Kill tank - what are they good for?

Some say they are a great thing, some say they are only good as a storage unit...

What are your thoughts?

JW


The Saint's picture

Posts: 456

Date Joined: 30/01/13

Great to bleed your catch in,

Wed, 2013-05-15 12:42

Great to bleed your catch in, just don't leave your fish in there all day. I leave fish in for 15-20 minutes to bleed out, lift them out with the boga grips, over the side for a quick rinse then straight into the ice box.

Don't forget to give the tank a good wash out when you get home, tends to get a bit on the nose if you forget !

Belly Fish's picture

Posts: 499

Date Joined: 09/03/12

Had boats with and without

Wed, 2013-05-15 12:44

My current boat (7.5 Genesis) has a floodable kill tank and I would never have another boat without one.  They are the best thing for bleeding fish prior to going in the Fishbox with ice slurry.  Things to note:

1. Make sure the bung is largish, otherwise a Jewie/Baldie scale can block it up so it won't drain when you take off

2. Never think you can put the bung in and use it as an icebox, unless it is super insulated...ice will be gone before you know it

3. Really need a self draining deck, because in rough weather it will slop water onto the deck

I reckon go for one if you can. 

Posts: 791

Date Joined: 05/12/09

Great for defrosting your

Wed, 2013-05-15 13:01

Great for defrosting your frozen bait in!!!! Saves getting smelly bait juice every where else!!

Justo82's picture

Posts: 482

Date Joined: 17/10/11

I use mine for my days

Wed, 2013-05-15 13:16

I use mine for my days catch.  3 bags of ice in the morning, then a half bucket of sea water when I catch the 1st fish.  works a treat.  admittedly on a boiling hot day it does melt the ice quickly.  But 30 and below it's fine..

dant's picture

Posts: 504

Date Joined: 13/03/13

Im on the other side - i dont

Wed, 2013-05-15 13:24

Im on the other side - i dont have one, but certaintly wish i did. Price you pay when you need to half a cruising boat for the family.

All very valid points,

unfreezing bait (saves room on a bucket)

bleeding fish (once again saves room for a bucket)

BUT i have got a self draining deck and fkn big centre esky which holds about 4 cartons of pss which is always full, so theres an upside :)

 

 

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14857

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 I've got two on my boat and

Wed, 2013-05-15 13:24

 I've got two on my boat and couldn't do without them. One for bait the other for fish. Mine has a sealable hatch so fish go in with ice slurry. Keeps the deck clear.

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Carry's picture

Posts: 657

Date Joined: 22/04/09

Not for me

Wed, 2013-05-15 14:42

 I personally dont want or need one rather insulate it and have an underfloor esky can never have enough cold storage on a boat i reckon especially on overnighters.

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Brucesta's picture

Posts: 1721

Date Joined: 29/05/09

saves room on my deck having

Wed, 2013-05-15 15:30

saves room on my deck having a big esky in the boat so now all i take is a 50L jobbie for the food and drinks and i have the kill tank which isn't massively long but swallows a 1m fish loaded up with 3L milk bottles frozen solid and when the fish roll in i put some water in there too, works for a days fishing, no more than that. If i'm doing an overnighter than the big esky comes with us.

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 Thanks for starting this

Wed, 2013-05-15 21:28

 Thanks for starting this post.  i dont have one, but considering one.  how much $$$ to build one into an ali boat??? i would like to go for a self flooding tank capable of holding a good sized spanaird.  i reckon a few frozen water bottles thriwn in at the start of the day would help???

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ironpirate's picture

Posts: 47

Date Joined: 20/09/12

dont have one

Thu, 2013-05-16 07:34

 as with my other boats water temp is too high up here wouldnt want to keep fish in there to long great for bleeding and storing bait to defrost and storage ,i converted mine at barcrusher to make a bigger fuel tank as up here you can not have enough fuel 150 litres -to 220litres and use 85 lt extreme esky and 55lt esky for front /food and drinks my opinion only.

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wet lines 

Posts: 153

Date Joined: 24/11/10

use for bleeding aswell

Thu, 2013-05-16 07:35

I use mine aswell for bleeding my catch, then into an iced esky. Usually thaw bait as we need it on the bait board , but definately could use it for that also.

 

Could also put an aerator in the tank for livebait?

