Fish storage on kayak

Hey fellow yakkers, how do some of you store your catches?

I have an inflatable that doesn't have hull storage or a hatch so my options are limited. Do you guys use a cooler, bag, or just dangle a stringer off the side for furbags to sniff out? 

Hang the stringer off the side for optimal bleed-out. An insulated bag to keep them out of the sun/seagulls when paddling is on my list though.

A lot of folks put the fish into burlap bags and just keep dipping the bag to keep things cool and wet as needed. 

Hanging fish off the side (uncovered) may be too tempting for a sealion to ignore, although some folks will let a bag dangle in the water.  I don't do that because I don't want furbags to learn associate dangled items with food. 

I also bleed my fish before putting them into the bag, and I'd rather not have a chum bag floating around while I fish (even though that's mainly psychological on my part... since blood is already in the water).

I have a 5 gal bucket with a styrofoam liner. Before going out, I freeze a small bottle with water and salt (makes it colder), then put it in the bucket with some water once i start catching stuff. I don't like to kayak back to the landing dangling fish; i've found that it's like a water parachute that slows you down (esp with larger fish).

A lot of folks put the fish into burlap bags and just keep dipping the bag to keep things cool and wet as needed. 

Hanging fish off the side (uncovered) may be too tempting for a sealion to ignore, although some folks will let a bag dangle in the water.  I don't do that because I don't want furbags to learn associate dangled items with food. 

I also bleed my fish before putting them into the bag, and I'd rather not have a chum bag floating around while I fish (even though that's mainly psychological on my part... since blood is already in the water).

This is what I do.  Once I bleed the fish, I try my best to go as far away as fast as I can from that bleeding area (really for that peace of mind, though that probably doesn't matter much).


For you, I would get a cooler bag.  I think on your case, the concern is to make sure that your inflatable doesn't get pierced by fish.  So on your case, I would put the fish in burlap bag then cooler bag.  A bucket may not be a bad idea either (not to mention cheaper).

Thanks for the tips guys! Love the burlap bag in the cooler idea. That way, the entire bag can be taken out to dip in water, but kept away from other hungry animals. I might go with a hard-sided cooler so I can mount rod holders and what not.

Yup, that's the thing about inflatables...gotta be careful with fish spines and other pointy objects. I do have some custom cut abrasion mats that are velcro-ed onto the area where fish are likely to be landed.

Not sure if of any help down there (TLW says I’m no help anywhere) since we don’t get as hot up here,but. I use a big game clip on a line carabinered to the deck bungee, closed end of the burlap sack on the big game clip. Fish goes from the water on fish grips, then one the big game clip, then remove the grips and hook (keeps the flopper from getting an early pardon), cut the gills with forceps/scissor combo, dip bag and all in water to bleed out and place on the back deck with burlap draped over fish. If I’m crabbing I pull the pots on the way in and crabs go in the burlap that then gets stitched shut with the big game clip. If no crabs I turn the sack inside out over the fish and tie the line to keep them from banging around on the spin cycle.

To keep your fish in good condition, put them on ice as soon as you catch them.  If you can bleed them without attracting sharks or sea lions, clip their gills and/or gut them, and hang them in the water on a strainer for ten minutes before you put them on ice.

On my Revolution, I strap either a hard-sided cooler or a flexible catch cooler in the rear cargo area of the kayak.  Which I use depends on what I'm fishing for.  I put a heavy garbage bag of ice in the cooler, and dump the fish in the bag, which minimizes the work of cleaning up the cooler after a trip. On hot days, I put an Arctic Ice freezer bottle under the bag of ice to keep the ice frozen.

I don't know what will fit best in your inflatable.  But get those fish on ice as soon as you catch them!

I've been using a Trader Joes cooler bag in the front hatch of my PA14.  I throw in a few frozen cooler packs or frozen lingcod/rockfish heads bait my crab traps as a cooling source. 

This allows me to drop in fish as well as crabs.  Regarding bleeding, I made the mistake of dragging around 4 live rockfish and a Cabezon on a divers stringer next to my boat.  It was like a water sail; did nothing but slow me down.  And raise my stress level around all the seals. 

But, hesitant to start spilling blood in my kayak since I suspect sharks have a better smell in the water than I want to know.