Abstract: An improved bait bucket system for water and bait is provided in which bait can easily be emptied. The bucket includes a drainage door that has an open configuration and a closed configuration. When the drainage door is in its open configuration, water and bait inside the bucket system can be poured out through the drainage door without having to turn the bucket system fully upside down. When the drainage door is in its closed configuration, it preferably is substantially impermeable to passage of bait therethrough. The interior configuration of the bucket system can optionally provide a funneling effect that facilitates pouring bait and water from inside the bucket system out through the drainage door without such bait getting stuck behind any catch surface adjacent to the drainage door.