I am looking for something to hold live bait and keep it alive. I have seen anything from 5 gallon buckets to a cooler with an aerator (Engel live bait cooler). I will be using this for shad or minnows and will use this for bank fishing or for kayak fishing. Is the Engel or something similar worth the money or is there something I can make or buy that is cheaper?

Tex_Ag_2017 said:

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I am looking for something to hold live bait and keep it alive. I have seen anything from 5 gallon buckets to a cooler with an aerator (Engel live bait cooler). I will be using this for shad or minnows and will use this for bank fishing or for kayak fishing. Is the Engel or something similar worth the money or is there something I can make or buy that is cheaper?

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I would not do this. What you suggest would cause your worms to drown.

bubble box and 1-5gal bucket should work for about $15

12V motorcycle battery+ bilge pump+ ice chest will keep shrimp alive for 4-5 hours.

Shad are hard to keep alive in my experience, maybe harder than shrimp. I had(until harvey) a little medical oxygen tank with a regulator and a bubble stone. If they went straight from net to water without hitting the deck, I'd turn it on very low and they'd live.

I use an Igloo cooler and a ProO2 System from Baad Marine. No bubbler can come close to pure O2 for keeping bait alive and feisty

I use an aerator i got from pet smart and a cooler with a hole drilled in the top. Best set up i have ever had. The higher quality aerator from pet smart was a game changer. Those prebuilt ones u can buy from academy or walmart are sheet. For large quantity transfers i have seen the same setup with a deep freeze sealed off.

Boyds in Texas City sells a cooler mounted cylinder.
Its what i use for guided trips requiring bait and several other guide friends use.
Call down and ask about O2 response system.

Am I the only cheap ass that just freezes water bottles and outs those in the bait bucket/live well?

The Engel cooler works great for shrimp. Better than anything else we've used.