# The Perfect Live Bait Bucket



## aln (May 29, 2006)

Just curious .. what would be the best 5 gallon live bait bucket? I've made 'em with 1/4" holes top to (near) bottom for keeping small live bait over the rail on the planks .. made 'em with the larger holes .. inch or better for keeping bait living in the summer heat when the waters warm and the winds light and had one or two buckets that I just put holes in the upper half so they would work on pier or surf .. worked good on the beach but heavy dragging up over the rail. 

Here lately I been thinking about taking taking a skill saw and making a bucket with nothing but slots in it. Make 'em long so the water drains quick and you could put a bunch of slits in one cause the bait aint gonna get through a saw blade slot. Any ya'll ever make a bucket with saw slots and if so how many can you put in a bucket before they aint enuff plastic to sit on it without the thing taking a squat on ya ?


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## Jarosh (Jun 29, 2010)

I thought of that as well,but questioned how much water flow I'd have through the bucked while its just hanging in the water. In the end I went with 1 inch holes from top to bottom. Lots of flow and water drains fast when pulling the bucket. Baits have been live and kicking all summer for the time they are in the bucket.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Hadn't thought about the flow through with the slits. Guess buckets are like rods,reels and tackle .. different occassions require different things.


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## Jarosh (Jun 29, 2010)

My only regret for my bucket was putting holes in the bottom. I should have left the bottom 4-6 inches intact to allow some water to stay. This way I could leave it on deck for a few min while baiting multiple rods, or while catching bait. But for now I just bring 2 buckets 1 solid and he other with holes. I use the solid one to dip some water, to act as a temp holding area while I'm catching bait. After I get a few I toss them in my live bait bucket and then over the rail.


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

I make mine with 3/8" holes but always leave the bottom 3" solid which allows the mud minnows/finger mullet to survive while I'm re-baiting multiple rods or making another throw with the cast net.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

1" holes,leaving about 4" un drilled in the bottom,add a small keel wieght in the bottom to get the bucket down.always have a piece of rope/bungee cord thru the top tied to the the bucket to save the top in case of catastrophic lid release.add a pool themometer for real time temp checks and you got a "spike special" baitin' bucket.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

I have two buckets in the garage with brass hinges and wooden tops for easy access, 

I am like Flathead, I like small holes

3/8 inch holes with five inches at the bottom left unfilled so you can leave the bucket on the pier for a while if you need to, drill a lot of holes to let the bucket drain better, make sure you clean off the burrs from drilling on the inside other wise it will scale the bait and cause early demise

3/8 inch holes are to keep finger mullet and live shrimp inside the bucket if you are fishing for smaller fish like flounder and Spanish, some of my finest days king fishing were actually spent live baiting the smaller fish with a bait rod

I all ways had two buckets as bait fish live better when not overcrowded and if it was real hot out I would use the bucket as a pier pirate shower and pour it over my head every 20 minutes

You put around one pound of sinkers in the bucket and with a long rope you put the bucket deep so it is in cooler water, if it is rough you have to watch out so that the buckets don't tangle, which can be miserable

With a 5/8 inch or better nylon rope it makes it easy on the hands when pulling up

When I was fishing a lot in the 1980s I would climb under Nags Head Pier at the end of the day and tie off the buckets under the pier so the "Pier Monkey's" could not rob them when I was in bed sleeping, never had a loss, pier punks were too scared to climb on the stringers in the dark.....


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Always found it a pain in the butt to build a really nice bucket with easy access..The newer buckets have these new fangled screw on lids that make it pretty simple and ya don't have to worry as much with the catastrophic bait loss that Spike's referring to.. 3/8" holes,like Garbo said are the ticket for a good all round baitbucket,for freelining small baits for spainish,flounder baits,as well as pinning baits for false albacore,and bigger baits for real pinrigging.. My son has the fancy temp gage on there,as Spike referred to and it works great when you want the "right" reading.. I always like about 3" of space at the bottom after drainage.. Put more than 3 or 4 bluefish,or more than 2 fatback in there and ya have a crowd of fish that will probably die pretty fast.. Garbo,folks at the "newfangled concrete pier" will pull your baitbucket up at night,and lots a luck climbing under to tie it to the stringers on that thing...