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14857

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 The one fish I use for

Thu, 2013-05-16 07:45

 The one fish I use for livies are whiting Paul and for some funny reason they survive well without an aerator. But I am going to look into this for up north.

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Kegstar's picture

Posts: 2

Date Joined: 17/12/16

Kill Tank

Sat, 2017-01-28 17:31

 

   Just purchased a 6.9 Razerline with a kill tank if loaded with large block ice + 2 bags of crushed would this be     

   suffieient for a day's fishing also have a large Ice box cooler

   

Posts: 518

Date Joined: 04/05/08

Put a piece if aircell

Sat, 2017-01-28 18:29

Put a piece if aircell insulation  (brickies use it for cavity walls) Inside my killtank and in the lid.Easy to pull out and clean and keep ice all day in hot weather no worries.

Dale's picture

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Date Joined: 13/09/05

Sat, 2017-01-28 18:40

 Talk to Mick at Shore Catch for the saltiest ice, that lasts for a lot longer than normal ice.

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Boydy's picture

Posts: 623

Date Joined: 26/09/12

Non insulated

Sat, 2017-01-28 20:38

 But holds ice fine for a day trip. Half a dozen 2 litre ice cream container type ice blocks and a couple of bags of ice good to go. 140lt capacity so holds plenty with nothing on deck. Rigged up a hose that drains out the bung for washing out at the end of the day. Only thing is a bit of double handling to unload at the end of the day. Just got a mad fish bag so going to give that a run as well.

Posts: 41

Date Joined: 19/01/16

 My kill tank that i use if

Sat, 2017-01-28 22:20

 My kill tank that i use if you have room is a small garbage bin that I keep up in the cab, neatly store my other buckets in it when not bleeding fish. Under $20 works a treat and im pritty happy with it, heaps better than bleeding fish out in the esky.

Willlo's picture

Posts: 1490

Date Joined: 07/10/11

 I suppose I'm lucky. On the

Sun, 2017-01-29 08:03

 I suppose I'm lucky. On the haines i have an under deck eski / kiĺl tank then port side stern has another built in eski that i use for extra bait starboard side was a live well but is now used for food and piss. Fish r bled into a bucket with a wet hessian sack spread over them then they go under the deck on ice. We use the same bucket to defrost bait and bring home some seawater that i rinse any messy fillets in before vacuum sealing. I wouldn't buy a boat that didn't have some kind of underdeck storage u need uncluttered deck space. 

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Rob_Seed's picture

Posts: 219

Date Joined: 09/04/08

Insulation

Sun, 2017-01-29 11:47

Ive got a steel kill tank thats not insulated. It gets through ice very quickly is there anyone out there that has insulated them before and knows where I can get some insulation  material?

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Glen.vit's picture

Posts: 196

Date Joined: 11/01/11

Got 2 at the front of the

Sun, 2017-01-29 18:01

Got 2 at the front of the centre console, 1 for storage and the other as a kill tank when up north. Doesnt hold ice the longest but good enough for the day or 2. Kill Tanks are definately the way to go, then all you need is a small esky for drinks and food to tuck away.

Posts: 65

Date Joined: 02/02/16

kill tank

Sun, 2017-01-29 20:14

 Have got one on a southbound great for bleeding keep fish in there in winter but we put them in a madfish catch bag on ice.Have on many occasions put skippy in the kill tank and weighed them in at our bunbury comps 5hours later still alive then released them at the boat ramp.

cutter's picture

Posts: 150

Date Joined: 30/12/10

Best

Mon, 2017-01-30 07:35

Yep wouldnt have a boat without one, I have a fully insulated kill tank self filling and will hold ice for couple days. Saves room having another esky on the deck.

 

Best thing ever.

Vinesh87's picture

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Date Joined: 02/04/11

 I find mine is great to hold

Mon, 2017-01-30 09:03

 I find mine is great to hold 12 dive tanks or a extra 300l of fuel. I never use mine as a kill tank the lids so big you need to move everything  to open it. I just use my 120l evakool!

scuttlebutt's picture

Posts: 446

Date Joined: 24/03/06

 I only use mine for storage

Mon, 2017-01-30 09:12

 I only use mine for storage on the Cruise Craft.  Usually neck fish and slide them straight onto ice in the esky

Stevo81's picture

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Date Joined: 16/04/12

Yep we use ours as a

Mon, 2017-01-30 13:27

Yep we use ours as a livewell, killtank and a bin depending on what we're doing. Pump fresh seawater in, bleed fish for 5mins then into the mad fish bag on ice. Livewell drains overboard. Also fill it full of empty cans on the cruising days 

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rigpig's picture

Posts: 507

Date Joined: 21/11/12

bleeding fish or sorting crays

Wed, 2017-02-01 09:34

 I place crays from my pots straight into the kill tank on my Barcrusher and then measure and tail the keepers which then go straight into the esky. 

