Live Wells

[Mr.Bass12]

I have a 14 ft jon boat that doesnt have a livewell.

Could anybody give me instructions, ideas, etc of how to make my own or a store that sells tthem. Thanks.

[JT Bagwell]

They have plastic livewells that fit in a lot of Jon boats

at Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas. You might want to check

out their websites.

JT Bagwell

[Rebbasser]

Here's a way to make one:

http://www.virginiacatfish.com/Livewell.htm

Size it to fit your boat, but the principal is the same.

[paparock]

Try to find a round livewell because it will keep your livebait health longer. It will allow them to swim and not bunch up in corners. BPS and Cabela's offer round livewells but you can make one yourself using one of the plastic barrels around today. Cut it to size, put in an inlet in the bottom and an outlet near the top. Put some screens over the inlet and outlet to prevent any bait from getting into them and you will have a cheap livewell.

[JayDub]

  I also have a 14' boat and I am creating a livewell for mine too.  It depends on how you want it set up.  You can make a portable livewell that can be removed from the boat when not needed or you can build one into it.  You can use a portable aerator (recirculation pump) that just sits in a cooler and pumps water to the top and back in through spray bars, or you could drill holes into the cooler and have the pump outside of it to save room.   Some people even go as far to make a pump-in-through-hull style if you wanted to go the extra step.  

I'm going to just use a 70 qt cooler with either the type that goes inside or the pump on the outside.  This way, you use a can to fill the well or just hand a pump over the side and pump the water in.

(coolers work great for livewells...they keep the water insulated and the more round the edges the better)

[Yankee_Bassman]

Her's a link to a post where I described how I made an inexpensive livewell for a skiff I had.....

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1126798538/1#1

[basser89]

I have a 1668 jon boat that did not have a livewell either. I had someone make a box (I believe the dimensions are 36x12x12) out of a heavy gauge aluminum. I cut out the center of one of the bench seats and removed the styrofoam so it would fit. Then came the hard part! Drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat! Yep, all the way through and also through the livewell box. I removed the box and applied a large amount of marine grade silcone to the floor of the boat all around the hole I cut. Then place the box back in. I bought a plastic fitting that allows you to be flush with the bottom of the boat and can be tightened up with a nut (that completes the seal). Allow everything to dry and you're good to go! I've kept a limit worth of bass in it all day and haven't lost a fish yet (knock on wood!)! The only time I run my aeriator is when I'm running the outboard. Hope this helps!