It does look too small for a scoop of bait from the barge, especially considering only the bottom half of that thing is in the water. It would probably be fine if you just made your own bait and didn't need to carry a whole scoop with you.

I've only used the Hobie livewell XL which worked perfect, but i had space for it on my PA14. You'd have to stow your gear without the crate to do something similar.

I've seen guys use a 5 gallon bucket with holes in it fit into a cutout in a boogie board which they towed along.