Northwest Fishing Reports

Should I buy a Custom Kill bag from Wilderness Pack Specialties (200$ + shipping) it will be built to fit in my existing transom fish box and has a plug to drain water.

Or

Add insulation foam to the out side, lid and the inside bottom section of my transom fish box and buy a Silver Horde Katchcooler. (much cheaper)

My boat is a 20-foot Boulton Sea Skiff with a non insulated fish box on the transom. I do not fish for tuna.

I would say try the pink insulation from lowes around your current box. If you don't like what it does no harm and not much cost just time. That will give you some improvement over now, and then if its not to your liking you can buy the expensive bag. I don't have a fish box but wish I did on my boat. I have read where others used the pink stuff from lowes and were extremely happy with the results.

Insulate the box and buy some ice.

The KatchKooler type of bag is a waste of money. The true R value of those things isnt much better than a plastic garbage bag lined with aluminum foil

Line the inside of the fish box with blue or pink foam board. I have been using the same foam board for over 5 years and it is still holding up great. You don't have to glue it in, just cut it so that the pieces fit in snugly and they will stay in place. This way you can also remove them to clean out the box or the peices of foam.

http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/ ... 25&t=13499
http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/ ... am#p191337

The key to keeping your catch cold and keeping the ice from melting too fast is preventing contact with the aluminum, as it is a fantastic thermal conductor. Add to that, while fishing, your boat is sitting on a vast amount of water, which acts as a giant heatsink.

Im going to have to try that vacuum bag ice trick in the second thread. Sounds like a good idea!

Katchcoolers work great. I've been using one for sometime. If I plan on catching a bunch of fish, I use a big cooler as fish boxes on boats are about usless and normally in a bad place. I guess boat mfg's don't fish..... anyways, a couple ice packs and you're good for the day.

http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/ ... =9&t=23221

Just rebar that you can buy a dedicated large ice maker for the price of that cool catch. I bought one and it makes a Ron of ice and I can keep restocking it as needed.

Eric the boat guy wrote:Just rebar that you can buy a dedicated large ice maker for the price of that cool catch. I bought one and it makes a Ron of ice and I can keep restocking it as needed.

Why would you buy an ice maker instead of a Kachcooler/ catch cooler... Two totally different things meant for different purposes. If I bought an ice maker, not really sure I'd want to put fish in it...... I'm guessing a Ron of ice might be a ton? A ton of ice is an awful lot of ice. The commercial longliners put a few tons of ice in their holds when they go out. Recreational fishermen, I'm willing to bet under 50# of ice.

Not to mention a katchcooler at full MSRP $59.99 is still a lot less than a small or portable icemaker at well over $100 and they can only hold a couple pounds product at any given time. Still not sure why you would want to store fish in one......

G-Man wrote:Line the inside of the fish box with blue or pink foam board. I have been using the same foam board for over 5 years and it is still holding up great. You don't have to glue it in, just cut it so that the pieces fit in snugly and they will stay in place. This way you can also remove them to clean out the box or the peices of foam.

http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/ ... 25&t=13499
http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/ ... am#p191337

The key to keeping your catch cold and keeping the ice from melting too fast is preventing contact with the aluminum, as it is a fantastic thermal conductor. Add to that, while fishing, your boat is sitting on a vast amount of water, which acts as a giant heatsink.

3+ years later and I am still using the same insulation I installed in my fish box as I described in the 2nd link G-Man provided. The only modification I have made is to add 2 "blankets" made out of that foiled bubblewrap insulation. I put one on the bottom (on top of the pink stuff) and then lay one over the top of whatever is in there (ice & fish).

I have also not paid a penny for ice in that same 3 years. I have two forms of reusable ice. The 1st is the home made ice bags (see how to make them here: https://youtu.be/oYr9bLje_Jo). I made 4 of them that fit snugly in the bottom of the fish box. I use this for everything except for spiny rays and crab as they will puncture the bags. For those I collected enough empty water bottles (the 6" tall by 2" diameter variety) to line the bottom of my fish box, filled them nearly full of water, froze, then capped them. Like I said, I've been using the same bottles & bags now for 3 years and they are going strong.

With this setup I have tossed the ice in the fish box, gone over to Potholes, fished for 3 days in 70+ degree weather, come home and still had ice in the box.

For cleanup I just pull the ice, hose it down, dry it off (or they freeze together) and stack em in the garage freezer. then pull the bubblefoil blankets and the bottom pink board (I leave the side ones in) hose out the box, the pink board & blankets & let dry. 5-10 minutes and I an done.

I am going to try the icebag system for sure! Thanks for the tips!