Frabill Buckets & Accessories

Everything is well thought out and designed. All the bad reviews I read were clearly people that missed the intended functions of subtle but critical features. Battery latch is super tight, an obvious necessity for keeping water out. The hose and stone are stored safely in the battery compartment, indicated by a label. One screw attaches the pump unit to the lid, that needs to be removed to properly install the hose. Threading the hose through a small port before connecting it to the pump ensures a solid connection. Lastly, there is a groove in the insulation where the hose will be routed to the bottom and held out of the way when retrieving bait from the bucket. I’m impressed by the bucket, and disappointed in the people who complain about it.

Good light weight bait bucket with the perfect size. The plus is the use of triple a batteries.

Perfect size and reliable. Worked fine all day.

I just got done using this for 3 days ice fishing in Northern Michigan. It worked pretty well and my buddies thought it was pretty decent for the price. I was using 4 rechargeable NiMH AA batteries and was getting 24-36 hours per set. That's with the bucket being in sub-freezing weather most of the time. For a small minnow bucket it did well keeping the minnows alive. Often, the bucket was in 5-10 degrees F and the aerator kept working well. I never had ice in the water. There is a small slot in the side of the yellow lid that's perfect for storing a small minnow net in. The things I'd like to see changed are: - the design of the lid latch. Clearly, whoever designed this has never been ice fishing. The latch is so hard to get open with gloves on or with cold fingers. The latch needs a larger piece to grab onto. I may drill a hole in mine and attach a string. - the lid has a small lip around it. when water gets in this lip it freezes the lid shut making it even harder to get the lid open. I'll probably drill a few small drain holes. - the design of the battery compartment. The latch on this is also very hard to get open. Not as big of a problem as the main lid latch because batteries only need to be accessed about once per day. But I needed a pocket knife to pry the battery lid open. - access to batteries. I nearly needed needle nose pliers to get the batteries out. The opening to the battery compartment needs to be larger so one can fit fingers in to get the batteries out.. Putting batteries in isn't too bad since they drop in place and need just a light push down.

Outstanding as advertised

I use it for ice fishing. It is a good size and insulated. Built in bubbler. Only have two complaints so far. One with the bubbler and one with the lid design. The bubbler needs a longer and or barbed male fitting. The tubbing will fall off every now and then. The top has holes around the edges and doesn't have a seal so water will splash out. I drop it into a 5 gallon bucket because of this. The handle is too tall to place the lid on the 5 gallon bucket, but the bucket catches any water that splashes out keeping my sled dry. I'm willing to accept these shortcommigs because a bubbler itself costs almost what I paid for this insulated bucket with bubbler.

Minnow bucket arrived on time. Below are my thoughts. Some reviews mention using two AA batteries with limited run time. The unit has 2 battery slots, but you're supposed to stack batteries 3 & 4 on top of the first two batteries. The positive (+) battery post faces towards you when you have the battery compartment open. Some reviewers complain about the air tube being coiled, preventing the air stone from sitting on the bottom of the bucket. For those with this problem, please note that the Styrofoam liner inside the bucket has a molded vertical groove from top to bottom. Place the clear rubber air tube in this groove with your thumb. This will keep the tube straight & and the air stone at the bottom of the bucket. It also keeps the tube out of the way when removing live bait from the bucket. Upon arrival, I inserted 4 AA Costco/Kirkland batteries in the battery compartment & filled the bucket with water. The batteries ran for 37 consecutive hours before dying. The unit does not come with instructions for battery placement or tube connection / setup. My only dislike, as others have mentioned, is opening the battery compartment. The way the plastic is molded, there is not enough room to conveniently open it with your finger tip. It requires a small tool (screwdriver, credit card edge, plier tip, etc.) to wedge the battery lid upwards for easy opening. Most fishermen carry something in their bag/boat that will accommodate this if you need to replace batteries on the water. Maybe over time, the battery compartment will be more user friendly as the plastic rear hinge & front tab are flexed/used over & over. Only time will tell. Overall the bucket is a value purchase that should provide years of service. I'll update this review if I encounter any problems in the future with form or function.

This is my first one, first one of this kind wasn't sure what to expect. Never used a live bait bucket/box before. On this fishing trip we were using it for shrimp. Pros: OK for the price. Setup was easy, took few mins to get it going. A pint fit pretty ok. Although the shrimp got crowded a little bit. About 80% of the shrimp survived as we fished whole morning 8AM to 1PM. Insulation is solid. Bucket it light weight making it easy to move around. Cons: The hose connecting to the outlet keeps falling off. The battery and the motor compartment doesn't stay in place, it moves quite a bit, causing the hoe to fall off easily. The bucket should be absolutely stationary, else the hose kept falling off, so I couldn't attach it during my car ride from bait shop to the fishing spot. 20% of the shrimp did not survive, may be that half-hour drive without the aerator was the reason.

Good product minnows alive longer

Muy buena calidad, útil y excelente precio.

Great bucket has exactly what a angler needs

Funcionó con pilas AA recargables (1.2 V) llegó inmediatamente— trae un recubrimiento de unicel o nieve seca al interior — eso mantiene la temp del agua, sin ser afectada por el sol que calienta el plástico de la cubeta …En otros comentarios dicen que es un problema insertar las baterías, yo creo q no lo es — y q el espacio reducido se puede manipular sin problema — el equipo optimisa espacio para tener mayor cantidad de agua y de carnada viva —- ojo: los polos positivos de las baterías van en la misma dirección — viendo al frente —-La manguera viene dentro del compartimiento de baterías y se instala en la parte trasera del espacio del motor; también se debe ajustar a presión la manguera en una pared interna de la nieve seca o unicel — trae un canal para ese fin — se requiere un desamparador de estrella normal para quitar un tornillo y sacar el compartimiento del motor — lleve siempre un desarmador en su caja de pesca — yo lo volví a instalar pero no lo apreté al 100 — lo dejé en un 50 % — saludos

Excelente producto muy buena calidad trabaja de maravilla