CONTINUOUSWAVE

It looks like I am a few weeks away from putting together a bait system for my Outrage 18 .

Show me what you are running and how it's plumbed.

This may be more of a West Coast thing. We fish live bait in our waters.

If you are West Coast, definitely talk to "Randy" at Bluewater Bait Systems. I have used his products for many years. Outstanding. He has stock models and customization as well. Based in Southern California (Newport Beach area). Very well known and respected in the Southern California fishing community. http://www.bluewaterbaitsystems.com/

Thanks for the reply.

Ours is nothing fancy. Just one of those cheapo roto-molded west marine jobs. We strap it under the leaning post.
One inlet hose, and an outlet hose. (they lay on the deck).
There's a transom mounted skimmer pump/bracket kit made by 'Rule' i believe. They work, but will break over time, or if you run hard.
We made one out some thin stainless and a brass water pick-up fitting. It's held up well.
Don't even attempt to do a 'through-hull' installation . . . total pain in the butt and not worth the effort.
When not in use, we remove the tank and put the ice chest back under the leaning post.
Those bluewater tanks are much nicer and prob. do a much better job at keeping bait alive.
Make sure you use the right pump (GPH) for the tank you select . . . too much flow is just as bad as too little.
Let me know if you want me to send you some pics.

Pics would be nice.

Hey Karlow - I was a Dana Landing (in San Diego) on Sunday and saw an 18 Outage from the 80's that had a factory installed bait tank. The owner's father purchased the boat at Fred Hall with that option. The boat had a thru hull intake on the port side as well as an outflow. The bait tank was squarish and looked original. Very interesting, I should have taken pics!!!

I have a 17 Whaler and I use the kodiak 14 gallon tank, intake is on the stern and ouflow just hangs over the stern as well. I have the bait tank attached to a starboard base, the base is then screwed into my sump cover which is screwed down. The tank does not move.

Keeping the bait in good shape, or even alive, is always a challenge for me, it seems half a scoop is all I can take and I have to watch my speed out. I'll try to take pics this weekend.

You still have your 17 whaler? How did you manage bait on it?

The 17 has a larger tank, a Kodiac 20 maybe, There is a 800cfm pump and a check valve. It works great for 1/2 a scoop. I have a slightly larger tank for the 18 its a 24 gal or so. Same pump but I have not installed the tank. The outrage is not online yet. I'm currently ringing out the wiring. There are no seats installed yet. I just finished the console. I should fire it up sometime next week. I have to put some fuel in her. I want to take her to the scale first.

Hey Karlow - pics of my bait tank set up on my 17 foot whaler. As I said, I mounted the tank to a piece of 1 inch starboard. The starboard is then mechanically attached to the sump cover over the bilge. The sump cover has always been screwed down into the hull, so that is what holds this all in place. I did not add any new holes into the hull.

I've had this set up for a few years. My observations -if I stay in shore and fish the local kelp, the bait typically lasts all day. If I go offshore for a longer run, and if there is any chop the bait does not fair as well. It tends to get bumped around. I just take half a scoop, the tank is too small and can not hold more.

I am also still trying to dial in intake flow. I have it a valve to gate the water in flow, but still trying to get that dialed in.....

Ideally, I'd like to find an oval tank that is a little bigger, if anyone out there has experience with this size on a 17 whaler, please give me feedback on your thoughts.

That was the original set up on my 17 ft boat. I have updated to a Kodiak tank with better results.