I have an early 80's Starcraft that I've been rebuilding. The interior is now brand new, but there's no livewell. I thought maybe I could just buy a pre-made one with all the hardware, and drop it into my now-existing casting platform, but I can't find one anywhere! I have found almost all the separate components, but don't know exactly what I'll need. Does anyone have any info on this? Has anyone built there own? Can anyone give me a list of components to buy so I can build one?

Someone told me to just use a cooler for my insert. Would that work if I bought the aerator, pump, etc?

A cooler will work , but a fresh water intake is the ideal thing though. The areator will work for bait , and help put oxygen in the water . But fish will need some cerculation in the water as well . It constantly keeps the water temp from changing to drastically . So the ideal thing is to have a bilge style pump to bring the water up into the live well , this will also help put oxygen into the water if the pipe bring water into the live well is above the surface level . The drain hole should go out the bottom , this insures good clean out after your done using it . Have the drain hose run out the side of the boat . I have never had a problem with flow back into the boat , with mine . It is 2 inches above the sitting still water level . If you have a riser style stopper for your drain plug , it will always insure your live well water level to not over flow . Hope this sort of helps . I used stainless steel overlapped with rivets , and lots of clear silicone to insure water tight seals .

i used a big coleman cooler with some kind of pump in it i dont remember it was long ago but it worked verywell walley's around 20 inches as for us in the derby not so well :cussing:

Originally posted by yammyman@Apr 4 2005, 08:26 PM
it worked verywell walley's around 20 inches* as for us in the derby not so well :cussing:
416037



I can relate with you!


underdog, do you have any pictures of your setup?

I don't have one off hand , unfortunatly . The boat is at the river , so it may be awhile before I can shoot a picture away to you . Sorry . If you look at a standard style one in a bass boat , it should give you a good idea , mine was just scaled down for a Starcraft , with a shallow hull . Mine is a 14 ft. 1979 (roughly , may be older) Re did the whole thing 8 years ago , Put in an interior , live well , and so on . Re paint it every season . I think the hardest part is running the intake for the bilge pump , I ran a fitting that is removable to the drain plug in the back of the boat . , When your fishing you have the bilge tube in , When you start moving at speed you replace it with your normal plug stopper plug. It seems to work good . I have a rechargable power pack i use to power the bilge . That way you can recharge it every night when your done . It will also power a small trolling motor no problem. If i can find any pictures i will send them your way , asap. Take care.