After almost losing my YT to a Hammer, while on a fish clip a couple weeks back, I decided to get an insulated fish bag to accommodate my long paddles in hot temps and sharky waters. Found a nice product on Amazon for $120, but procrastinated too long before ordering and wanted to fish last weekend. So, I went to Lowes and bought some reflective insulation material, Silicone caulk, Velcro pads, and foil tape. $35 and an hour later, I had a Redneck fish bag to fit perfectly in the rear and under the bungies of my Stealth-14! I took (2) 7lb bags of ice; which I kept below in a collapsible cooler in the front hatch, until needed. After picking up a small YT and a Bonito, I emptied one bag of ice in the foil bag along with the bled fishes. 2 nice 15-16lb YT tail and a Bonito later, I added the second bag of ice. Caught a 3rd respectable yellowtail on the paddle in, which I slid under the bag, being it was already bulging! I did roll it in the surf, not surprising with my heavily loaded yak plus the added 80lbs of fish in the trunk. BUT, surprising the bag held up nicely, and was floating alongside and easy to retrieve. Had to look around for a minute to find the "loose" YT being tossed in the surf; which a nice gal retrieved for me, during this sharky "closed-beach" day in LaJolla! After a 10 hour day on the water, I still had a 3/4 bag of un-melted ice, and the fish were nice and cool. The only difficulty was cleaning the bag.... which I expected would be a one-time disposable and shreaded from fins anyhow? I simply opened up one long seam to wash thoroughly which I will later need to retape. Caulk did not do much for adding strength, but did keep the blood and fish juices from draining through the scupper! Also on a bad fish day, it could double as a tanning reflector..... or on a real bad day, a good way to signal aircraft or give a shark something to chew on (maybe they love popping bubbles too?)!
P.S. cooler in the pic is Mega-size with a 39" I.D.
08-31-2015, 12:23 PM
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