Stability with Bait well

I seem to be able catch bait when at Tomales Bay (sometimes it takes a while) but using a little Frabel bait bucket can't keep it alive too long. I want a Hobie Bait Well for next season for my PA12.  I've checked some different forums and do not see complaints on stability with the tank on back of the boat. 

I'm pretty new to kayak fishing so I pick my days carefully to make sure I'm not going to get beat up by wind and swells; however, I went out for few hours out of Benicia last week and was working on getting rigged when a large yacht came by and sent some pretty good swells at me. I dropped all the crap I was working on and turned into the swells and just rode over them.  Had they broad sided me I might have gone swimming because I was leaning a bit the wrong direction when I noticed the boat.

Does anybody have thoughts on a kayak bait well?  Do they change the balance of the boat? How much water is safe to carry? I think the small Hobie bait well is rated for six-gallons.  I can't imagine needing that much: Three or four jack smelt shouldn't need that much water but three- gallons of water weighs approx 25lbs and the live well specs show it at 20lbs... that's 45lbs. sitting on back of my kayak. Is that a safety concern?

(PS... I have another question about the live bait and will post that under the general fishing forum.)

not a concern for the PA, an Outback it is a little bit of an issue if also carrying a bunch of gear.

I flip once when i was a noob with a bait tank. It was a pain to flip over. I think with a PA 12 you are gonna be pretty stable, but it is not going to be pretty if you dunk.

Use this, tied it into the yak and throw it overboard.  No need to have a big load/battery/etc on the yak.  Bring it on board when you move so there is less drag.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Frabill-Flow-Troll-Minnow-Bucket-6-qt/15908366

Here is another alternative, but you can DIY as well:

http://www.torpedobaitbuckets.com/

do a test..........pack a box of firewood on the rear and see whut it does when you're out on the water. the height of the box (or whatever) needs to be close to the bait well, or the test wouldn't be accurate.

i've camped where we yak'd in and loaded the shit out of my yak. it felt VERY tippy and had to paddle with my legs over the side for a little extra stability.

I flip once when i was a noob with a bait tank. It was a pain to flip over. I think with a PA 12 you are gonna be pretty stable, but it is not going to be pretty if you dunk.

I was wondering about that. Think I'm going to rig a righting line to help pull it up if it turtles. Years ago when i sailed hobie cat catamarans this is how we righted turtled boats.  Let's hope it works because I don't think I'm going to practice that one. But... I should figure out how to drain it if we're upside down


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do a test..........pack a box of firewood on the rear and see whut it does when you're out on the water. the height of the box (or whatever) needs to be close to the bait well, or the test wouldn't be accurate.

i've camped where we yak'd in and loaded the shit out of my yak. it felt VERY tippy and had to paddle with my legs over the side for a little extra stability.

from what I've been told by others who have used them, the biggest problem with bait tank stability is not the weight of the tank itself, but that the water within the tank shifts a lot, especially in wavy conditions.  so you've essentially got a 60lb, misbehaved labrador back there in the tankwell.  you need to make sure the tank is sufficiently low Center of Gravity, if its a smaller tank, it could actually be worse if its more full (but same overall water volume) than a larger tank that is only say half full, due to the different center of gravity.

for example, I put my 30lb daughter in the tankwell a lot with me while fishing, and thats in a very stable sit on top kayak.  when she shifts around a lot, it really makes the kayak uncomfortable, to the point that i get concerned with her falling off.  thankfully she's been getting a lot better at that over time.

I love these forums for learning stuff.  Never thought about capsizing with a bait tank until I read it here.  The post from Lost_Anchovy got me thinking more about that.  It got me to look around some more on the site and I saw this from RHYAK from a 2013 post:

"Quick release on the tank would be your best bet I use sturdy bungy cords, Able to release with one hand and can be done if I were too flip and cant flip that yak back over. You may loose the tank this
way but better then your life. Obviously try and flip the yak back first if safe to do so...."

Quick releases are an interesting idea for the bait well - so are bait tubes and torpedo buckets as suggested by yakyakyak and Bird.  The tube or torpedo approach also sounds cheaper, safer, and just as effective for what I'm trying to do. It also allows me to keep my crate in the back with all my stuff.  This sounds like a pretty good idea.

But this discussion leads to me some questions about Hobie's bait well I'm going to send their way. It seems like there should be a way to have an emergency drain or pump (or have it ship with quick release straps) to get the water out or the well off.  I can't imagine they're not thinking about the problem of hanging 6 gallons of water upside down in a flipped kayak???? It's had to come across their radar at some point... it sounds like a bit of a big deal!

Here's oldie but goodie about bait tanks.   

"Now I have a Revo and the additional weight and sloshing on the back of the yak is something I don't want to deal with.  I was tossed by a wake at Paradise on Monday and although I managed to recover with the only loss being my bilge pump, I have decided to part with the live well.  Getting the yak righted was pretty tough and consequently, it took on quite a bit of water.  I was able to carefully peddle to shore and drain the water but I think it would have been much easier without the well on the back."

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18724.msg188314#msg188314

I use the yellow floater as above link. Throw it in the water when stopped and fishing, pick it up between my legs when moving...on an Outback works well for me. Friend has the Hobie tank and isn't liking it too much cuz hard to get fish out and seem to die at same rate as the floater.

Getting to be a believer about the liabilities of the tank.  i don't like the small portable bait buckets because they are just too small for two or three jack smelt - I do like the bait tube concept.  Saw an easy DIY with 3" PVC and 3" PVC shower drain top and bottom. Thank you everybody and NCKA.  I don't think a store or manufacturers' website could of provided this type of discussion. The forums are a great resource!

You could always drill in some drain holes into the bait well to keep the water at a manageable level. 

I made a bait tube using 4" tubing and the green drainage plugs.  All it took was a drill bit, some zip ties, pool noodle, and a bungie to put it all together. It works great!  Except that the bait end up bashing their noses while trying to escape through the front grates.... which leads me to my next tip, you don't need a long tube.  All the bait is going to crowd toward the front (the intake flow direction) anyway. 

I promote a live well. I turned my Jackson crate into a live well with a tsunami 500 pump. Love it, flipped the kayak and flipped
it back, no prob.  Live, swimming bait on board is kinda the dream.  I love my livewell, I think I'll marry it......

I promote a live well. I turned my Jackson crate into a live well with a tsunami 500 pump. Love it, flipped the kayak and flipped
it back, no prob.  Live, swimming bait on board is kinda the dream.  I love my livewell, I think I'll marry it......

Love is special! I'm going to look up the stuff you mentioned.

I use a diy bait tube.  Very easy to make and usually works great. Sardines are the only thing I've had any trouble with, and most of the time they do OK. So, I'd suggest trying a bait tube first, and only consider a live well if the tube doesn't work for you.