Wait for Bait ?? NEVER

   I guess one of the challenges for us snowbirds (aka Damned Yankees) is to learn all about the fishing tricks here in the South.
These fish are smart ! They got teeth too. I can't tell ya how much bait and how many times I've lost not only bait and lures but sometimes my whole setup. Soooo, I decided to put yankee ingenuity to work. ( it won us the war) .
   I consulted all the bait shops and jibber jabbed with all the fishermen about how to keep my bait alive and lively for more than 2 days. Of course they suggested using an aireator.DUH !! Been there, done that. So we decided to try a live bait box like the trawlers use.
   I sometimes get in the mood to fish late at night, no bait shops open at that hour. I was buying bait and floating the bait bucket but the sun and top water temperature wasn't keeping the shrimp bait alive more than 2 days. Gotta do something different.
   I wasn't the only one that wanted lively bait late at night so I consulted some other yankees. We decided to network our ideas.
1 of the crew had a large cooler. Went to the marine supply store and bought an aireator live well pump. Found out it didn't have enough "lift" to overcome the 6' drop into the canal. So we tried a Sump pump in the water that had a 28' lift rating. Made a T tap connection to feed the box with a throttle valve to maintain the water level. Proper filtering and some adjustment later we thought we had it !! Went and bought some 1/2 dead shrimp and crabs and loaded the box up.
  Checked our stash this morning and WOW, that bait had come back to life ! I lifted the lid to check and 'DAMN". one of those shrimp jumped out and slapped me plumb in the face !! Amazing how lively bait can be with proper conditions!
  I'm gonna train these shrimp! Gotta get 'em to gaf the fish, probably gonna take a few days but I thing my "yankee ingenuity" will overcome this task too. 
   I'll be reporting on the progress of this endevour.
   REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather