Fish kill bags

I use this bag:

https://www.amazon.com/Elkton-Outdoors-Insulated-Handles-Leakproof/dp/B07DWHZ666/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=canyon+fish+bag&qid=1627313425&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRlFGUTNOODE0MDJUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTY2MjA0MzdSOEVRNFpVM0FGOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDExNTEwMjdHRlRINUo0NjRTVCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=


It folds up tri-fold style and even folded up, allows for up to 6 frozen water bottles inside.  Just sits in the back not really taking up that much space.  Once opened up, you have 40 inches in length to fit that hog inside.  I have held three >30" halibuts inside and there was plenty of room.  Durability is fantastic and the price is right.  Cant speak highly enough of this bag.  Ive had mine the past 2 seasons. 

 

Looks nice!  Does it leak?  That's one thing I really liked about the Reliable product (had one in my fishing boat) they don't leak at all. 

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Never had a problem with puncture or leaks.  It's air tight too so once the zipper seals up, no air is escaping or entering. 

I have tried various softsided kayak catch coolers, including the Reliable cooler, but prefer to strap a hardsided cooler in the rear cargo area of my Revolution, because a hardsided cooler holds more fish and ice than a kayak catch cooler, a hardsided cooler is easier to load fish into than a kayak catch cooler, and a hardsided cooler is easier to clean out after a trip than a kayak catch cooler.  I have various sizes of hardsided cooler which I use, depending on the size and number of the fish I hope or expect to catch.

Some of those fish don't look like they fit in those coolers!  Nice problem to have!!  You find that to be a problem?

The cooler in the first two pictures in Post #3 above is 27.5" long (outside dimension).  It handles fish in the 30"-36" range very nicely, and I can cram bigger fish into it.  The coolers below are about 23" long, and it's a challenge to stuff 30"-36" fish in them.  I bought the bigger cooler because I got tired of making speed runs back to my launch site dragging big fish on a stringer so I could put them on ice in a 34" cooler in my vehicle.

However, I did find these in Oahu and thought they might work well, especially the triangular one.
https://pop-hawaii.com/wp/opi-fish-bags/

Unfortunately, the OPI triangular catch cooler bags are 26" wide, which is way too wide for most kayaks.  It would be nice if OPI came out with a triangular catch cooler bag which is about 18" wide, which would fit in the rear cargo area of most sit-on-top kayaks.  It would also be nice if OPI added a pair of handles to the center of its triangular bags, so a single person could carry them.  It looks like two people are required to carry the bags using the handles on the ends of the bags.

I remembered a couple of more reasons why I prefer hard sided coolers to soft sided catch coolers: Hard sided coolers have thicker insulation and will keep ice and fish cold for a longer tine, and hard sided coolers don't leak.  Many soft sided catch coolers leak, which means you need to put them in a watertight container when you carry them in a vehicle, or they'll leak water and fish slime all over the vehicle.

My cooler is only 23" long, as that's the longest that will fit in the rear of my AI (the rear crossbar takes up some space behind the seat).

I was able to get the lid closed (just barely) with the 2 salmon in the picture (the bigger one is over 36"). The 30" halibut in the other picture fit too (it's on top of the 10 frozen water bottles that I carry, just for the picture, so it actually fit easily). A really big halibut (over 40") might be impossible to cram into the cooler, but just about anything else I'll ever catch (and keep) will fit.

My cooler is only 23" long, as that's the longest that will fit in the rear of my AI (the rear crossbar takes up some space behind the seat).

I was able to get the lid closed (just barely) with the 2 salmon in the picture (the bigger one is over 36"). The 30" halibut in the other picture fit too (it's on top of the 10 frozen water bottles that I carry, just for the picture, so it actually fit easily). A really big halibut (over 40") might be impossible to cram into the cooler, but just about anything else I'll ever catch (and keep) will fit.

Thanks Mark!   I've got probably 6 hard coolers in various sizes from decades of boat fishing so I'll play with some of those. 

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A couple of suggestions about mounting a hard-sided cooler in the rear cargo area of a sit-on-top kayak: I strap my coolers down with four nylon straps running from the cooler's handles  through four mini-carabiners, which I clip into padeyes around the rear cargo area of my Revolution.  This holds the cooler rigidly in the rear cargo area.  Don't use bungie cords to strap down a cooler, because if your kayak gets rolled over in surf, the cooler could twist in the rear cargo area and/or pop out from under the bungie cords.  I run a bungie cord over the top of the lid of the cooler, so if I get rolled over, the lid won't pop open and dump out my fish and ice.  The lid on my big cooler sticks down pretty tightly, so to help me open it when I turn sideways in my seat, I attached a loop of webbing to the closest corner of the lid.

I removed the wheels from two of my coolers, but I left them on my big cooler, and now wish I had left them on the other coolers as well.  The wheels make it a lot easier to move around a cooler when it's full of ice and fish.

If you are having trouble cramming a big fish into your cooler, you can cut off its tail, as long as there aren't any length restrictions which require you to keep the fish intact.

