---

1986 25' Outrage. I keep my baitwell under the leaning post. I like the placement but am tired of using a bucket to fill it and want to continuously run water to it. I am thinking of running flexible tubing down the rigging tunnel to drain tube on the starboard side right before the splashwell where I will run a bildge pump with a float. Then a drain running from the bottom of the tank up then down again through the rigging tunnel and dumping out the back of the boat. I am planning on using 1" tubing. The only negative is I am going to run 2 tubes on the deck from under the leaning post to under the center console to get to the rigging tunnel.

I really hate the idea of drilling holes through deck... but does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

---

I drilled holes on the OUTRAGE 18. The clean, built-in look was what I was going for.

I used the tank cavity, (routed the hose through it) under the deck cover for the discharge, it was 1 1/2". It barely fit ! You should consider using a larger diameter discharge than supply.

---

You will need a pump that will continuously recirculate the water, to keep it aerated. And an overflow drain to prevent overfilling. At least, that is how it's done in an oem installation.

On my 19 Outrage, the washdown pump is used to fill the live well, and a second pump is used to continuously recirculate the water in the well. The overflow drain runs aft to the engine splash well.

---

No recirculation pump is needed if you just continually pump water through a baitwell. The baitwell fills to the overflow, then overflows through the drain tubing and exits the boat.
Nowadays, the pump for a baitwell is usually mounted on the outside of the transom and rigged in this way to eliminate the need to replenish the oxygen content of the water that enables the bait to live, and continually flushes debris at the same time. A 500-750 GPH Rule pump works really well for most tank applications, but you need to make sure that more water can exit your baitwell than enter it, or the well will run over and the bait will be on the deck instead of in the tank in no-time!
A screen is used with a grating/ mesh on the inside of the tank overflow that has a smaller size than the bait being kept in the tank to prevent the bait from exiting from the tank via the drain tube. This grate/screen must be checked and cleaned as the fishing day goes on in order to keep it free of debris that will allow the tank to run over.

I write this for other readers, as I am certain that Bcoastal is already quite knowledgeable in how to keep sensitive bait alive in a baitwell system on a boat. :)

---

Also, the use of constant recirculation with a single pump that renews the bait tank water by supplying fresh water and draining out the top of the tank as I have described above was the OEM method used on my 1989 Whaler 27 FC. Both baitwells on this boat have standpipes that allow the water to overflow out the drains, and the flow of fresh/raw water is supplied through the washdown pump valving.

JRP. Are you certain that the recirculation pump in your baitwell system is OEM? Someone may have added that second pump and aeration system to the original. I have never seen that in an OEM installation before, but I certainly would not presume to have seen all the different OEM baitwell systems firsthand :)

---

Yeah I dont know about a recirculation pump. I do run an o2 system that keeps bait alive for 24 hours without any water change. The main reason I want to get fresh water is after 4 or 5 hours the water becomes pretty nasty. Plus it would be nice on those weeks that I run 4-5 days to not mess will draining the bait well and subjecting the bait to a salinity and temp shock.

My big concern is how to run the plumbing without drilling holes in the deck...

My buddies run there close the stern and that is an easy solution but I dont like all the weight back there.

---

Correct, there is no need for a recirculation pump if you have a feed pump that you plan to run continuously. Make sure the feed pump is continuously-rated -- many bilge pumps are not.

Yes, my installation is oem -- this configuration is listed as one of the options in the orignal paperwork, which I have. The second pump is described as an aerator.