Bleeding Fish and Hanging Off Kayak

I don’t add any water on purpose, but it winds up with maybe an inch by the time I’m done. When it’s warmer out, I toss a couple of frozen plastic water bottles and that keeps early morning fish cool long enough.

Gotcha.  That is pretty similar to what I do for crab.  I have a bucket that I drilled a small hole in the bottom, and just bungee it down.  A little seaweed to help keep everything moist, toss the crabs right in there.

I've just tossed fish in a burlap bag in my tankwell before, and that works reasonably well on my kayak too.  I never thought about a tub before though. 

Any concerns about it filling with water and making it difficult to re-right in the event of a capsize?  I helped a kayaker a few months ago, he had a "blackpack" type box strapped to the rear deck, and it was nearly impossible to re-right his kayak.  He also had taken on a lot of water in the hull, so other factors at play too...

I used to let my bleeding fish hang on the stringer in the water. Then I got wary of sea lions and sharks so I let them sit for a minute after cutting and then haul them on deck, occasionally dunking to keep them cool. I used to have a burlap bag and that was great for keeping them moist.
This year at HMB I had to drop the stringer back over the side to make room while measuring a cabezon. When I released the cab I think a white shark nabbed it since fins were thrashing on the surface not far away. I pulled up my stringer just in time as it made a pass right under where my stringer had been. It looked like a small one - maybe 9'. It circled us and Mabel was pretty engaged, jumping back and forth on the back of the yak. I slowly pedaled off and it followed for a short while before sinking back to the indigo depths.
I have a kill bag but usually keep it in my car for transporting fish. I keep frozen ice packs in a small cooler and place them in the bag with the fish for the ride home. I don't like paying for frozen water.

I don’t add any water on purpose, but it winds up with maybe an inch by the time I’m done. When it’s warmer out, I toss a couple of frozen plastic water bottles and that keeps early morning fish cool long enough.

Gotcha.  That is pretty similar to what I do for crab.  I have a bucket that I drilled a small hole in the bottom, and just bungee it down.  A little seaweed to help keep everything moist, toss the crabs right in there.

I've just tossed fish in a burlap bag in my tankwell before, and that works reasonably well on my kayak too.  I never thought about a tub before though. 

Any concerns about it filling with water and making it difficult to re-right in the event of a capsize?  I helped a kayaker a few months ago, he had a "blackpack" type box strapped to the rear deck, and it was nearly impossible to re-right his kayak.  He also had taken on a lot of water in the hull, so other factors at play too...

No concerns about it filling up as it’s not attached. The untested rod holder accessory is only for the Sabiki rig rod when not in use.

I don’t add any water on purpose, but it winds up with maybe an inch by the time I’m done. When it’s warmer out, I toss a couple of frozen plastic water bottles and that keeps early morning fish cool long enough.

Gotcha.  That is pretty similar to what I do for crab.  I have a bucket that I drilled a small hole in the bottom, and just bungee it down.  A little seaweed to help keep everything moist, toss the crabs right in there.

I've just tossed fish in a burlap bag in my tankwell before, and that works reasonably well on my kayak too.  I never thought about a tub before though. 

Any concerns about it filling with water and making it difficult to re-right in the event of a capsize?  I helped a kayaker a few months ago, he had a "blackpack" type box strapped to the rear deck, and it was nearly impossible to re-right his kayak.  He also had taken on a lot of water in the hull, so other factors at play too...

No concerns about it filling up as it’s not attached. The untested rod holder accessory is only for the Sabiki rig rod when not in use.

Right on, probably better to not attach it, that way it can float free if you do get in trouble. 

I might steal that idea, if I can find a tub that fits neatly in my rear tank well. 

Thanks all for the great advice!

I bleed my fish and hang it on the side.  I have a Shark Shield turned on too.

I bleed my fish and hang it on the side.  I have a Shark Shield turned on too.

You need a sea lion shield too...

I bleed my fish and hang it on the side.  I have a Shark Shield turned on too.

You need a sea lion shield too...

Exactly what I thought. The fur bags are a concern, predictably.

I bleed my fish and hang it on the side.  I have a Shark Shield turned on too.

You need a sea lion shield too...

Exactly what I thought. The fur bags are a concern, predictably.

This one harassed me for hours. I had another one about the same size (not on video) that tried to jump over the rear aka bar, only made it half way over and its toothy head was flopping around only about 1' away from my head...

Wow. Just wow. That video is amazing on so many different levels.

I bleed, then pull the guts through the gill plate and toss, then dunk a couple times while holding the fish head down letting the blood run out, next I put it on a clip or just lay it below my legs and dunk or toss water on it to keep it cold and not go into rigor mortis.  If I have my fish bag with ice, after hitting and bleeding it goes in my fish bill bag. 

Thanks for the post. Similarly, someone posted this video last year, it's pretty informative watching the white shark follow this kayak around with a halibut on a stringer. I can't believe I've been doing this for years myself- I've always known it wasn't a good idea, but for some reason I just kept on doing it. Won't be doing it anymore.

Oh. My. God. I'll be having nightmares now, for sure.

I intellectually knew that sharks are always out there. But it's very different to actually see them. For some things in life, ignorance is bliss  


I'll try to forget those images quickly (although it was actually heartening to see the sharks being cautious, vs attacking).  But I definitely will NOT be dragging fish next to my boat.

What’s the best way to behave around sharks? This makes me quite nervous 😬

What’s the best way to behave around sharks? This makes me quite nervous 😬

Make peace with the possibility that you'll be eaten.  Also, get the camera out as quickly as you can. 

Seriously though, there's no way to behave.  If you see one you will feel like you can jump straight up off your ass from a seated position and do Kung Fu - that's how I felt anyway.  The camera didn't come to mind until the shark was by someone else - I got lucky and it circled around and went right by me shortly after I started filming.  Made a $thou and got on Shark Week, but should've left out the F-Bombs I guess...