Easy-Stow Tuna Tube Hose

If you’re serious about marlin fishing, you’re going to need a way to keep live baits — and I mean tunas — alive and kicking. A lot of guys turn to portable tuna tubes so they don’t have to make permanent additions to the boat. One of the biggest problems that I’ve found when using these removable on-deck tuna tubes comes when trying to store the 1½- to 2-inch-diameter nylon drain hose. These hoses are a real pain in the neck to store, and they take up a lot of space. I found a great space-saving solution by using a collapsible discharge hose. They’re usually blue, and are sold in most hardware stores. Workers use these hoses on pumps when they want to move a lot of water.

To make this hose work, I attached the 1½-inch hose to a threaded hose barb fitting that screws into the drain manifold on my tubes. Now, when we’re done using the tubes, I simply unscrew the hose and roll it up on itself. You can now store 15 to 20 feet of drain hose inside one of the tubes. It’s a good idea to put a short piece of hard, rigid pipe or another hose barb fitting at the terminal end of the hose to hold it open. This helps eliminate any back pressure in the drain system.

Capt. Randy Baker
Destin, Florida