Baitwell Noise

[wdnboatbuilder]

It seems that Airators and water pumps in baitwells cause alot of vibration and noise which in turn spook fish. When you get the various contraptions they give you rubber gromets to I would think calm down the vibration but it really does not work. Anyone have any suggestions?
thanks for your comments

[marshmat]

If they were to engineer the things to be properly balanced to start with, this wouldn't happen.... but that would mean more expensive equipment. It's not impossible to design an aerator or pump that isn't noisy and shaky, but it takes longer to design and so is more expensive. More expensive doesn't cut it in the markets.... rubber grommets and shock mounts are probably your best bet for the time being until better-built equipment hits the stores.

[wdnboatbuilder]

Hell I have thought about hanging the damn things from some kinda trapeze but the vibration would just run through the wire/string/ect.......

[jammer]

As far as aerator goes, you might try these. They are quiet. http://www.aquainnovationsinc.com/tech.html

[wdnboatbuilder]

Very interesting, only one problem for us saltwater fisherman, but best idea I have seen yet. Thanks for your efforts.

Real fishermen - don't use bait!
Take fly fishing for example!

Sadly I find my flies drown in the baitwell, so now - I'm on the lookout for scuba equipmnt, scaled down for flies to wear!

Baitwell, interesting boating phenomena....almost NEVER found on boats downunder (being upside down all the water falls out!).

Actually - a naval architect I know (who fly fishes) said that the only reason US boats have "baitwells"is because they fished out any fish worth eating over 200 years ago and if they didn;t go out with 'live bait would never catch a fish.

Being settled about 200 years AFTER you guys - we havent got to that point yet, and we can stil catch good fish without resorting to livebait....which is why as a generalisation - you just don't see livebait wells on boats downunder...

So - your answer - is to come fish downunder...where you don't need live bait...or even bait at all - heck some of us, ONLY fish artificials (lures / flies)...

Can't remeber in over 45 years fo fishing now having ever used a live bait.

Maybe theres something in all this madness, like - if you stopped all commercial netting of your nurseries (estuaries) and all commercial exploitation was controlled within sustained harvest levels...maybe you too could get your fisheries to recover to the point where you don't NEED live bait!

Just a thought...converstaion starter - call it what you will!

Cheers!

[BCWelch1]

We have expierenced a limited success in quieting pump motors by mounting them on a piece of starboard with a rubber matt (1/4" or more) sandwiched between starboard and mounting surface. This works well with hydraulic pumpsets for autopilots where the wives get scared not the fish. The theory is that the starboard can handle the weight and strain of the pumpset while the rubber acts as a shock mount barrier between starboard and deck area. Do not use same screws for pumpset to anchor starboard or energy is transferred to hull anyway. Another possibilility might be soundproofing material between motor and hull and around entire pumpset but this may get costly. The key is to be able to mount the offending electric motor/pump on a device that can absorb the vibration without transferring same to the hull of the boat.
Hope this helps.
BCWelch1 in Riverview Fl

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by BCWelch1

We have expierenced a limited success in quieting pump motors by mounting them on a piece of starboard with a rubber matt (1/4" or more) sandwiched between starboard and mounting surface. The key is to be able to mount the offending electric motor/pump on a device that can absorb the vibration without transferring same to the hull of the boat.
Hope this helps.
BCWelch1 in Riverview Fl

On machinery heavy and dense helps with vibration. Maybe mount the pump on a block of lead and then soft rubber between that and the hull. Sam

[wdnboatbuilder]

Trouty I have to agree with you on one point, that is livebait fisherman kinda take all the fun out of it. I find it real boring not hunting the fish and taking an artificial lure and intising the fish to react. BUt alot of americans want the easy way, oh yea we invinted easy, thats why we are americans.
seriously vibration through hydralic pumps on jack plates, water pumps for even fish in a livewell for tournament fishing, there is a common problem with vibration going through the hull and it is intersting what BCWELCH says but if you do not screw the starboard to the mount then how are you attaching the whole unit together?
thanks for your imput,

OK - for a technical solution...could the vibrations be cancelled out with harmonics?

