump, whats the purpose of that?
Thanks in advance.

I think the benefit of a cooler is that it's much easier to regulate the temperature of the water, which is critical here during the summer in Texas. Once you get it down a little it will stay because of the insulation.

The air hose allows the pump to suck oxygen down and the impeller busts up the bubbles and makes them smaller. This helps keep oxygen in the water and is much more effective than an overhead dump into water.

chadbass3
Check out this address

< http://www.baitkit.com/ >

That is a pretty good kit for ice chest.

Do those battery powered aerators work good or not?

This is rigged out but it works. I have a 12volt pump (from harbor freight tools) for intake. Way better then a bilge pump. I have two bilge pumps inside the cooler, one is for the spray bar. And an oxygenator. Also I got an aquarium thermometer from pet depot ($12) so I can monitor the temp. I think a cooler is better than a large Tupperware type container because when you chill down the water the cooler will maintain the temp better.

hey crank,

Thats a great idea on that thermostat, i think i'll get me one too, my question is, what temp's do you want the water to be at to be a good temperatures to keep'um alive?