live bait fishing on the kayak

In this video, I go over some options to keep the bait alive on a kayak. I used to not enjoy fishing with live bait because it was just pain in the butt and annoying, but I enjoy live bait fishing very much.

Thanks for sharing! I have the yellow bucket, it's interesting to hear the data showing how much it slows the kayak down. I can feel it, but without a motor it's all qualitative.

Aside from the drag, do you find it any easier to get bait into the baitshark with the door geometry? With larger jacksmelt I often find they do some acrobatics as I'm trying to get them into the Frabill bucket and they end up back in the water.

Long live Team yellow bucket!!! It drags and bonks the side of the boat a lot, so the in&out of the water thing is very real.

Without a bucket, you can take something like a kingfish and stick its head in the water behind the Hobie pedal drive in the hole there. I’ve gotten baits from the sandy area to the reef alive that way.

Thanks for the comparison, MooMoo. Baitshark looks nice to have if someone buys it for me.

Thanks for sharing! I have the yellow bucket, it's interesting to hear the data showing how much it slows the kayak down. I can feel it, but without a motor it's all qualitative.

Aside from the drag, do you find it any easier to get bait into the baitshark with the door geometry? With larger jacksmelt I often find they do some acrobatics as I'm trying to get them into the Frabill bucket and they end up back in the water.

It's been 5 years since I used the yellow bucket so I don't remember if I had any trouble with putting the bait in. I never had any issue with putting the jacksmelt into the baitshark even when they are 12 inches and bigger.

Long live Team yellow bucket!!! It drags and bonks the side of the boat a lot, so the in&out of the water thing is very real.

Without a bucket, you can take something like a kingfish and stick its head in the water behind the Hobie pedal drive in the hole there. I’ve gotten baits from the sandy area to the reef alive that way.

Thanks for the comparison, MooMoo. Baitshark looks nice to have if someone buys it for me.

I know they are pricey and that was the main reason why I held myself from getting one for over 2 years. After seeing more and more people using it, I figured it was worth a try. My buddy from SoCal really sold me on it because it tows 3 of them inline. He's very picky with his bait. He's bait has to be in perfect condition for him it send it down so he only puts a few in each baitshark to keep them in perfect condition all day.

I've tried the Baitshark and the Frabill. Ended up retiring both of them. I ended up with a bait tube based on this design. It floats and has less drag than the Baitshark. I made the lanyard on the short side so it does not interfere with my Revo 13 rudder. I pedal when using it, no motor.
https://youtu.be/xLB9walgoIc?si=O29a_ngGSII3WKJN

I've tried the Baitshark and the Frabill. Ended up retiring both of them. I ended up with a bait tube based on this design. It floats and has less drag than the Baitshark. I made the lanyard on the short side so it does not interfere with my Revo 13 rudder. I pedal when using it, no motor.
https://youtu.be/xLB9walgoIc?si=O29a_ngGSII3WKJN

That looks pretty good. Maybe I'll make one to do a drag comparison test against the bait bucket. I still won't be a fan of bait tube not holding water once it's out of the water. 

I've tried the Baitshark and the Frabill. Ended up retiring both of them. I ended up with a bait tube based on this design.

Lots of good designs for bait tubes on YT and here on NCKA. This is the way to go, IMHO.

As an aside... I used to fish bait about 50% of the time, but now I almost never do (strangely, I still always carry a bait tube). In the M-Bay, it seems to me that about half of the season, bait outfishes artificial, but the other half, artificial often win, if for no other reason than the extra time spent dealing with live (or even dead) bait...