Fair warning — this post is a long one. But if you like fishing, DIY projects, and sometimes feel like AI can be a bit of an overbearing hall monitor, you’ll probably enjoy this.

The Original Plan

Since I regularly guide ice fishing trips, I wanted a way to store bait in my garage. This way, I could cut back on waste and save a lot of time and mileage. My garage isn’t heated, so I needed something insulated — something that wouldn’t freeze the bait solid but would keep it cold enough to prevent shock when I set them in the lake.

I’d heard chest freezers make good bait tanks. You can usually find them cheap — sometimes even free — on Facebook Marketplace. And since it didn’t need to actually freeze anything, it didn’t even have to work.

Running It By AI

So I asked ChatGPT what the best way was to set up a chest freezer for storing shiners.

The answer?

“Don’t.”

It proceeded to give me every reason under the sun why it was a bad idea. The seams aren’t watertight. There’s no proper drain. The insulation could rot. Chemicals in the liner. Electrical penetrations. Leak risks. Structural issues. On and on.

All I could think was:

Challenge accepted.

Problem Solving Mode

So, I went out and bought a used chest freezer from a local private seller- 15cu foot.

To be fair, I didn’t completely ignore AI. I just didn’t accept the “don’t do it” answer.

I asked better questions.

What kind of silicone is safe for bait? Aquarium-safe silicone. No mildew additives. Nothing that could leach chemicals into the water.

The seams, potential leaks, even the drain — those were all fixable problems. So I sealed every seam I could find. Corners. Edges. Any factory joint. I even sealed the plastic drain cover shut using aquarium silicone.

It definitely wasn’t subtle. The garage smelled like silicone for a couple days. So I let it sit and air out completely before I ever filled it with water.

The Setup

Once the silicone cured and the smell cleared out, it was time to fill it.

The freezer held right around 112 gallons of water. This sounds like a lot until you start carrying it in 5-gallon buckets..

For filtration, I kept it simple. I installed a submersible pond filter with an integrated pump. I also added a small air pump with an air stone for extra oxygen. Additionally, I mixed in enough aquarium salt to reduce stress on the shiners and help with slime coat protection.

Nothing fancy. Just practical.

Happy Bait

Now came the real test — adding bait.

I went down to see my friend Matt at Brown’s Bait in Hermon. I picked up a few dozen medium shiners. No sense testing a system without quality bait to start with.

Back home, I eased them in slowly, watching for signs of stress. Gills flaring. Rolling. Nose-up behavior. Anything that said, “You should’ve listened to the robot.”

Instead? They settled right in.

The water stayed cold but didn’t freeze. The aeration kept oxygen levels up. The salt helped with stress and slime coat protection. They swam strong, held upright, and looked every bit as lively as bait straight from the shop tank.

No die-offs. No cloudy water. No floaters.

Just healthy, lively shiners sitting in my garage, ready for the next trip.

In The End,

the robot warned me. I built it anyway. The bait’s still alive.