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Drumdum said:


> Always found it a pain in the butt to build a really nice bucket with easy access..The newer buckets have these new fangled screw on lids that make it pretty simple and ya don't have to worry as much with the catastrophic bait loss that Spike's referring to.. 3/8" holes,like Garbo said are the ticket for a good all round baitbucket,for freelining small baits for spainish,flounder baits,as well as pinning baits for false albacore,and bigger baits for real pinrigging.. My son has the fancy temp gage on there,as Spike referred to and it works great when you want the "right" reading.. I always like about 3" of space at the bottom after drainage.. Put more than 3 or 4 bluefish,or more than 2 fatback in there and ya have a crowd of fish that will probably die pretty fast.. Garbo,folks at the "newfangled concrete pier" will pull your baitbucket up at night,and lots a luck climbing under to tie it to the stringers on that thing...


I worked the trades as a carpenter when I fished and I made my Bucket tops like a wooden door and depended on a rubber strap with a hook to keep them closed....they are my favorite lids as they are easy to open and close......

Have not decided if I was going to fish the State Pier, maybe just walk out a be a incognito Tourist, as high as that pier is If I spiked my anchor rod my bait would likely be 100 yards off the end of the tee 

If you leave large size 1" holes in your bucket ......small Fatback and Grass Shad and threadfins in your bucket will commit Hari Kiri trying to stick their snout out of the bucket and then they cannot back up, they have no reverse

I either caught or was around when twenty-thirty or so Kings hit a bait right as dawn was breaking and at least a half hour to forty five minutes before the Bluefish came in from offshore to start feeding...you need to be able to stash a bait or two over night.....

Back in the day if you touched another man's bucket you was looking for trouble 
I painted a Pirates Skull and Crossbones on my buckets with a nice message reading "If you can read this you are too close" or "No Trespassing Violators will be shot.....Survivors will be shot again"


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

Excellent tip on deburring. Do all mine that way with a rat tail file.

Getting ready to make a couple more right now before a trip to Murrell's Inlet, SC and Hatteras in October. Might have to try the wooden top/brass hinge. Did you make those tops out of exterior treated plywood or something else ?

I have always built mine out of Lowe's/Wal-Mart 5 gal buckets(throw aways after trip is over), with two 1/2" holes drilled opposite each other just under top rim, for 1/2" rope. Drill 3/8" hole in lid opposite each other and use shower curtain clips through those and the bucket to hold lid in place. Only have to unsnap one of them to get bait out or put bait in.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

flathead said:


> Excellent tip on deburring. Do all mine that way with a rat tail file.
> 
> Getting ready to make a couple more right now before a trip to Murrell's Inlet, SC and Hatteras in October. Might have to try the wooden top/brass hinge. Did you make those tops out of exterior treated plywood or something else ?
> 
> I have always built mine out of Lowe's/Wal-Mart 5 gal buckets(throw aways after trip is over), with two 1/2" holes drilled opposite each other just under top rim, for 1/2" rope. Drill 3/8" hole in lid opposite each other and use shower curtain clips through those and the bucket to hold lid in place. Only have to unsnap one of them to get bait out or put bait in.



I use regular 3/4 inch exterior plywood and had solid brass 4" Door butt hinges left over from a job long ago forgotten that do not rust and Drywall buckets with the top they come with also left over from a job, I screw the lid the buckets come with on with drywall tappet screws after screwing the non opening side of the wooden top to the underneath side of the lid. You cut out the opening side of the top and leave a one inch shelf around the rim of the lid for the plywood side to rest on while being held shut by a bungee cord or rubber strap with hooks


I had a bucket with brass plated hinges and as long as the hinge pin was heavily greased it would open okay

Most buckets if you fish a lot come to an early demise especially if they are not pulled up when a storm brings heavy surf, learned that the hard way and also was involved in an incident with a big swell that tangled up six buckets in the water and wrapped them all around a piling, a fella had to go over the side into the water and cut them loose with a knife, while we yelled down to him from the deck..... instructions as to how large the Shark was that was underneath and behind him....

