Introduction: Portable Livewell (this Is to Keep Your Fish Alive When You Go Fishing)

Some larger boats have them built in, it's to keep your catch alive till you get to the shore or home. This is a portable livewell is made from a cooler on wheels. If you don't have a livewell in your boat or if you want to take it in a different boat.

Step 1: Stuff You Need...

Get a big cooler on wheels, A 60 quart cooler is best it will give you lots of space for the pump hose and aerator strip.

1- 60 quart cooler with hinged lid
1- Bilge pump, 500 - 800 GPH
1- 36" piece of 3/4" plastic hose
1- 18" piece of 1/2" PVC pipe
1- 1/2" PVC cap and 1 elbow
1- Pack of industrial velcro
1- 12 Volt car adapter or clips
1- 6 foot extension cord or longer

Goop if needed and tools to complete job.

Step 2: Installing the Pipe (aerator)

Draw a line on the pipe and drill 1/8" holes about 1" apart, 12 holes so you get sufficient aeration and pressure in the pipe, this will inject tons of tiny bubbles into the live well. More is better. Install the end cap and the elbow, no need to cement these in place. If the pipe gets cloged you can take the cap off to clean it. Add velcro to the pipe to secure it to the back of the cooler.

Step 3: Pump Installation

The pump can be left in the bottom of the cooler but I decided to velcro it in the bottom of the cooler so it would not move around. Now I added a 6 foot extension to the pump and then wired the 12 volt cigarette lighter plug-in, but you could just add batterie clips.

Step 4: Finishing Up

Now that the wiring is done and the spray bar and the pump are in place attache the hose to the elbow, fill it with water and try it out. (add fish if needed) The hose is a little long so I will need to shorten it. That is about all that is needed for a portable live well.

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