The Smarter Way to Store Live Bait on Your Dock: Why a Flow-Through “Ready Bait” Livewell Beats Pens and Aerators
If you fish saltwater regularly, you already know: lively bait gets more bites. The challenge isn’t finding bait—it’s keeping it frisky until lines hit the water. There are a few common ways anglers store bait, but they’re not created equal.
Below, we’ll break down the pros and cons of bait pens, aerated buckets, recirculated tanks—and explain why a flow-through (pump-in/pump-out) dock livewell like Ready Bait is the most effective, reliable, and hands-off way to keep bait healthy.
The Usual Options (and Their Hidden Downsides)
1) Bait Pens (submerged cages)
What they do well:
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They keep bait in the water column under your dock, with natural temperature and salinity.
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No power required.
- Cheap
Where they fall short:
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Predators & natural elements: Pins, crabs, and opportunistic predators can harass or eat your bait. Choppy days and busy canals, can beat up your baits against the walls of the pen.
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Poor water exchange inside the pen: When bait density is high, waste (ammonia) accumulates around the fish faster than open water can carry it away.
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Maintenance & fouling: Algae and biofilm reduce flow through the mesh, and pens get gross—fast.
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Oxygenation: You are reliant on oxygenation through natural current, waves, and wind. Canals have dead zones where water can get stale when currents are weak.
2) Aerated Systems (Closed / Recirculated)
What they do well:
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Portable and cheap.
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Great for a short trip or small amounts of bait.
Where they fall short:
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Ammonia buildup: With no water exchange, waste concentrates quickly. Even “crystal-clear” water will be made toxic in short time when there's bait in the tank. Lifespan is greatly diminished in this type of system by design.
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Heat creep: In the sun, small volumes warm up. Warm water holds less oxygen and stresses bait.
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Oxygen is uneven: A single stone or puck adds bubbles, but without turnover you get stratification and stagnant corners.
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Babysitting required: Frequent water changes, ice bottles, and constant monitoring.
3) Boat Livewells (recirculating)
What they do well:
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Excellent while underway and for the day’s trip.
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Easy to plumb with a pickup and return.
Where they fall short:
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Not ideal as long-term storage: When the boat’s on the lift or on the trailer, you’re back to babysitting or running pumps in a closed loop.
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Limited volume: Space constraints mean tight quarters for bigger bait counts.
The Real Problem: What Actually Kills Bait
No matter the container, bait dies from the same three stressors:
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Ammonia (waste) buildup – Bait excrete ammonia directly into the water. In closed or semi-closed systems, it accumulates and damages gills.
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Low dissolved oxygen (DO) – Crowding + warm water = oxygen crash.
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Temperature swings – Rapid changes shock bait and reduce oxygen-carrying capacity.
Solve these three, and you keep bait lively. That’s where a flow-through dock livewell shines.
What “Flow-Through (Pump-In/Pump-Out)” Actually Means
You’ll hear it called flow-through, continuous exchange, or pump-in/pump-out. All mean the same thing: fresh water is constantly pumped in from below your dock while used water exits at the same rate.
Why it matters:
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Ammonia doesn’t accumulate because the system exports waste water as fast as the fish produce it.
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Temperature tracks your local water automatically—no heat creep from the sun baking a small tub.
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Oxygen stays high thanks to both fresh intake water and an efficient return design (more on the spraybar below).
In short, flow-through replicates the conditions your bait evolved to live in—stable, fresh, oxygenated water—without the hassle of manual water changes.
How Ready Bait's Spraybar Supercharges Oxygen
Our Ready Bait systems use a spraybar to return water across the surface inside the tank. That sheet of moving water does three important things:
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Maximizes gas exchange at the surface
Oxygen enters the water where air meets water. By spreading incoming water in a thin, fast-moving sheet, the spraybar greatly increases surface area and turbulence. More surface area + more turbulence = faster oxygen transfer in, faster carbon dioxide out. -
Breaks up boundary layers
Stagnant surface films slow gas exchange. The spraybar disrupts that film continuously, keeping the surface “fresh” for gas transfer. -
Promotes complete mixing
The directional flow rolls the tank, preventing dead zones and ensuring even oxygen and temperature throughout.
Result: Ultimate oxygenation without needing noisy air stones or constant manual intervention.
Why Ready Bait Beats Pens & Aerators in Many Cases:
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Continuous waste export: No slow-poison ammonia buildup like buckets or under-circulated pens.
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Stable temperature: Your bait experiences the same temps as the water under your dock—no hot “tub” effect.
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High oxygen by design: Fresh intake + spraybar return keeps DO levels up, even with healthy stocking densities.
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Protected environment: No crabs picking at your baits, no predators slashing through the school, no storm tossing them around.
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Low maintenance: No constant water changes or ice bottles; no pen fouling to scrub.
