Welster

Usually all my cars and toys are undercover. But for the last few months the boat has been in the front garage taking two of the three spots. My old fairlaine has been in the boats spot in the back garage so my work van sits outside. Yesterday though my L plater daughter was driving when the storm hit. We had an extended black out the other night and it put the pool timer out. The filter came on during the night and my daughter woke me to tell me it didn’t sound right. I must of switched it off without looking because when I did today the case of the pump had split open. I haven’t really got the time or inclination to look into it myself so will be dropping it in for repair. Dad gave me the “where is your sense of adventure look” 😂.

Ouch. We didn’t get hail but trees blew down all around the suburb. I was just happy the massive tree behind my place didn’t fall and take out my garage and car after working on it for weeks. Now if the boat was in there....

Thanks Zoran I didn’t realise you had replied until I had posted mine. I like the non return valve and the inside of the tank clear if plumbing. If I had a choice I’d have rounded corners on the tank as well.

If you look in my pictures the water enters the top of the tank and I’d plumbed inside the tank to the bottom. You are correct it can self syphon out when the pump is off. To prevent that you drill a small hole in the pipe work at the top of the tank ( above the water line) it only has to be big enough to let a bit of air in the line when the pump is off to stop the syphon effect. Does that make sense? When the pump is on there is a small squirt of water there so position the hole towards the side of your tank rather than your face. Yes some sort of filter is the go. On my old tank I remember noticing squid swimming at the back of the boat before I realised they were the mine I had caught not long before and put them in the tank.🤦‍♂️

This one is the current set up I have and not a patch on the old one. It is neater and was the one fitted by stacer with the spray nozzle that I wasn’t happy with. It functions much better now but really not big enough. The tank you have in the link is a much better starting point than mine I think. I had trouble with the outlet blocking and as you can see I now have a bend on it with multiple holes that does function much better. I removed the spray nozzle and drilled it out as much as possible to get more flow. The nozzle now only controls the flow rate. I installed an electrical junction box to put the inlet water back towards the bottom. It’s still relatively slow to clear when a squid inks in it but much better than it was. This boat has the through hull pump, I added a fitting to collect the water whilst underway and also a filter on the fitting end. The stern mounted pumps like you have function better than the through hull one they just aren’t as neat. The old boat with pump on the stern only ever had one pump this boat is on it’s forth. The first one died and was replaced under warranty, the replacement had a fault and sprayed water all under the floor of the boat. That was also replaced under warranty and died as well. They were all Johnson pumps I replaced it with a Rule pump with no problem since. With the hoses inside the boat and with a water pickup fitting there would be no way to stop water coming into the boat if s hise splits. So I have used pressure hose, clamps and carry a stopper fitting that can be attached if necessary. These are just my thoughts I am sure there are many ways of making it work and some of mine won’t apply to your situation.

These pictures are of my original live bait tank in the old boat. Maybe not the prettiest but it was very functional. The boat was shared so the tank was made so it could be completely removed without leaving a mark or fitting on the boat. Cantilever and a ratchet strap held it very solid. The drain came through the bottom and was 40 or 50 mm pipe. The reason I went through the bottom was so I had a choice of filling or half filling it turned out the boat was fine when it was full. I think having an oversize drain is the key to a good tank. The 500 gph pump and also the boat underway will put in water faster than the outlet takes it away.. So the outlet really determines the flow rate. You can see the white outlet pipe in the picture with mesh over the top and a few holes at the half way mark with a cut pipe sleeve I could use to half fill. You can also see the black inlet pipe turned down from the top (little anti syphon hole at the top) and plumbed to the bottom pointing away from the outlet. On the outside of this I had the skin fitting with the hose just pushed on. I would often remove the hose to wash down the bait board. On the hose leading to the tank I had an irrigation fitting to control the flow. If I was setting up your tank I would definitely do something similar and just use the bits from the kit I wanted. The 20mm outlet will restrict you a lot unless you have multiple outlets. The other fittings and pipe pieces in the picture I used on the outside for the drain so that it didn't just drop from the tank an splash everywhere. If yours is going to be permanent a piece of pressure hose might be tidier. You might be able to see the other hole in the base of the tank it was just a bung plug to drain the last bit of water out.

I will post some pics that might help later on when I get near a PC

That’s funny. It was more interesting than Christmas shopping in Westfields anyway.

My one had the top sprayer I deleted it ( actually modified it to serve as flow control still) and plumbed a water inlet to the bottom. For the outlet with the pipe from the bottom I put a right angle piece and pipe with numerous holes as blocking was an issue. My previous boat set up I made from scratch was better than the kit form by far I think

I agree with rick but plumb the water inlet to the bottom of the tank from the top with a small pinhole at the top to stop it self symphoning back when the pump isn’t on. I think the water cleans and circulates better when the clean water goes in the bottom and circulates around exiting at the top. You might need a valve on the inlet side to control the flow so it doesn’t overflow when underway.

I have only done a little downrigging but agree with the guys above. Here are a few more thoughts. Does your sounder read in the same unit’s ( metric or imperial) as the DR or are you good at converting in your head? Otherwise a conversion sticker or changing the sounder setting may help. I have mostly used a bait runner to drop the baits down using the secondary drag. A lever drag overhead is pretty good too. This is probably not as important for the more experienced or if you have somebody else on board. I am still running wire but the humming noise is annoying. I usually check the bait isn’t likely to spin. Before deploying it. Is your rod holder plastic, that didn’t go so good for me breaking it first go with an 8lb bomb. I tried to change to an alloy one but it wouldn’t cover the old ones paint marks so ended up having a special one made that uses the plastic one as an insert.

What a month. That’s it I have to quit Work ASAP

So true good find Zoran

I like the live updates. Living the life there.

Or if you use a rod as the crab comes in dip the rod tip in the water and wrap your line around the crab so it gets tangled in the line.

Good to see the rats providing plenty of entertainmenton light gear.

I cut the throat of all my fish when I catch them and put them in the live bait tank to bleed out. Unfortunately they usually fit 😫. A little while later I transfer them to the ice cold water in the esky. Sometimes with flatties I just put them Strata got in the cold water.

It’s good to sea your spots producing for Woodsy1 🤣

That is sad may he Rest In Peace. I never met him either but have only ever heard good things about the man

Nice maiden voyage in the new boat.

Ha ha I couldn’t place that ramp either! great catch of squid and nice report.

I always enjoy watching a beach launch. I haven't seen a set u like that though.

Nice solid flattie there. Well done

Personally I think salmon were in far bigger numbers a few years ago. As to why I don’t really know.

Fantastic snapper caught in magic conditions. It doesn’t get much better than that