This is just a heads up since the first BnT tourney of 08 is just over a month away. The new livewell requirements will be in effect for all BnT tourneys including Opens.

Here is the minimum requirement to participate.

6. All vessels must have a livewell - no stringers or metal fish baskets allowed.

Minimum livewell requirements are:
a. - Kickboats using oars must have an out of the water livewell.
b. - A 350 GPH minimum bilge pump is to be used for refreshing out of water livewells with fresh lake water.
c. - Out of water livewells must use an aerator.
d. - Livewells must be constructed from a minimum 10 gallon container.
e. - Float tubes and kickboats without oars may use mesh style fish baskets that have a full frame to ensure that the bag will not collapse around the fish while moving.

If any one needs help making a livewell that meets these requirements let me know and I will personally lend a hand with the construction.

To see a complete list of tournament rules go here...
http://www.bass-n-tubes.com/tourney%20rules.html

Edit: I added a new gallery to the rigging photo gallery with pics of all the material needed to build a BNT tourney ready livewell.
http://www.bass-n-tubes.com/gallery/Tournament-Livewell

See y'all on the river :7

MT

I like the rules its simple to make a livewell and their only a few bucks so no one should have any problems being able to make the new standard. Good Job guys on moving forward on this tourney requirement.

And just in case someone is new to kick boat tourney’s reading this post – here is a great gallery of pics on how to set up a livewell to a kickboat.

http://www.bass-n-tubes.com/gallery/rigging

MT - Where did you purchase the aerator stone for your livewell? The one I currently have is the one that came with the unit and it looks kinda small.

Joe,
Any pet store sells stones but make sure you get a stone that has a plastic backing otherwise when the fish bang around in the well they WILL break the stones with out plastic back, I know from experience. I personally run two 10 inch stones in my well and it keep the fish happy. Here is a link to a picture of the stones from a local pet store

http://www.petco.com/product/9219/Aquatic-Gardens-Bubble-Bars.aspx

FIT

Thanks Paul,

That amount of air might make them too happy ! :7

Let me know if there's any chance of a rule waiver for the Opens or whatever. So many lbs. of top-side water storage puts me over the weight capacity on my boat.

Hey Jeff it is actually the opens that most concern us. Last year in May at Clear Lake we had 34 DOA's for 6% of the total catch. That is just unacceptable so BnT club officers decided it was time to take action to reduce this number. We send a contest report to DFG for every tourney we hold so they are fully aware of this. If we don't take steps to limit the DOA rate then DFG could stop issuing permits to the club. We are trying to be proactive in our approach to this instead of reacting when we get our permits pulled.

I did a bunch of research on water quality and how to maintain a healthier environment for our catch after last years open.
Oxygen is key. Warm water holds less oxygen than cool water. Drag bag livewells tend to pin the fish near the surface in the warmer most oxygen deprived water in the lake. You also can not aerate a drag bag or add fish doping products and ice to control the environment.

Clear lake in May can be a special place but those fish are already stressed by the spawn. The keys always has poorer water quality just because of the way it's laid out. Add to that the rising lake temps then pulling the fish from deeper/cooler water and placing them in an un-aerated livewell or a follow me bag on the surface and it is a recipe for disaster.

Myself, Paul and the rest of the BNT staff put a lot of thought into this and we also realize that most long time BnT members do a fairly good job taking care of their catch but to remain fair to everybody the current rule for 2008 is what we came up with.

Is it perfect for everybody? No. Is it better for the well being of the fish? Yes.

Unfortunately for the fisherman but fortunately for the fish I believe this rule will stand for all future BnT tourneys including and especially the opens.

As far as weight capacity goes I believe that all the kickboat manufacturers sandbag this big time, probably for liability reasons. Your Outcast boat should be able to handle an out of water livewell without too much trouble at all. Personally I think pulling around a drag bag is like dragging an anchor all over the place. It deters from the performance of the boat. I have also found that on very windy days the added weight is actually a bonus. It acts as a ballast to keep you from blowing around too much and definitely helps when rowing in the wind.

MT

is there a recommended size/output? cause I imagine you can get an underpowered unit pretty easily, and hit the other end of the spectrum also with one that makes the livewell look like a jacuzzi.

recommendations?

Most, if not all B-N-T's use 500-GPH pumps.

for the pump to add/refresh water in the livwell the rule says 350GPH minimum. I use a 500 GPH with a spray head that helps aerate when I refresh the water(2 or three times an hour).

The aerator I use is this one.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6461-BBA.jpg

And I added a bigger stone, like this one.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6460-air_stone.jpg

MT

Mitch,

Are you saying your stones are bigger than ours? :P

Jeff, I'd be glad to help you set up a live well for your Outcast. I've made three of them since joining b-n-t and since you live in town it would be an easy thing to accomplish, just let me know. ;-)

so I have the drilled pvc pipe that runs lengthwise across the top of my out of the water livewell that sprays on the top of the water from my 500gph pump when I fill - does that meet the aeration requirements or should I add a D-cell powered bubbler too? so confused...

edit: reread mitch's post

>for the pump to add/refresh water in the livwell the rule says 350GPH minimum. I use a 500 GPH with a
>spray head that helps aerate when I refresh the water(2 or three times an hour).
> The aerator I use is this one.

so you're using a similar spray head setup to what I'm using, so I think my answer is that I need to get a bubbler in addition to the current spray head.

