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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[lowprofile]

Genius!

so how many hoops do you run?

Originally Posted by lowprofile

Genius!

so how many hoops do you run?

5 from the kayak, 2 from a pier.

[skrilla]

That'll work!

[jorluivil]

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!!!

[maui jim]

Sweet.

[finyak]

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

[ctfphoto]

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.

[DanaPT]

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

[roadx]

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

Thanks guys

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

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

[ctfphoto]

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.

Originally Posted by ctfphoto

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.

[Caffeind]

Nice job! Post in Shared Innovations thread too?

Originally Posted by jorluivil

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!!!

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.

[ctfphoto]

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.

[skrilla]

You know you gotta wear these now.

[ful-rac]

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

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!

I call it a bait puck

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.

[Brewman]

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