The Boating Forum - Two Live Wells

I just purchased a used Twin Vee 26. It has 2 live wells,
one behind the leaning post and one by the transom. I
would like to remove the transom live well and install a
large ice chest. Is there an advantage to having more than
1 live well?

well one I can think of, different baits that love to eat the other bait, lol when I used to rent a boat I would just put all the live bait together, I figured if they eat a few so be it. I just over bought.

Advantages - twice as many baitfish, fresh bait if you only use one livewell at a time (morning/afternoon), easier to separate different kinds of bait (grunts and sardines), extra weight if it helps your boat. I'm sure there might be a few more.

Disadvantages - the opportunity cost of the losing the ice chest, or whatever else you'd use it as, extra weigh if it doesn't help your boat, extra draw on the battery banks.

If I had two livewells, I'd probably fill one, and fill the second if I needed it. No reason to haul around the extra weight if it's not doing anything.

My second live well is advertised as a live-release well. Some fishing tournaments may require the fish to be alive when brought in for weighing. You could also keep legal fish but release the smaller ones if larger fish are caught so you do not keep more than the legal limit.

I have two wells in my boat. I have found seperating different baits will promote the health of your bait as stated above. I use my second well at times as an ice chest, garbage can etc. Remember it most likely is insulated and you can usually shut off the water flow...Good Luck