Anybody else sealing your second livewell for storage?

[BoxMN]

Sitting here bored, ice fishing stuff is at cabin... and thinking about summer a bit...

We have '97 Tournament Pro, and in that vintage the front livewell was HUUUUGE! And I must say, sort of a PITA. Runs from gunwale to gunwale, and about 40 gallons... Fill that up and it gets lots of weight in the bow quick. Put some fish in there and it is tough to catch them again to get them out... ha! We foamed in the overflows, disconnected the aerators, and siliconed the drain. Now we use it for dry (almost) storage, but still trying to make it drier.

Anybody else close up their front livewell? A few years after they made our boat ('97 was first year of that model, and we bought it new, one of the first customers to buy that model) they went to smaller front livewell and added rod storage, a much better design. Alumacraft actually took quite a bit of input from us (we showed them how we added "oh carp" handles for the passenger, and how where we installed the batt charger after moving batteries a bit) and other owners in those first years, to make the models better. Glad they did take input, as we saw some of our exact ideas in the next years boats. I think Dean was the guy at alumacraft we used to talk to... he would get into the boats with us with tape measures and figure spacings and talk things out...

When we do keep fish, we use the rear livewell which at about 15 gallons is plenty big enough. We actually use the livewell itself more for bait than for fish these days.

Any advice for getting the hatches, which are not designed to be "dry", drier? We use some foam to help seal, but on downpours it still gets some mositure into the "tank".

[JohnMickish]

I did that for awhile on my Pro V. I sealed off the overflow vents but could never keep it totally dry. The plug and/or the fill system would let in a half inch of water or so durring a day on the water. I think if I would have siliconed things it would stay dry but I would never be able to turn it back into a livewell then.

[Esox_Magnum]

I have both the livewell and baitwell plugged on my current boat and use it for bait storage. I put the plugs in the transom so I can drain them easily if they get water in them. Neither are dry dry but works great for bucktails and my daily rotation baits. I can easily pull the rack out with the bucktails and use as normal if I find the need for supper.

[delmuts]

I guess i am lucky! I needed the extra storage too. In my little ranger all i had to do was unscrew the cap off the filler tube, and put a rubber plug in it, along with one in the over flow! Mine are bone dry!

Any more; if i'm keeping fish they go in a cooler.

[propster]

Ranger did it right and made the lids dry even though it was intended to be a livewell. Box, I've got a Lund with the same deal. We put a rubber plug in the livewell overflow and drain, but can't rely on the lid not letting in water. If you figure it out let me know.

[BoxMN]

Ha! Yep, it is the lid that is the culprit for sure. We did drill a small hole in the bottom of the plastic well (not the drain hole) to let any water that did get in escape, but still not ideal.

[Esox_Magnum]

Finaly found a pic of what I did...

[BoxMN]

Hey Esox, that looks good my brother (HugoBox) and I did that exact same thing about 2 or 3 years ago. I take it out though, when I use the boat, as I am not as big a muskie guy. But that square gutter works great, huh? I just wish I could ge tthat top hatch to shed water a bit better. We used a foam liner to help, but it still gets wet in a downpour. No biggie except when I have life jackets in there, which I usually don't anymore as we build a bigger front deck (where the troll motor goes, to stand up higher) and we keep PFDs there now.

Picturte in your bottom photo a larger deck under the troll moptor that comes out to about where you front hatch opens. Then all that space under that "new deck" is open with a mesh holding in PFDs or boxes, whatever. That gives my bro a higher vantage point to stand and cast from, without balancing on that little stock deck Looks a bit hill billy, but works great and we painted it to match, supported it with alum, etc.

[Esox_Magnum]

Mines not as low as it looks, about mid shin hight at best, works perfect for muskie, my bucktail insert also comes out, took an idea from RK and glued and taped the whole thing together and it easily lifts out if I need the livewell. Plugs I put in the transom so when I pull the main I also pull the 2 for livewell and baitwell. Mines not totaly dry but good enough for baits, the door on the left front is dry mostly and under all the plano boxes of muskie baits there are a couple life vests in there.....

[JBone]

nice skeeter ESOX, I have the same boat

[Esox_Magnum]

Thanks J, I realy like it, been a great boat so far on any water or conditions I have put it in. Took a big chance on buying it since I found it online and it was 750 miles away but price was great and couldn't pass it up.