What would you do? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

GregAndrew · 07-25-2016, 07:12 PM

I took a large drybag rolled up and six or 8 frozen water bottles in a small soft sided cooler last year. Bled the fish, stuffed it into the dry bag and positioned the water bottles all around it. The bottles still had about 20% ice in them when I got back to the beach (10+ hours later) and the fish stayed cool. Of course I had a paddle yak with a big hatch that I was able to keep the fish inside and out of the sun. The drybag I took would probably have maxed out at under 40#s, luckily my fish was only 33. Seems to me, that unless you have some kind of insulation around the fish, that you are better off keeping the outside cool. It is more susceptible to heat gain than the inside. I have to agree with the other guys though, if I were not prepared to keep the fish fresh, I would have to release it. Wasting a fish for bragging rights is poor sportsmanship at best.

07-25-2016, 07:12 PM	#1
GregAndrew Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2,384	I took a large drybag rolled up and six or 8 frozen water bottles in a small soft sided cooler last year. Bled the fish, stuffed it into the dry bag and positioned the water bottles all around it. The bottles still had about 20% ice in them when I got back to the beach (10+ hours later) and the fish stayed cool. Of course I had a paddle yak with a big hatch that I was able to keep the fish inside and out of the sun. The drybag I took would probably have maxed out at under 40#s, luckily my fish was only 33. Seems to me, that unless you have some kind of insulation around the fish, that you are better off keeping the outside cool. It is more susceptible to heat gain than the inside. I have to agree with the other guys though, if I were not prepared to keep the fish fresh, I would have to release it. Wasting a fish for bragging rights is poor sportsmanship at best.