The Fish Cooler – An Often Overlooked But Important Accessory

Fresh Fish

If you are a fish eater, you ultimately want your fish to be fresh. Or at least, I hope you would. An important aspect, and often overlooked accessory when out fishing, is your fish storage bag. Now this will be most important to those that head out on a personal boat, or perhaps even a kayak. If you plan to harvest fish, you want to keep them as fresh as possible and a good fish storage cooler, or kill bag, is very important to do just that.

Fish Cooler – The Kill Bag

Kill bags come in all shapes and sizes. From smaller, over the shoulder style bags, to long and deep bags that take two people to carry. And hopefully if it is really full, maybe a third person. Well, here’s to hoping at least.

The smaller bags out there can be doubled as a lunch bag if need be, There are even some shaped bags that fit directly in or on the bow of a kayak. Hobie Kayaks makes a great bag specifically for kayaks and kayak fishing. As a kayak fisherman, these are pretty cool.

Fish coolers come in many price ranges as well. From somewhere in the $20 range to well upwards of over $500. Big range for sure. In fish storage, you get what you pay for, and you really don’t want to skimp. In the next section, I will discuss a couple bags by the company Calcutta that are made really well, and are very reasonably priced. If you aren’t a charter captain out on the water everyday, these might be just right for you.

Calcutta Fish Coolers

There are primarily two levels of cooler that Calcutta puts out. The Pack Fish Cooler and the Renegade Fish Cooler.

The Pack Fish Cooler is the basic fish cooler that is reasonably prices, while the Renegade Fish Cooler is the higher end cooler with some nice benefits and components. I’ll walk you through each below.

Calcutta Pack Fish Cooler

The Pack Fish Cooler is the entry level cooler in the Calcutta lineup, and start at a very reasonable $44.99. They come in two sizes, a 40″ x 16″ version, which features a handy printed ruler on the side, and the larger 68″ x 24″ which features ample storage area.

According to the Calcutta website, the Pack series fish coolers are designed to keep your catch cool and fresh. Bags are easy to carry and transport, and provide impressive performance. External built-in ruler makes measuring your catch easy. Convenient fold-up design for compact transport and storage. The Pack fish cooler kill bags are built to be tough and hardworking with seriously thick insulation. Dimensions 40″ x 16″ as well as 68″ x 24″

FEATURES
– Easy pull taped sealed zippers and secure clips keeps everything compact and in-place.
– Welded waterproof inner liner keeps ice and water all on the inside.
– Thick insulated no sweat design keeps fish fresh.
– Strong woven nylon shoulder strap and carrying handles for convenient transport.

Calcutta Renegade Fish Cooler

The Renegade Fish Cooler is the Premium cooler in the Calcutta lineup. this is a well built cooler, with some higher end components than the standard Pack Cooler. Starting at $89.99, these bags are a bit more expensive, but the features do speak to themselves.

According to the Calcutta website, the Renegade fish cooler kill bags feature a high quality waterproof zipper and a wide opening for easy access when loading or unloading ice and fish. They’re also loaded with open cell foam insulation for superior insulating properties to keep your catch cool and fresh. Material skin is durable, tough and light weight. Strong carry handles and a padded shoulder strap for easy transport. Folds down for easy storage. Dimensions 40″ x 15″ as well as the ample 68″ x 24″ for big fish!

FEATURES 
– Waterproof zippers
– Keeps ice cold for more than 24 Hours
– Premium open cell foam insulation to keep ice longer
– Durable rubberized tear resistant inner and outer skin
– Reinforced welded and stitched seams
– Sweat-proof design

Conclusion

The key to getting home with fresh fish really is your fish storage right after the catch. Whether you bleed your fish, or toss them in whole, keeping your fish cold and on ice is very important to a good quality catch.

Whether you are looking for a bag for your occasional weekend outings, or if you are a little more serious, be sure to check out the Calcutta full lineup of bags HERE. They have some awesome stuff, and quite a bit more than I listed above.

I really do appreciate you stopping by Davey’s Word. Fore more product recommendations, tips, techniques and fishing trips, please be sure to subscribe to DaveysWorld.com.

See you one the water!
Davey