Keepin 'em fresh

[M-2]

I'm fairly new to spearing, but I'm off to a good start thanks to the help of the snowbunny in Colorado (aka Anderson). I'm going to be doing most of my spearing here from a kayak. Last week I was 2 miles off the beach and didn't have much luck except for one decent snapper that decided to join me for dinner. Anyways, my question is, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping fish fresh for the transport home when I can't carry a cooler with me? My best solution so far has been to cover them with a wet white towel. But that still means that the clock is ticking from the time the first one is landed. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Amphibious]

I'd hit up Fuzz and ask him about "fish bags"

Willer

 

[M-2]

Fuzz, are ya out there? Thanks Willer. I'll hunt him down with a pm if he doesn't stop by here.

-M

 

[GoblinShark]

M-2, I don't know if this will help or not but there are these bags that tournament kingfish anglers use to store their catch on the way to the weigh in scale. The bags are insulated and they have a zipper, all you do is add some ice and toss the fish in the bag. I don't know how well it will work in a kayak where space is limited though. Check out the insulated fish bags here
HTH

Jimmy

 

[frogman]

Fishbags

Fish tend to loose about 5% of their weight in about one hour of being exposed. You can understand how this can have an impact not only to the quality of the fish but also whether you win or loose a multi-thousand dollar SKA tournament (Southern Kingfish Assoc., for the non-locals). Typically, we put the fish immediately in ice after we gut them. An insulated bag or small cooler packed with ice is definetely the best option for you.

Angelos

 

[fuzz]

Like frogman says & many of you already know - it's essential to ice fish immediately if possible, not so much for weight loss, but to preserve your catch. Taking proper care of one's catch is something I wish a lot of spearos would give more consideration to.

http://www.gobananaskayaks.com/

They make a really nice(but expensive) kayak fishbag. You may have to call up or email them to get pics/price quote. Fits very nicely into back hatch of a scupper pro.

Many others I know use cheap soft-coolers(though smaller in size) that they cram into the back hatch. One member from Hawaii - uluapoundr siad he found some soft-coolers on sale for $7 at Costco! Compare that to $100-$150 for a good quality fishbag like the Go Bananas one or Bass Pro one... I prefer the traditional fish bags due to their durability, but if you find a great deal on soft ones, it'd be hard to pass up.

A lot of this is also dependent on what kayak you're using. I'm assuming a scupper pro?

 

[M-2]

Thanks to all of you for your responses! I'll look into the fish bags. Probably the ones Jimmy suggested since I would save some dough on shipping. Don't see how anyone could cram a cooler into a kayak hatch that would be big enough to keep 'the big one' in. I like to approach my hunting with optimism ! They look pricey, but I'm sure they're worth it, especially if it means you can keep on hunting and not worry about your catch.

Fuzz, glad you stopped by on this one. I'm actually using a Scrabler XT. It packs up okay and gets the job done, but probably not ideal.

Thanks again!

-M

 

[aquadog]

try ebay for a fishbag,but research the retail price price of the the bags befor you bid.
aquadog