Disclosed herein is a live bait well for a fishing vessel which occupies normally unusable space on the stern by being conveniently located beneath the main fisherman's chair. The bait well is comprised of a circular tub body with a segmented closable see-through top and having a concentric sleeve passing through the tub body to define an annular water compartment so that the entire assembly can be set in place to encircle the upright fisherman's chair support pedestal which is secured to the deck. Sea water is fed into the bottom of the tub body from remotely located pumps located in the machinery space below the main deck. The sea water is fed into the tub body in such a fashion that a unidirectional current is established in a circular pattern between the sleeve and the outer tub body wall. Overflow is drained off by means of a semi-cylindrical housing attached to the outer wall of the tub body and includes therein an overflow pipe of predetermined height which is adapted to feed excess water, above a level determined by the height of the overflow pipe, to a discharge line.
