OK....consutructive criticizim welcome!

800 GPH hour pump submerged in the water supplying a constant flow of lake water to a "chiller/heater core type" in a cooler with ice then out to an insulated 55 gallon round bait tank with a constant overflow of water.
Constant water means all the waste, foam and other undesirables will be "flushed" out. No filter needed due to the constant flow of water.

Sounds simple in my head....

Friend of mine has a homemade tank with a constant flow without the chiller/heater core. He keeps shad alive a long time with the system.

I would think you could keep them without adding salt, shad keeper and all the other "stuff."

Can shad and minnows co-exist?

He still adds salt as a precaution. Minnows won't last long long with salt in the water.

Sounds great! Bet 5" Sassy Shad could stay alive for days

good sales pitch there duck.

Thanks Doug! DUCK I'm comeN thru

Where is the over flow going? Are you using it on a boat?

Yep it will work till the surface temp gets to high and doesn't matter how much 80 degree water water ya run over them shad they will still turn out well done !! hot summer time ya still need a filter and a way to keep the water cool... if ya talking about running a exchanger a bottle of frozen water ever so often works just as good!

Should work well. Couple questions though.
1. While running, how would you get water?
2. In my mind, running that much water through your tank; what kind of volume ice will be needed to constantly cool 70-90 degree water?

I'm with you on this, I have built a proto type chiller myself. Though mine was a recirculated version. Had it on a thermostat and everything. In my trials, I found I needed a large cooler full of ice to cool my tank. However, I tend to overbuild and never got a good study on how much it truly needed to run all day in 90* weather.

I think I'm gonna work on this a little more this spring.

The only negative thing I can think of is whether or not the ice would contain chlorine or other chemicals in sufficient quantity to harm the bait. Otherwise it sounds worthwhile to try if you can build it.

I have a 5 gallon bait tank in my kayak right behind the seat. It is made from a 6 gallon bucket. I use a 500 GPH motor at 6 volts which produces 116 GPH. The motor will self prime even with no one sitting in the kayak. This rig is not really all that unique as Hobie has a similar design as well as several other kayakers.



Generally I can keep several Shad alive and healthy most all day. I don't have any cooling so I wonder if that is necessary. If I thought I needed cooling I would probably just throw a frozen bottle of water in the tank, but not ice. Ice can contain enough chlorine to kill Shad. I have an overflow for the tank. One problem that I have noted is that sludge builds up in the bottom of the tank. So far it hasn't caused any problems with the baits but it needs to be cleaned out at the end of the trip. Which is not that difficult because the tank disconnects and slides out easily. One thing you will need is a way to empty the tank in a timely fashion, 55 gallons is a lot of water (well over 400 lbs).

Caught this 33.5"er on bait from the tank.

If you get that to work that is great. I have been keeping bait effectively for close to 3 decades, and i have found baitwells for shad work best in a closed system especially in weather extremes. I am not saying yours won't work, but I can control the environment and water conditions better in a closed system. Too much flow and you have a problem as well. Salt and ammonium nuetralizer and a good aerator system. Some use a carbon filter for the ammonium (i don't). Ice in a sealed gallon jug to cool first thing in the am before you head out in the heat of summer. I can keep minnows, perch and shad all together though i don't usually use minnows.

My motto is to keep it simple.