Overnighter Livewell Help

[johnsonericm]

I have a 1990 204c Overnighter and would like to add a livewell to keep anchovies and herring. I found a discussion involving location but not specific livewells. Has anyone out there added one with good results that would be willing to share info? Any help would be appreciated.

Eric

 

[Lt.Mike]

I have an ‘87 204C Overnighter.
Adding a tank on the deck takes away from limited space and without recirculating fresh water your bait won’t last.
My boat had a sprayer with a pump mounted in the center rear bait well. I had to fill it with a bucket and if I had bunker in the tank their loose scales would clog the pump. No good.
I added an air pump which helped but the water still fouled.
This is probably the point where your at, right?
I ended up installing a graco bronze strainer and valve in the hull about a foot forward of the stern and a foot in to port from the center line. To that I mounted an 800 gph rule baitwell pump that has a port for a wash down pump I also installed. I bought a diverter valve from Wakemakers so that I could fill a front, rear or both tanks. Yup I converted the starboard side fish box to a recirculating livewell. It fills from the front through a rule elbow valve than can limit the flow with a twist. Off of that I mounted a homemade sprayer bar to aerate the water as it fills. The same was done for the rear tank. Both tanks already had drains so I picked up overflow tubes that could be used and cut to maintain desired the water level.
Granted a round livewell is the desired shape but how does it all work?
Pretty damned well!
Bunker, peanuts and adults stay perfect in both wells without fouling the water or clogging anything.
Spearing as fragile as they are recover 100% in the tanks .
I use the fish box to hold the catch keeping them alive and kicking. In fact I even stuffed a 43” bass into the front well and it recovered from the fight like a bonito in a bait tube. :wink:
I don’t know where your located but if your anywhere near Farmingdale NJ 07727 your welcome to come over to have a look.
Mike

 

[johnsonericm]

I have an ‘87 204C Overnighter.
Adding a tank on the deck takes away from limited space and without recirculating fresh water your bait won’t last.
My boat had a sprayer with a pump mounted in the center rear bait well. I had to fill it with a bucket and if I had bunker in the tank their loose scales would clog the pump. No good.
I added an air pump which helped but the water still fouled.
This is probably the point where your at, right?
I ended up installing a graco bronze strainer and valve in the hull about a foot forward of the stern and a foot in to port from the center line. To that I mounted an 800 gph rule baitwell pump that has a port for a wash down pump I also installed. I bought a diverter valve from Wakemakers so that I could fill a front, rear or both tanks. Yup I converted the starboard side fish box to a recirculating livewell. It fills from the front through a rule elbow valve than can limit the flow with a twist. Off of that I mounted a homemade sprayer bar to aerate the water as it fills. The same was done for the rear tank. Both tanks already had drains so I picked up overflow tubes that could be used and cut to maintain desired the water level.
Granted a round livewell is the desired shape but how does it all work?
Pretty damned well!
Bunker, peanuts and adults stay perfect in both wells without fouling the water or clogging anything.
Spearing as fragile as they are recover 100% in the tanks .
I use the fish box to hold the catch keeping them alive and kicking. In fact I even stuffed a 43” bass into the front well and it recovered from the fight like a bonito in a bait tube. :wink:
I don’t know where your located but if your anywhere near Farmingdale NJ 07727 your welcome to come over to have a look.
Mike

Mike,

I really appreciate your detailed reply. I wish I could come check it out, I'm in Washington State. I've used the fish boxes in a limited way, half filling with water and draining and refilling periodically. It works fine for the little rock soles we use as bait for ling cod. Haven't tried it with herring or anchovies yet. Do you know for if boxes are completely sealed to the interior of the hull? At one point after doing this I had quite a bitof water in the bilge and was worried it came from water slopping over the inside wall of the box. I need to stick my head in there and really inspect I guess.

