Bait bucket

[vaughan]

If I paint my fraibil bail bucket black will Thai keep it from freezing up on me on the ice?  Thought I would just spray it.

[FishGut]

Nope.

[hardwater diehard]

I store my bait in a insulated Plano bait bucket and then that goes a black 5 gallon bucket ..helps some but mostly it is for ease of transporting bait without the mess of splash and spillage.

[esox_xtm]

It will make a difference but I'm not sure how large. I cut hole covers from old truck inner tube. If it is sunny the small pool of water on top will not freeze down to almost 10 degrees. When I musky fish in October/November I wear the old Ice Armor "casual gloves". They grip well when wet, stay fairly warm but when I turn into the sun I can immediately feel the temp difference in my hands.

This is an interesting wrinkle I've not though of. Right now I'm thinking of a sleeve cut from a large inner tube for a bucket or even rectangular bait box. A flat black will gather more heat than a glossy finish as well. Keeping the container off the ice and an insulated lid also help. I've got a large Engel box for extended trips or large parties and had trouble with the lid freezing shut. A thin, as in so thin it's really just a light smear, of that dielectric silicone grease has addressed that. Reapplication is necessary every few trips but it's surprising how long it lasts.

[vaughan]

Funny you should mention the truck tires for the hole covers.  I tried two local truck tire places last fall and they said they didn't have any because the truckers were all going tubeless??  I made mine from 3/8' quilted insulation and they do help a lot.  They are very light so easy to throw in a bucket BUT they go with the wind very easily.  Still looking for something thick enough to cover holes nicely, in black, and light enough to carry.

[ActiveTrapChecker]

I went with foam floor mats. Was able to get 4 covers per square. My 8” hole covers for nicely in a 5 gallon bucket

[esox_xtm]

@vaughn - Yep, decent tubes are in short supply these days. Used to be able to pick 'em up off the road all over the place. I've still got one or two around. Rubber roofing is similar but really not thick enough unless they're making thicker than .060 somewhere. Two to three times that thickness is just right. Light and flexible enough to fit anywhere and still thin enough to transmit a bit of solar energy to the air space below. I've also been thinking cheapie rubber floor mats but they can be very stiff. Some are extremely stiff.

As far as "insulating" your hole air space: I'm in the other camp whereby the use of an uninsulated thinner material can actually accumulate solar energy and heat the airspace between the cover and the water. Yep, more sunlight is better and less, well, not so much.

I cut 14" squares; sometimes I'm in 10" holes. They flop in the bottom of the sled or slip into the bucket on the side, conforming to the bucket shape occupying basically zero space.