Ive been procrastinating long enough about building myself a live well and some bait traps. So today I started off with working on the live well. I just took a 35 gallon barrel and cut the top off. I made sure to leave the ridge on at the top because this makes it more durable and prevents the barrel from loosing its shape over time. I then drilled 2 holes about 6 inches down from the top and about 9 inches apart. for the air hoses. Along the ridge of the barrel I cut out a little slot about an inch long and 1/2 inch wide to hang my 2-1/2 Way Gang Valve ($4.48).

For the pump I used a Aqua Culture 20-60 Gallon Aquarium Air Pump ($10.57). I picked this pump because it was rated for 30 to 60 gallon tanks and has a double air outlet. Luckily this pump had a loop at the top that I used to bolt the pump on the side of the barrel. I ran 2 air lines ( 25 feet for $3.12) from the pump to check valves and then up to the gang valve. ( I had to drill a hole in the middle of the valve and run a bolt through to make it more sturdy.) I then ran a line to each off the Aqua Culture Bubble Aquarium Stones ($1.78). I then used Velcro strips ($1.00) to attach the air lines to the side of the barrel. Over all this project went very well and cost just under $25 to build which is well worth it. In the near future I may add a filtration system but for now I don’t plan on keeping many minnow or chubs for too long.

  For the bait traps I just used 2 litter bottles that I had saved. Im not going to go into detail but you can do a search for 2 liter minnow traps and find several videos on how to make them. They are probably the easiest and cheapest traps that you can make.

Submitted by Scott Fuqua