Went to Texoma last weekend and had my first real chance to use the Hobie live well for an extended period of time. Here is my review:

Install and setup - installation is simple, hook up the drain and the intake. Be careful installing the intake as it has to be facing forward and I will explain that in "getting started" portion of my review. I am not sure if its only on my live well, but the bulkhead fitting on the intake kept slipping and would not allow me to point the intake forward. Its hard to explain, but Adrian knows what I am talking about. I end up having to take out the rubber washer for it to work. You then mount the live well with the intake and drain through the rear scuppers on your Hobie. Tighten down the two straps and you're set. The live well almost feels like part of the kayak. I never remove it even when transporting my PA12. Battery install is just a simple quick disconnect.

Getting started - this to me is the big negative on the live well. Hobie states that you have turn on the pump, peddle fast for about 5 seconds. By peddling fast, and if the intake is facing forward like i mentioned in the installation, water will be forced up to the pump and start the live well. This is all too easy, but what if I catch shad at my launch point. That means i have to get on my kayak, paddle out into open water, install the mirage drive, peddle fast to get the live well started. Then I got to peddle back in, remove my mirage drive then paddle toward shore. Then go catch my shad. Here is another bad part, the pump has to be running and your kayak has to be in the water for the pump function properly. If for any reason the intake is above the water line and sucks in air, the pump will stall and you will have to repeat the process of peddling fast for 5 seconds in open water to get it started. Now while catching shad, I have to keep an eye on my kayak in case it floats away. Yes, it works. But it sure is annoying just to get the pump started. Sure this can be avoided if I catch shad in open water, but I am not standing on my PA trying to throw a cast net in windy conditions. Here in Dallas, that is 360 days a year.

Here is my fix for the Hobie live well. I got a hand pump/siphon that is used for aquarium maintenance. Hook it up to the outflow of the live well pump. One squeeze and it starts the live well. Very simple and it takes 5 seconds.

This is very similar to what I am using.



The battery - It is a 20 6vdc 20AH battery. I was on the lake for 10 hours with the pump running continuously. After so much of the electricity is used, the voltage on the battery will drop. Unlike the fish finder where it will just shut off when the voltage drops, the pump in the live well will slow down. At the end of the day the pump was will running and the live well was still making that gurgling noise. That leads me to the next section.

Annoying [censored] besides getting the pump started - that gurgling noise is irritating. With calm waters, you will definitely hear it. When its windy, you don't hear it so much. Closing the lid will help it some. The first 15 minutes or so, it was getting on my nerve. After an hour, i forgot about it all together. Only because I was peddling trying to catch up with my buddies. Its also a good reminder for me to close the lid on the live well. If you're the type that wants peace and quite, calm waters and hear the birds chirping in the background. This isn't for you.

Performance - This live well is great once you get it running. I must of caught 60-70 3-5" thread fin shad. After 10 hours on the lake, maybe 15 died and still had about another 15 still swimming strong. About 5 shad died because they wedged themselves between the wall of the live well and the pump. I bet you more would of stayed alive if I had closed the lid on a regular basis. The strong sunlight I think stresses out the shad. By closing the lid, the shad would calm down. While cleaning out my kayak today and took apart my live well, I found a piece of debris in the intake tube. This would of definitely slowed down the flow of water which might of caused the shad to die. I can't be certain, because I have no idea when that piece of debris was sucked up as this was my first time cleaning the live well in several weeks. Also, it could of been that the battery voltage drop causing the pump to slow down.

Conclusion - is it worth $300? I am a big Hobie homer, but unfortunately I don't think its worth it. For $300 dollars, I would expect it to work flawlessly. That means when I turn on the live well, it will start running. It doesn't mean I will have to peddle forward for 5 seconds fast to get the pump working. For $300, Hobie could easily included the hand pump I mentioned above. Found it on Amazon for $5. This means I don't have to forward face the intake and risk it sucking in debris and slowing down the pump. This also means I no longer have to go through the entire process to get it started.


Let me know what you think. If you have any questions, don't bother asking because I will probably end up ignoring them anyways. just kidding.

You can start it by filling it up past the pump and it will start automatically without pedaling.

Just get you a $100 Hobie bait bucket.

$45

$25

$5.99


Throw in $15 worth of tubing and hardware and you get pretty close.

Yep, I run something similar. Maybe $70 total cost including the battery.

tried that several times. i kept having to add more water to finally get the pump running. or i can just use the hand pump/siphon

you forgot a battery and charger.

I like the design, but here are somethings you might wanna consider. I would rather use a cooler than a dog food container, only because it doesn't look so weird. I don't like the idea of the pump on the outside. Found that it constantly got in the way of either my stringer or anchor trolly. The pump on the outside makes it look cheap. Also, if you're using a 12vdc battery, the flow of that pump is way too strong causing the shad to get beat up. you probably reversed the polarity to slow down the pump. This isn't a good idea as it is bad for the motor while still consuming high energy. Consider using a voltage regulator or buying a 6vdc battery.

Shad livewell, round is better.
Shad stay alive longer if they
don't group up and stay swimming
moving water across their gills.

I use a 6v battery.

As far as looks go, yeah if cosmetics is what you are worried about then the Hobie bait tank is the best.

That thing was noisy!! I was going to tell you something but as much as we were yapping it wouldn't matter. Because of the motor I'm thinking all kayak live Wells are going to be annoying. I am really considering the manual pump...

Now that I can fit a cooler behind me I plan to build a new bait tank soon. Probably will cost a little over a hundred to do what I want to do with it.

manual pump is a good idea if you can remember to pump it every 5 minutes to keep the shad alive. its great if you're trying to keep mullet, but shad are weak, they need the constant flow of oxygenated water coming from the lake or a filter. don't recommend it.

your not concerned with how your kayak looks?