Eric

 

[Lt.Mike]

Yup you have to seal the box up with 3M 5200.
I’ve found that under power and at speed the front well will overfill as the drain is a little small for a livewell but an adjustment of the diverter valve towards the back tank fixes that.
As I said round is the preferred shape for a tank but you work with what you have.
I like keeping my deck clear so it works.
Send me a PM with your email and I’ll send pics I took of the project. Can’t post here anymore as photobucket got greedy and spoiled the fun.
Mike

 

[enfish]

Mike,

I really appreciate your detailed reply. I wish I could come check it out, I'm in Washington State. I've used the fish boxes in a limited way, half filling with water and draining and refilling periodically. It works fine for the little rock soles we use as bait for ling cod. Haven't tried it with herring or anchovies yet. Do you know for if boxes are completely sealed to the interior of the hull? At one point after doing this I had quite a bitof water in the bilge and was worried it came from water slopping over the inside wall of the box. I need to stick my head in there and really inspect I guess.

Eric

Eric,

I don't think you'll have much success keeping anchovies alive in the under-step fish boxes. I tried it once, and the 'chovies all ended up getting sucked into the overflow and clogging it up. This was in the factory plumbed livewell under the port side step in my 208 Adventure. I only use that livewell for mackerel, and it works well for that. For anchovies and sardines, which are our main live bait staples here, I have a Kodiak PF32 mounted in the center of the deck. It obviously takes up deck space, but it's a necessity for our style of fishing here.

Eric

 

[Lt.Mike]

If you mount a larger strainer to the overflow the little guys don’t get pinned to it.
For bigger bait like bunker that lose scales I remove the strainer and leave the pipe open on top.

 

[Lt.Mike]

Ok it’s clear that I’m going to have to do something with the front box’s drain.
If the valve is fully forward and if underway at speed the force of water in overwhelms it’s ability to drain and the well overflows onto the deck. Splitting the flow between both tanks helps that problem but doesn’t cure it.
Obviously having 3/4” feeding under pressure then with the stock 3/4” drain line working under gravity to remove it is asking a lot.
The rear livewell has the same issue but seems to be working ok as even if it does overflow under the cover it does into the motor well which doesn’t affect much.
Recently on a bass trip I encountered an issue with the nickel sized scales falling through the strainer slots and clogging the drain. It became clear something needed to be changed.

Ok while I can get to all gof the underside of the rear tank access to the bottom of the front box turned livewell just isn’t happening. They must have installed the drain before the deck shell was set into the hull.
There is a couple of inches of access between the back of the tank and the outer hull. I plan to install a second larger drain as an overflow plumbed to the rear and overboard probably under the bilge drain port.
I’m leaning towards that location instead of the transom because I feel the less holes passing through that wood the better. :wink:
The drain I’ve chosen is twice the diameter of the inlet at 1-1/2” and has a removable strainer. Fish scales will pass through a drain that size without issue. Will it keep up with the full flow of the bait pump, 800gph? With the forced flow through the hull strainer at speed? I guess I’ll find out but I’m sure it’ll be better. Instillation of a second drain is a possibility but I’ll see what one does first.
The ultimate goal is to plug the lower drain and do without the stand pipe getting that out of the way of the larger fish that go in the well.
Below is a pic of the drain. It’s going to be tight but I’m going to make this work.
Eric I’ll be sure to keep you advised. :mrgreen:
Mike

 

[Halfhitch]

Mike, Instead of going to all the hassle of adding/modifying your drains, would it be easier to install a valve in the pressure side so you can trim down the flow when running hard?

 

[Lt.Mike]

I actually have the above valve installed into each tank but they are difficult to reach and restricting the water flow defeats the purpose. You really don’t want to decrease water flow if you can help it.
Ideally what works without constant fiddling and provides as much fresh aerated water as possible is what I’m shooting for.
The hassle I spend setting it up will be worth the hassle I save on the water. :wink:
The flow I have going into the tank provides enough oxygenated water to revitalize big fluke and a 43” bass I slid into the well. That fish fit in there like the bait tubes tuna fisherman use.
When I cull my catch of fluke it’s sometimes a fight to pull the smallest out for release.
As with anything else I just have to work the bugs out of the system, in this case it’s the drain.
The rule valves did provide an excellent way to plumb the inlet through the tank wall and connect a sprayer bar to. They just stay on full flow.
Mike