Livewell Size?

[jaskoh]

Allright, well I am adding a deck to a 14' jon boat and I am trying to figure out what size livewell to use.  I want the fish safety as a number one priority but with the other storage compartments I want to put underneath the deck its getting kind of tight.  I read somewhere that a 30 gallon would be fine which equals 120 quarts.  Is this fine or can I get a way with smaller size.  99% of my fishing on this boat I won't need to use the livewell at all.  This is just incase I fish a tournament on a small lake.  

[RobbyZ5001]

30 gallons sounds big. On my 14' boat I use basically a metal box under the drivers seat. That cant hold more then 20.. they do fine.

[Jig Man]

That sounds real big.  I have a 21' boat with a 27 gallon livewell.

[basser89]

I had someone make a livewell for me for my jon boat. It's made out of aluminum. I put decks on my boat as well and had the livewell made to fit inside the middle bench. The dimensions (if memory serves me right) are 20"Wx15"Hx36"L. I've kept a limit of bass in mine for several hours with no losses! Mine is set up so it has fresh water all the time (through the bottom of the boat). That had to be one of the hardest things I've ever done! Drilling the hole through the bottom of the boat.

[TopDog]

I have a 15 gallon in my G3. That fits 5 Bass no problem.  

[fisherdave]

If you look at mine in some previouse post I did a 14 ft v-hull and I am not going to promise how well it works as far as on the lake but I went to wal-mart and got a 55 liter plastice storage container and turned it into a live well man it lookes good and as far as holding water and recirculating water it looks to be good I will post you a pic. I was worried about getting to much bigger than that but if you have a flat bottom then you might be able to go bigger. Hope I was of some help.

[HPBB]

I have twin 18 gal livewells that made out a rubbermaid countaners, in mybig boat. I can put 5 5pounders in each and the fish stay healthy all day. don't make it to big so that it weighs down the boat, but make sure it big enough that a limit of fish will be ok in there. do you fish tournament? two guys? two Limits? if so make sure it big enough for 2 limits, also check your tournament regulations for live well min size. I Know in BASS rules 10 gal is min size.

a 48 qt. cooler makes great Live well, you can get on for $20. and if space is an issue, when your not using it as a livewell you have a cooler on your boat. I am going to be redoing my small boat. 14 foot v hull. putting new decks in it and that is what I am going to use. I will use 2 of them since I fish tournaments where I will have two guys in the boat and one of them is a little small for ten fish

[jaskoh]

If I fish any tournaments from the 14' it will be one limit type tournaments.  There is no way I can fit two livewells on the boat.  

[fishbear]

I have a 100 qt. cooler that I cut down like Fluke showed in his birth of a bass boat post... The only reason I cut it down is so that it is the same level as the rest of the deck.  I have never had a problem with keeping bass alive in it.

[5bass]

I have twin 22 gallon tanks in my Gambler. They are surely deep enough but they are narrow and the bigger fish have a hard time turning around in them. I would like them a little wider and sacrifice some of the length. More square than rectangle I guess. I'd go square if you can.

[Gatorbassman]

99% of my fishing on this boat I won't need to use the livewell at all. This is just incase I fish a tournament on a small lake.

If this is the case you should just rig yourself an external cooler and put it in the boat when you fish tournaments. This should do you just fine.

[mayassa]

I am building my jon boat and almost put one in, until the wife hit me with some common sense, your on the money with a portable unit.  I catch and release but if I want to fish an event I will go pick up some stuff and make a portable unit.  this will give some extra cash for other things on the boat and more storage space.

[Kansas Angler]

i have a 48 quart livewell it works pretty good for me, id like to upgrade to a bigger pump though, mine is only a 350gph

[Kansas Angler]

i just use a 50 quart livewell, which is about 12.5 gallons, it works realy good, and i have held a limit of fish for 5 hours a couple times , but the aerator is a big factor of the fish's survival rate. minumum gph for me is 650