Never thought to put a thermometer in my bucket, but I guess it would at least let the bait bucket hotel guests know exactly what the temp was in the water they were trapped in


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

I used a 12 or 15 gallon bucket that chlorine came in to treat pools with. It has done well.

I made two like this. Took a short piece of galvanized pipe the length of the inside diameter of such bucket big enough for your rope to run through it. Drill two hole opposite each other and secure the rope to bucket this way greatly improves the holding power to such rope. Also the pipe adds weight to help in the "holding down near bottom" theory.

Also painted the inside of bucket black. The darker the area of such bait holding helps calm the bait. Calmer bait= less activity ...less activity= less movement therefore using less energy to maintain life. I think it may work in some instances but not always. The topic concerning a weight is a plus as I use a small dumbell in the bottom of mine. One improvement would be to drill a hole in the center, bottom of bait bucket, run a ss threaded rod and secure the weight from sliding around and creating sushi of your bait fish. Don't forget to siiicone the bottom in order that when you bring it up to rebait that the water doesn't leak out.

What not to do unless your a "Hulk" is to not do to what I did. So I thought I would get a small bag of ready mix cement from Lowe's and add weight and fix it to where the weight would not slide around. I think I got a 15# bag, whatever it was the smallest that Lowe's had at the time. I got it all nice and smooth with a trowel and figured it would the the next "cat's meow." Cat's meow my ass. I could barely lift the damn bucket. It worked though straight down I believe a noreaster would barely move it. It didn't take long while fishing that I was in search of a hammer, busted that concrete out of there and went back to a smaller weight. hhahahhahahahaaha

And do not use anything other than round...it isn't any good.

RT


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

I would be very afraid that chlorine buckets would kill minnows


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

speckhunter80 said:


> I would be very afraid that chlorine buckets would kill minnows


You could be on something there. I just rinsed and rinsed it, let it set with water, dump, repeat.
RT


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

> I use regular 3/4 inch exterior plywood and had solid brass 4" Door butt hinges left over from a job long ago forgotten that do not rust and Drywall buckets with the top they come with also left over from a job, I screw the lid the buckets come with on with drywall tappet screws after screwing the non opening side of the wooden top to the underneath side of the lid. You cut out the opening side of the top and leave a one inch shelf around the rim of the lid for the plywood side to rest on while being held shut by a bungee cord or rubber strap with hooks


Have six buckets to start on. I figure combining the expertise in those instructions with my mechanical abilities, six ought to be about right to get one, mebbe two, gooduns.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

flathead said:


> Have six buckets to start on. I figure combining the expertise in those instructions with my mechanical abilities, six ought to be about right to get one, mebbe two, gooduns.


Take a measurement of the bucket top to the rim

Divide by half = the Radius

Take a piece of wood say like cedar shingle or stick of wood ten inches in length

Measure the radius number from the end of the stick and mark the stick

Drive a small nail through the measurement mark on the stick

Take a piece of plywood big enough for the top and drive the nail in the center of the plywood and use your scribe to mark your circle

Take a jig saw and cut out the circle

Cut the circle of plywood in half 

Even DD could follow these instructions and you should wind up with 6 buckets if you want them


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Garboman said:


> Even DD could follow these instructions and you should wind up with 6 buckets if you want them


 Garbo I think you have vastly overestimated my mechanical abilities.. You are looking at a man that can break an anvil with a rubber hammer...


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Drumdum said:


> Garbo I think you have vastly overestimated my mechanical abilities.. You are looking at a man that can break an anvil with a rubber hammer...


And then use the hammer to catch a fish! Lol. Two buckets, one for small bait and the other with bigger holes for big baits


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

> Even DD could follow these instructions and you should wind up with 6 buckets if you want them


DD's specialty is breaking everybody's favorite knots. 

I thank you for the more accurate and intellectual instructions, which as you say " even DD could follow ".Currently I am tied up tying flies for a couple fellers down in the Florida panhandle but I estimate I'll start my bucket project sometime this week. Might post some pics if there's not much blood or other mess.


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