A couple of suggestions about mounting a hard-sided cooler in the rear cargo area of a sit-on-top kayak: I strap my coolers down with four nylon straps running from the cooler's handles  through four mini-carabiners, which I clip into padeyes around the rear cargo area of my Revolution.  This holds the cooler rigidly in the rear cargo area.  Don't use bungie cords to strap down a cooler, because if your kayak gets rolled over in surf, the cooler could twist in the rear cargo area and/or pop out from under the bungie cords.  I run a bungie cord over the top of the lid of the cooler, so if I get rolled over, the lid won't pop open and dump out my fish and ice.  The lid on my big cooler sticks down pretty tightly, so to help me open it when I turn sideways in my seat, I attached a loop of webbing to the closest corner of the lid.

I removed the wheels from two of my coolers, but I left them on my big cooler, and now wish I had left them on the other coolers as well.  The wheels make it a lot easier to move around a cooler when it's full of ice and fish.

If you are having trouble cramming a big fish into your cooler, you can cut off its tail, as long as there aren't any length restrictions which require you to keep the fish intact.

Thanks Pete. I got a brand new, used 24" long marine cooler for $20 and I'll follow your method of lashing and post back some photos when I'm done. Fits perfectly in the back on my Revo13.

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Belated update.  After fiddle farting around with multiple methods of securement, I found simplest was best and used a couple cam straps I had laying around to secure down my $20 (but new) marine cooler (after moving some ill positioned Hobie cleats around). At 24" in length, it will hold most of what I'm going to bag and won't be wiggling a millimeter if I roll (again).  I had the bungies over the top already in place to secure other gear, so no extras there. Also serves to secure my beach wheels!



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I recently started using this on the back of my 2019 Hobie Outback.

https://engelcoolers.com/products/30qt-drybox-cooler-with-rod-holders. So far so good. Cleans up easy.

Belated update.  After fiddle farting around with multiple methods of securement, I found simplest was best and used a couple cam straps I had laying around to secure down my $20 (but new) marine cooler (after moving some ill positioned Hobie cleats around).

My Revolution came with some black cleats installed around the sides of its rear cargo area.  Hobie sells padeyes (loop attachments) which screw into the same threaded holes in the hulls of its kayaks, so to provide a more secure attachment point for my cooler and anything else I want to strap into my rear cargo area, I replaced the cleats with padeyes.

Hobie sells padeyes (loop attachments) which screw into the same threaded holes in the hulls of its kayaks...

Being Hobie, those padeyes are ridiculously expensive and, not to mention, out of stock:

https://www.austinkayak.com/Hobie-Mirage-Screw-In-Pad-Eye-2021/ACK872P.html

They are really nice, of course, but if you are on a budget, it's easy to drill a few holes, and attach $0.50 nylon padeyes. With stainless fender washer (or 1/4" starboard plastic) backing and a dab of goop, they'll be indestructible and waterproof. They'll also be positioned exactly where you want them.

Hobie sells padeyes (loop attachments) which screw into the same threaded holes in the hulls of its kayaks...

Being Hobie, those padeyes are ridiculously expensive and, not to mention, out of stock:

https://www.austinkayak.com/Hobie-Mirage-Screw-In-Pad-Eye-2021/ACK872P.html

They are really nice, of course, but if you are on a budget, it's easy to drill a few holes, and attach $0.50 nylon padeyes. With stainless fender washer (or 1/4" starboard plastic) backing and a dab of goop, they'll be indestructible and waterproof. They'll also be positioned exactly where you want them.

$9.99 per padeye!?!?!  Holy crap.  They didn't cost anything like that back when I installed four of them. If you want padeyes, you should definitely follow NowhereMan's advice. Even if you decide to upgrade from plastic to stainless steel padeyes, they would still be much less expensive than Hobie's padeyes.

Hobie sells padeyes (loop attachments) which screw into the same threaded holes in the hulls of its kayaks...

Being Hobie, those padeyes are ridiculously expensive and, not to mention, out of stock:

https://www.austinkayak.com/Hobie-Mirage-Screw-In-Pad-Eye-2021/ACK872P.html

They are really nice, of course, but if you are on a budget, it's easy to drill a few holes, and attach $0.50 nylon padeyes. With stainless fender washer (or 1/4" starboard plastic) backing and a dab of goop, they'll be indestructible and waterproof. They'll also be positioned exactly where you want them.

$9.99 per padeye!?!?!  Holy crap.  They didn't cost anything like that back when I installed four of them. If you want padeyes, you should definitely follow NowhereMan's advice. Even if you decide to upgrade from plastic to stainless steel padeyes, they would still be much less expensive than Hobie's padeyes.

Not to mention everything for Hobie requires shipping charges.

My commercial buddy sent me this option...50$

And where does one find these bags?  That's always helpful...

When I'm salmon fishing I take my Reliable fish kill bag.  It fits great on the front of my Hobie Outback with 20lb bag of ice.  What's the point of bringing an ice chest if you don't have ice in it?  Also shoving or bending a nice big salmon is not good for the meat.  I see so many pics of people holding their catch, especially salmon, ling cod and calibuts that have bungee line marks and bend marks in them.  It easy to tell who knows how to keep their catch stored well.  I bleed and gut almost all of my fish right away.  Salmon always are kept cold otherwise the meat is mushy.  I also see so many pics with fish that are dry which is another no no for me.  Why catch and kill these fish if your not going to take care of your catch so you have quality meat. Rarely do my fish get the stiff rigamortis look unless they are starting to freeze on ice.  I often add rock salt to my ice when I get to shore to coll the fish down more.
The Reliable bag is 36" long and can easily get a 40" salmon inside without bending the fish like a 🍌.