I.e - your vibration is analysed for it's wave period and amplitude - then an electronically produced harmonic vibration produced - which eliminates the original pump noise?

I can see it now... the harmonic for fish - to livebaitwell noise / vibration, will be some kinda mathematical alteration of the beachboys tune...

I'm pickin up good vibrations.

Seriously tho...is it a question of eliminating the vibrations in the mechanical sense - or just rendering the to a form where fish are not scared.

Yeah OK - your saying too hard..I can hear ya now - but - I do recall somewhere (an old BC outdoors mag) reading about a guy - who juiced up his downrigger with a few volts to attract fish, rather than repel them. Guy did all sorts a testing and evenproduced a graph of voltages for attracting salmonids under his boat. The ideas been used for decades by commercial salmonid pure seiners to electronically attract fish.

The Scotty downrigger people actually make a black box, that connects to downriggers to allow you to "tune" the downrigger cables and bomb to the right frequency to attract salmonids (coho etc).

Anyway - I'm just pointing you in a diifferent direction (thinkin latterally).

Hope it helps!

Cheers!

[BCWelch1]

Let me clarify for those that do not understand.
The noisey pump is screwed to the starboard (which is denser than fiberglass) then the starboard is screwed to the bulkhead using additional screws. Therefore the pump screws are not going through the starboard and into the hull.
Hope this clears up any questions.
And BTW you boys downunder use the ultimate live bait and we Americans read about each time another swimmer is gobbled up on the barrier reef.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by trouty

Anyway - I'm just pointing you in a diifferent direction (thinkin latterally).

A guy down at the marina has fish shapes painted all over the bottom of his boat. Don't know if it works or not. Sam

Actually it's a bit of a hobby downunder - feeding the sharks - we all take turns swimming in shark infested waters...to see whos lucks in and who's is not for the day!

Bit like playing Russian roulette with a revolver - only a whole lot more fun to watch when one goes off!

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the improvements in modern day communications - (which the shark file statasticians assure us is the real case) but it sure seems like more people are getting eaten by sharks downunder of late.

I honestly don't believe this ban on catching / killing great whites is helping the situation any.

I am of the opinion, that quite a few great whites have 'learned" a new behaviour of eating people. I also happen to believe they probably don't have a great deal of choice in the matter - since our commercial long line fleets have basically decimated the pelagics food chain (tuna's billfish etc) which the great whites "normally"would feed upon.

If they are injured or crook, and come close inshore - they will eat seals and turtles etc - if there is nothing else. Whaling also has a LOT to do with it. It's my own theory, that great whites like nothing better than a free feed of whale placenta's when the calving season is on....

Now - with the Japanese continuing to kill whales - in the antarctic - theres obviously not as many free lunches for great whites in our southern waters.

You don't need to be Einstein, to work out why humans are now on the lunch menu!

Course - luckily - it's only those dumb enough to go in the water - who end up lunch....

Could be a survival clue - in there somewhere!

Cheers!

[BCWelch1]

Maybe you should consider installing baitwell pumps on your scuba gear. This might scare the sharks away.
Your theories on why great whites prefer humans are very interesting and I would like to add one more. Tuna, and other large game fish tend to swim much faster in the water then we bipeds do. This is largely because they are in their natural habitat and we are mere intruders there. At any rate if a great white is faced with the choice of catching a slim trim speedy tuna or a fat slow human...well there you have it the shark merely takes the path of least resistance and he dines on that which moves the slowest.
BTW I especially like your discussion on who gets lucky and who is having a really bad day, although personally I would prefer to find other ways of testing my luck.
Have a merry day
Brent Welch
USA

[safewalrus]

Russian roulette may be fun, but Irish roulette is better (Like Russian roulette only played with an automatic!) (for Irish read your favourite numskulls - I believe the yanks count Poles in this equation!)