Hobie bait tank retrofit

  My name is Adam and I'm new here. I enjoy the rigging forum here and thought I'd share something I recently put together. I was previously peddling a Hobie Outback and this past Sat. I bought a new Tarpon 160.

Now that I have the Tarpon, I needed a bait tank to fit it.

When I fished last weekend I used a tank I made last year. It's a over the side pump style tank. There was a noticeable amount of drag on the Tarpon while paddling with the pump hanging in the water. I was tired enough from not ever having paddled before and this didn't help. So in order to maintain the speed of the Tarpon I retrofitted my Hobie tank to fit my new yak. I am very pleased with the outcome.  :headspin:

Here are a few pics.

I removed the pump from inside the tank and plugged the hole.You can see how I attached the pump from the outside with 2 locknuts, one locknut on the inside and one outside.


I placed the pump in the scupper, lined it up to the tank, traced it and cut it out.
I had to also extend the wiring and drill a hole to slip it through.


If you are familiar with the Hobie livewell you know the water level is adjustable by sliding a tube up or down. With this mod I wont be able to adjust the water level but I cut the tube down some so its now at a fixed level. There are 2 raised strips that run down the Tarpons tankwell so the tank sits about 3/4" off of the bottom and this will allow the water to run out of the tube.




If I want to use the tank in my Outback again I can just put the pump back into the original location and plug the new hole. :

nice work.  thx for sharing!

Good idea!  Thanks for the post and pictures.

Sweet!  So the drag is eliminated?

Sweet!  So the drag is eliminated?

Yeah, the intake tube scoop sticks out from the underside of the scupper. Just enough to draw in the water and prime the pump also eliminating any extra drag.