After going to all the trouble of catching your live bait, you don’t want it dying due to lack of oxygen or dirty water. The best way to look after your live bait is to keep it in a naturally plumbed tank built into your boat.
By creating a sealed section in your boat you can drill holes in the bottom so your bait is always swimming in clean naturally aerated water. Even upside down herring which are notoriously hard to keep alive, get a second wind after being placed in these tanks.
Iv’e been using plate aluminium boats for my charters for 30 years and right from the get go had tanks built into the boat.
An added advantage is that you can screw your transducer mounts straight onto the boat adjacent to these sections, as they are fully sealed and won’t sink your boat if electrolysis creates a leak.
In recent years I have noticed aluminium boat manufacturers moving toward using plate over pressed aluminium. If you have a plate boat or are in the market for a new tinny, these sealed tanks are a must.
The tank can also be used for other purposes like defrosting bait, bleeding fish, washing hands…
AND, when not filled with live bait, doubles as a toilet for my wife when she comes aboard!
Watch the video below for my tips on how to best build a naturally plumbed bait tank (or two) into your boat.
For more live bait tips, be sure and watch some of our previous blog posts;
Live baiting using circle hooks
Rigging live mullet (so they don’t spin in the current)
Clean and dry method to throw a cast net (this has over 1 million views on YouTube)
Our ecourse Barra Basics covers all aspects of fishing for barramundi including live bait rigging in detail. For a Program Tour of exactly what is contained within the program, click the link below
