A better bait cage.
 

After being completely fed up with the promar bait cages, I've decided to build my own.

Things I hate about the promar cages.
- The hooks to keep the doors on break after a while
- They make stacking the hoops a pain
- When bugs are thick, it's too easy for them to clear all your bait.
- They get stepped on and bend
- They're annoying to store
- Chunked bait falls right out
- Needs some sort of fastener

After seeing my friend do REALLY well on bait tubes, I got to thinking. What can I do to improve.


Here's what I've come up with.
These hold about 3-5 sardines broken in half. They lasted all night still packed with bait. Didn't need to do 1 bait change

Pros
- Cost 1/2 as much as a promar to make
- They slip right into the bait pocket in the bottom of almost all hoops
- Almost every hardware store carries them
- They are solid plastic/pvc, means no rust and nothing to break
- Smaller slits makes bait last a lot longer
- Requires no fasteners
- Makes stacking hoops much cleaner and easier on the back of a kayak
- You can fit all 5 in a 1 gallon freezer bag already loaded with bait for the next trip
- Easy to clean out and store
- They float, incase one comes loose
- Bugs can't eat them from the outside (ambush/ecplipse users), they need to get in the hoop
- SEAL PROOF

I know the biggest question everyone is thinking to themselves.... DO THEY WORK??
Well tonight, I put them to the test. See photos

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Genius!

so how many hoops do you run?

5 from the kayak, 2 from a pier.

That'll work!

Fricken smart ass.....I mean fricken smart idea!

I'll be making a few this weekend.

Bugs are definitely crawling this year....go get-em before they go to deeper waters!!!

Sweet.:cool:

I better hit up Home Depot before there all gone.Thanks for the hot tip:luxhello:.

Awesome idea, I will make some of those for sure.

The PVC one takes to much time to make. Plus I lost one last time out and get this, A dog came into my yard last night and stole my three remaining PVC bait tubes ... I found two of them ... but not the third.

that's genius and what makes the site worth visiting.

i always thought the metal cages were too big and hold too much bait. i went through the trouble of cutting them down but there still bulky. never tried the the lobster tubes but i didnt see a big improvement, still bulky.
these looks great! i like the compact idea. thanks :cheers1:

Thanks guys :you_rock:

I just went and bought a few extras just incase you all clean out the home depot by my house :D

Give me some feedback and let me know how you like them, and what if any improvements you come with.

I guess I should have just started selling them haha

I just bought 5.

The inventory guys at Home Depot will be like wow a rush on drain grates.

I may drill holes in the white part. I will also put some rope loops on them to clip them down if needed.

I bought small little self tapping eye lid screws. A 5 pack cost $0.98

I might put them through too. I used the cages last night and didn't find a need.

Nice job! Post in Shared Innovations thread too?

Let me know if the halved salmon heads fit in these. I built some tubes with 3" drain pipe and they suck for halved heads.

Here is a slight modification, don't know if it helps but I figured it couldn't hurt.

A drill press would be easier as I used a vise and hand drill.

You know you gotta wear these now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...-glasses-3.jpg

Cant beat the simplicity! Thats a nice find drake! What ya gonna call it? the draketube....drakecage....Kanyewestcage....drainca ge...:luxhello:

yep had a seal problem this past wednesday....i built a promar style bait tube, i know why it costs $20 bucks now...! Its a deal when its got a $100 bucks worth of holes in it!:eek:

I call it a bait puck :cool:

Made a small modification to the nets to better accommodate the pucks.

One came loose last night so I wanted to come up with a better way to secure them. This is what I came up with.

I cut the string that holds the tag ends of the netting together which forms the opening. Then I weaved a short bungee in the loops and zip tied them to the lower ring. I cut the end off so they wouldn't rust and get hung up, then burned the tips to clean them up.

The bungees cost $2.94 from home depot.

Took about 2 minutes for each hoop.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../DSC003562.jpg
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Bait Tubes
 

So how did your new bait tubes work...I like the idea..have been looking for a better alternative myself...thanks brewman!