Show us your Bait Tank!!!

[PolarEscape]

Looking for  a New Idea for a Bait Tank for My basement? Just thought I would see what you guys use.

[digger053]

i use an old coleman cooler with a fish tank air pump i freeze plastic tea bottles for ice packs 

[bigchev98]

here is mine i used for ice fishing

[digger053]

do you use that rig year round?

[WANNAKETCHUM]

here is mine i used for ice fishing

Hey bigchev98...that's a good looking setup you have. I've been thinking about something like that myself. Only problem is....I don't have a basement, just a garage that's not heated unless I'm working out there in winter and build a fire in the woodstove and in the summer it gets too darn hot. So is there any way I can do something like that that will work for winter or summer with my locale? I'm in northern Pa. where it goes below zero frequently in midwinter and gets to 90+ degrees sometimes during summer. I have access to wild minnows in the stream that flows through my property and I also have several good springs that bleed out of the hillside in my woods and have even thought of having my neighbor dig out a "minnow pond" with his backhoe so I can access bait during the summer but the winter months are where I'm at a loss for bait. Any tips or info in general would be appreciated.....WK

[brooks]

I keep minnows for a long time in a small chest freezer in my root celler in the winter. I change the water more if it is warmer -do not feed them. for summer put them in a cooler in a refridgerator. when you go fishing put one of those refreezeable blue ice things in your cooler.this will keep them alive for a long time while you are fishing.        Brooks   

[Gamedog]

Hey bigchev98...that's a good looking setup you have. I've been thinking about something like that myself. Only problem is....I don't have a basement, just a garage that's not heated unless I'm working out there in winter and build a fire in the woodstove and in the summer it gets too darn hot. So is there any way I can do something like that that will work for winter or summer with my locale? I'm in northern Pa. where it goes below zero frequently in midwinter and gets to 90+ degrees sometimes during summer. I have access to wild minnows in the stream that flows through my property and I also have several good springs that bleed out of the hillside in my woods and have even thought of having my neighbor dig out a "minnow pond" with his backhoe so I can access bait during the summer but the winter months are where I'm at a loss for bait. Any tips or info in general would be appreciated.....WK

If your stream runs most of the year , you may try keeping them in a minnow trap with the ends blocked. They should survive unless it freezes over in the winter.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

If your stream runs most of the year , you may try keeping them in a minnow trap with the ends blocked. They should survive unless it freezes over in the winter.

Yea..it runs all year but is prone to flash flooding and I have lost traps in the past because of it. A friend gave me a plastic drum out of a old washing machine and I thought I might rig something up with that. I'll make a plug for the bottom and a good lid with a latch for the top and fasten a sturdy eye bolt somewhere on it and use length of small diameter strong cable to fasten it to a tree. If that doesn't work then I'll look into having a small but deep minnow pond dug out where one of my springs are. I could probably keep a lot of minnows in something like that....WK

[rockhound57]

a "minnow pond" with his backhoe so I can access bait during the summer but the winter months are where I'm at a loss for bait. Any tips or info in general would be appreciated.....WK
[/quote]

wannaketchum, I have similar conditions in NH, with a seasonal watercourse(10 months+/-) so I dug by hand a pool about the size of a big hot tub, lined with stones for erosion, and keep a holding box in it. One key I learned the hard way is to use noncorrosive materials for screening (I used plastic gutter mesh;)  I lined the top and sides with styrofoam to insulate and float; and set to keep constant light waterflow to wash out waste and aerate

[rockhound57]

note screening in bottom for flushing/circulation and styrofoam, I never had to break more than 1/4" of ice all winter

Guess I need to clean some dead ones

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Hey rockhound57...that's a nice little setup you have...simple, cheap and effective. I wouldn't be able to do anything like that because the stream that flows through my property is much bigger with a average width of 30-40' and it's a state stocked trout stream so they might be kind of "touchy" about building something like that. I'm thinking about having some sort of a small pond dug out on the hillside in my woods where there are some year around spring seepages and just keeping minnows in that.....WK

[rockhound57]

WK, if you have a choice, I'd suggest trying to dig it in the shade of trees,especially maple, to keep it cooler in the summer. You might have to flush or clean the leaves if they fill in too much, but I think you'd be happier with the outcome. RH

[WANNAKETCHUM]

WK, if you have a choice, I'd suggest trying to dig it in the shade of trees,especially maple, to keep it cooler in the summer. You might have to flush or clean the leaves if they fill in too much, but I think you'd be happier with the outcome. RH

Yea RH...I've been thinking about that...I almost think I would be better off to dig back into one of the springs and lay some perforated pipe then bring it out over top of a tank of some sort that I could fab a screen cover for to keep debris and animals out of. I would then have to have some type of exit drain in place to maintain a water level and also a drain at the bottom so I can clean it periodically if necessary. The pipe could "spill' from a foot or two above the tank into the water to help keep it oxygenated as well....WK

[OneManArmy]

BigChev that is a nice set up and has given me some ideas-thanks for sharing