First time I launched my brand new Bar Crusher I nearly sunk it at the Point Peron ramp. I got back from putting the car away and the whole deck was awash with water and shit was floating around. The kill tank has 2 bungs in it and I had left the bottom one out. It runs straight into the ballast tank which is open to the ocean and in came the water. Farken swimming around in my boat to put the bung in the kill tank while other boaties were having a chuckle wasn't much fun.. Bit of a design flaw there I think. On the up side, I never did that again..

mrwinta's picture

Posts: 457

Date Joined: 14/01/10

 When I was being taken for a

Tue, 2017-02-07 13:38

 When I was being taken for a sea trial up at hillaries in my 670 the rep had done the same thing but left the bungs back at the shop.. I was trying to stop the water coming in while the tosser was on his phone for 20 mins at the other end of the car park un aware...

I am away for work atm but Todd from Epic Marine is fitting a 60L custom fuel tank in the kill tank today- better use of that space and lots of range now- woohoo...

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 NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING

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 I got an insulated one put

Tue, 2017-02-07 14:25

 I got an insulated one put in mine after the non insulated one was good for nothing. Hold ice and fish for 2 days in summer pulss40 odd cans all I need any loner I'll take the fride

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t bone's picture

Posts: 351

Date Joined: 20/04/14

woudnt get a boat without one.

Tue, 2017-02-07 18:10

The one i have in the crusher is total capacity of 112 ltrs. Its easy enough to get a "bladder" made up for those long trips to utalize the space for fuel. But jsut the day trips i use it (as many others) to bleed the catch for 20 mins or so, then rinse them off and dump the fishin to the big ass mad fish bag that i have stored up in the cabin bewteen the beds.

In the early days i used to try and keep ice in there, but i was fighting a loosing battle.

 

 

Had to have a bit of a chuckle about rigpigs situation with the bung straight into the ballast. Ive lost count how many times i have forgotten that big ass bung. :( come back to the boat and its a mad rush to hit the bilge pump and close the ballst flap to slow teh sinking process.

When ppl start to laugh at ya, just let them know your serious about your safety and insist on testing your equipment before heading out....

 

rigpig's picture

Posts: 507

Date Joined: 21/11/12

How big is that bung!!!

Wed, 2017-02-08 09:54

 it's huge right, and fark, doesn't the water pour in from it. I've been thinking about a float for the bilge pump or something like that.. I leave the kill tank lid sideways over the top of the tank now whenever the bung is out. Other than that little issue I'm still loving the boat T-bone.. see you out there one day..

t bone's picture

Posts: 351

Date Joined: 20/04/14

Ha ha ha

Thu, 2017-03-09 17:56

Its a good size to let the water out nice and quick when you doing 20kn. But as soon as the water comes the other way-- bloody hell.

 I have also been thinking of a float setup, but typical electrician, thats the last thing i want to be doing when home from work.. ha ha

We were out chasing stick faces over the edge last week and reminded myself why i should of gone with the bigger fuel tank. In the process of getting a bladder to go in the kill tank, but other than that mine is going strong also.

 

Getting to the right time of the year for trips to the Abrolhos mate..... Just saying..

rigpig's picture

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Date Joined: 21/11/12

Abrolhos

Sun, 2017-03-12 08:40

Mate I'm hearing ya.. just got to get my shit in one sock and sort some of a schedule out.

t bone's picture

Posts: 351

Date Joined: 20/04/14

28 on/off

Sun, 2017-03-12 11:39

i got 24 days, 20 hrs and 25 mins til homeward bound......

Dale's picture

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Date Joined: 13/09/05

Sun, 2017-03-12 12:36

 Haven't even reached hump day yet.

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"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."

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t bone's picture

Posts: 351

Date Joined: 20/04/14

:(

Sun, 2017-03-12 13:53

And it sucks watching every chopper come and go....lol