I don't think that you would be in jepordy of giong over the weight limit. If you were to go over the limit it should not be by too much. I own an outcast with a 16 gallon box on it and I am just fine. Steve Couts also owns an outcast with about a 14 or 15 gallon icechest on it. I think Steve is one of the bigger guys (sorry Steve) out on the water so if he can do it I would think you could especially if you went with a smaller chest or box say 10 or 12 gallons. Come on Jeff hit up Dave he said he would help you. We would like to see you on the water this year and in the future years.

Taylor

I almost fliped my 8' hybred over at the Delta. I was leaning over the left rear side of the boat behind my seat as I reached for my water jug, and all of the sudden the water in my live well shifted all at once, to that side of the boat.I instinctively jumped to the opposite side of the boat dropping my $300.00 pole in the process of righting the boat. At that point in time, the pole was insignificant. So, I drained out some of the water and it ran fine after that. But Im sure once I go to a 10' pontoon I will be able to run the well at full capacity of 48 quarts. So In my opinion any kickboat that dosn't have a raised seat shouldn't flip.The pole landed on my livewell.

48 quarts is 12 gallons. You don't have to fill it to capacity. Five fish will stay alive (with proper circulation and aeration) in that size of cooler with less water, therefore eliminating some weight. Also, if you recess the livewell below the top of the pontoon but above the water, the boat won't be top heavy.

A photo of my fishcat 9 with a huge plastic box as a livewell on the extended frame from the Rigging Gallery in the photos section of the site.

The box has been modified (after I took these photos) with a spray head and a 2 level drain so that I can control the water level. I keep it real low with no fish in the box, mid level with a few fish, and if I ever lay into that kicker that I was on the hunt for all last year without success then I can fill it to near the top. Because the back deck sits at the frame level (just off the surface water level with my fat 240lb butt in the seat) the boat stays pretty stable.

With me and all my stuff on the boat on tournament day I'm probably pretty close to the published weight capacity, but I'd worry about popping a bladder before I'd worry about flipping it.

I run the seat all the way forward on the adjustment sliders and mount the frame pretty far forward on the pontoons to help balance the weight front to back. The end of my foot rests are just about at the tip of the pontoon. Side to side the boat is as solid as a rock, front to back depends on keeping all the non water weight to the forward side.

http://www.bass-n-tubes.com/albums/Fishcat9_rigging/5597_IMG_0019.jpg

Since this photo was taken I've added rod storage and the livewell pump to the boob tube, and now I'm rigging up a finder and an aerator/stone bubbler - I'll try to update the photos in the rigging section later today with the new photos of my rigging progress.

And for those wondering - yes the new photos will also show that jazzy rug ;)

Bassprojpez, your center of gravity is pretty high up because of your extra raised seat. Just keep that in mind.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6464-The_Contender.jpg
I don't realy know how many quarts my livewell holds, I just know that it holds a lot more than any of the coolers I've seen in tournaments. I would guess it's at least 20 gallons. But it isn't double hulled so I can't transport with it.I know the problem isn't with the chairs height because it suns fine with two batteries and a trolling motor on it. Water just weighs too mutch (8 lbs. per gallon). Thats why I need to go to a 10' pontoon to support the extra 150 lbs of water weight.

Nice Rig.

bassprojpez -
FYI Just a reminder, all BnT tourneys do not allow the use of trolling motors. From the photo of your rig, I can't tell if you are able to use oars.

Actually, I was thinking about starting my own circuit anyone interested?

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6465-My_First_Boat.jpg

HEY, good luck with that one!..... Looking at your rig, I can see how you might be concerned about tipping over, you have it set up tooo high. Try that rig on Clear Lake with 3' rollers....you will get wet.

No guts no glory.

Good going Mitch. Way to step it up a notch with the live-well's. It's all about trying our best to take care of the fish. Their why we fish. It's little step's forward that will help this sport grow huge. Two thumb's up.

Rich

Hey guys.....I just bought a 50quart (12.5 gal) cooler for my livewell. In comparing it to my old Rubbermaid well, it looks a little smaller? I would even question whether or not I would put an 11lbr in there....What do you guys think, Should I go bigger? It is hard to find a 60quart cooler around here...

Thanks,
Bryan

Yo Bryan what's up? I used to use a 14 gal Rubbermaid container. I filled it up to the drain holes and poured it into a 48 qt ice chest and they booth held the exact same volume of water. Both the 48 qt ice chest and the Rubbermaid container fit on my boat in the same place except that the ice chest is just a tad wider. I now use the 48 qt ice chest for my livewell. With that said I have had teeners in my rubbermaid container and they fit. Of course I didn't have 5 fish in it at the time and I only kept them in there until pics were taken, but they fit!

MT

no problem mitch cant wait to fish with you guys this year.i am finally going to be healthy.yahooooooo and a big hi to everyone.

Hey just wanted to pass along that I found a great 48qt "livewell" Igloo Marine cooler (white) at Walmart last night for like $20.

So if your in the market for one, might want to check those out....

Bryan