Ive never really messed with inshore live bait. Always just preferred artificials. Taking the kids and want to give it a full effort. My livewell is pretty small. Guessing 8 gallons. It has good strong pumps with one pumping new water through and one recirculating to two sprayer nozzles. We'll be fishing West Matty.

I know about putting something in the well for shrimp to hang onto. And I know about using small ice bottles to keep the water cold.

Questions-

Are shrimp or croaker easier to keep alive?

Can I put both in together?

How much bait will mine hold without stressing them out?

I assume keep the recirculate sprayers running constantly?

How often should I have the fresh water pump running?

If I am going to keep the water temp down with the ice bottles ….I fill …. then recirculate only….. until the water gets really grungy.
You defeat your purpose of cooling the water down and then adding the warm water again.
Make sure your recirculate nozzles are aerating ( making as much water surface action and bubbles) as possible so you can keep your oxygen ppm up as much as possible.
Cooler water will hold more ppm oxygen than warmer water, but I know you already know that.
That's all I got.

like you I prefer artificials...wife likes bait. So we have SOME experience but probably not like what SGREM has.
here's my takes
you're on right track with ice bottles. But to Gunny point they will melt quick especially the more you introduce new hot water. Focus on circulating more
shrimp are more hardy than croaker and easier to keep alive
yes you can put both in together
some folks say shrimp need somehting to cling to but I'm not sure how much that really matters over a few hours. If you do put something in there a stuff like rope or a stringer works.

no idea on capacity but I'd get a dozen croaker and a quart of shrimp. Start with croaker as the shrimp will last longer

I've got a livewell similar size to yours. Curious to hear more on what others have used inside for the shrimp (I may try the rope or stringer suggestion).

I'd say you could hold two quarts of shrimp. They'll definitely be more hardy, and value wise there are so many more casts per $ with shrimp than croaker. And you'll have chance to catch anything on shrimp (as opposed to more predator/good fish on croaker, but kids don't care what they catch).

You can always get a cheap ice chest and another recirculation rig and put it on the deck to add capacity if needed. Once the water gets dirty or starts warming up have the pump out the side and add in water from where you are fishing as needed.

You will have no issues with a couple dozen croaker. Pump some fresh water in somewhat regularly but water has cooled off now so heat isn't a huge issue

Water temps not that hot now Casey. Don't need to worry about ice bottles or something for the shrimp to cling to, just get a quart of shrimp and a couple dozen croakers and they will be fine for hours as long as you keep fresh saltwater circulating.

I use a Mr. Bubbles. Your livewell will break the surface tension as it rocks back and forth sloshing the water. I have it on the boat because sometimes I have bait in the livewell overnight sitting on the trailer so there is no sloshing.... because it is on the boat anyway I turn it on the whole time I have bait in the boat. I bet that thing has 20,000 hours on it. They are cheap and live forever and use hardly any battery.



Then I have my livewell pump on a Flow Rite timer. It stays on one minute and off for up to 15 minutes. So periodically adding new water. My intake is a scoop that also adds fresh water when the hull is underway.



If the bait camp has good water and I know where I am fishing is fresh on top or otherwise not good water I close up the intake and use Mr. Bubbles only keeping the livewell water from the bait shop and bait last as long as it will.



I do not use frozen water bottles.....unless it is June to August sitting in my driveway with bait still in the tank. Even then I also fill up my back hatches with saltwater and change out 5 gallons at a time with a bucket every 3-5hours or so. Again Mr. Bubbles on the whole time.

The only thing my shrimp cling too is the hook thru their head.

For me, for croaker the power bubbles are the best, probably similar to mr. Bubbles. Bubblers are way less stressful for croaker than a recirculator if it is a jet nozzle, which also foams up everything. I also pre-freeze water bottles and add a couple every little bit. Starting with good water, I don't need to add water especially hot bay water in tbe summer-way easier to manage your existing water than try to cool new water, unless you can add clean water and cool it down. Also you start using the croaker right away so the population dwindles relative to the water volume. This time of year the croaker are much larger. Shrimp are much tougher and this time of year they will do well. They don't need anything to hang on to.
You could add shrimp with croaker but with that size livewell and this time of year going just shrimp would be fine.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

If the wind forecast holds, might try to do the tripletail thing Monday. Do the Texas bait shops sell graded shrimp?

Suggestions on preferred bait shop in POC?

By graded do you mean by size for table fare? Or even to use as bait?
I've never seen a bait shop separate by size for any reason. It's either live shrimp....fresh dead.....or frozen

Yes by size. When I lived in Florida, you paid by the size. Everyone freelined the big ones around bridges and passes for snook. Figured that would be ideal on tripletail with a heavier hook and leader.