Fish storage

[Jigsup]

With warm weather approaching I’m thinking about how to organize my kayak. Mainly while fishing. I have a pretty good set up on my ascend 12t. I raised the seat up off the kayak which made it much more comfortable and easier to paddle. That also gave me room to store Plano boxes underneath. I installed a custom tackle container made out of an old milk crate to house miscellaneous items such as lunch, water, anchor, rods, etc.

I would like to know how others store their catch? Right now I just use a 5 gallon bucket placed in front of the kayak. Perch go right in the bucket. Catfish gets a bruised head before going in the bucket. I find that I’m limited on how many catfish I can put in the bucket. I’ve use a stringer for perch and that worked pretty good if the stringer is tied off well. Has anyone tried the clip style stringer? How do you guys store your catch?

[ronaultmtd]

I lost a 19 Inch redfish to the clip style stringer last fall...what really bummed me out was the fish was wasted as the clip stayed with the fish...other than the loss of blacked redfish at the dinner table was the thought of the fish being unable to rid itself of the stainless steel clip through its lips. You know that I will never use that stringer again. The collapsable soft sided cooler is what I plan for 2021 to keep my catch when I plan to fish for the table...95% of the time I do not take any fish- all C&R...

[rugbyfish]

Most of my fishing is catch and release as well, but any fish I do keep go into a small cooler that fits into my rear tank well. I don’t like using the stringer, and like Ron I lost one off the stringer last year.

[Redfish12]

I’ve been using the same clip stringer Joe (ComeOnFish) gave me years ago. He took the clips off a donor stringer, added swivels and the threaded them on to some weed whacker line with a stainless steel clip. It’s served me well and can hold two perch to each clip. I tried one of those dive stringers before that and I held up a nice 30”+ striper to show someone and the fish pulled / straightened the wire and I lost the fish. Not cool.

Most of the time the stinger is temporary and I either use a soft cooler with a trash bag (I always kill and bleed the fish first if I’m putting on ice) or I put in a 25qt cheap igloo that fits in my tankwell. I put rod holders on the cooler and it works pretty well for meat trips. The soft cooler also fits in the tankwell with my normal crate but I like the hard cooler more bc it doesn’t leak. Instead of using ice I also try to just use frozen plastic bottles.

[LivinTheDream]

I use a very thick, large tournament catch bag as a liner inside a cheap Sam's Club cooler bag. The catch bag stands up to the quills of fish fins and is easily washed when turned inside out. My technique is to immediately cut the gills on a fish I want to keep using Outdoor Edge Game Shears, then put the bleeding fish on a Rapala Metal Stringer just over the side of the boat for 15 minutes or so to bleed out. Once bled, I toss the fish into the catch bag which will contain a bag of ice. I keep the bag in the well behind the seat. I like getting the catch out of the water and into the bag rather than dragging the fish around the whole time. Sometimes I use a hard cooler that fits well in the back of the kayak too.

[boque]

I usually only keep snakehead and blue catfish. I keep them on a stainless steel diver-style loop stringer.

https://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Choice-.../dp/B00LN35404

[moc]

When keeping fish, I also use the stainless steel diver-style loop stringer. I tether it to the side of my kayak, so the fish stay alive. However, when the diver or any stringer is in the water, it will create drag on your kayak. At times when I am keeping small fish, I would have a cooler bag from walmart ($5) to store the fish. I would use water bottles or those inexpensive small plastic cooler bricks to keep the fish cool. The cooler bag will fit behind my seat. To help with the drag situation when using the diver stringer, I would lift it up out of the water and hang it over my rod holder which would keep the fish out of the water for a short while as I travel from one spot to another when I need to pick up the pace.

[nhunter344]

I used to use one of these. They are cheap enough to replace every year so longevity isnt an issue. Two or three years ago I won one of these at a CBKA raffle and have used it since.

Both stringers are about as simple as you can get. With the latter, there a no clips, swivels, or cheap metal to worry about. The braided nylon version can get hung up on toothy species, but the only thing I fish for that I wouldnt use it for is bluefish.

[Jigsup]

Thanks all for the response. The very first time I saw one of those stainless steel loop stringers in use was on one of moc’s fishing videos. Had me interested then, but had questions about how hard it would be lifting it out of the water to add fish to it once there are a few on it already. Or how much drag it would make heading back to the vehicle. The thought of loosing my catch would be heart breaking specially along with the clip like ronaultmtd mentioned. Sounds like a small cooler is the way to go for perch.

[kidrockfish]

I've never had an issue using an old cable clip from Home Depot for rock. I do use the metal stringer for the specs. IMG_20201109_085820764.jpg

[dsaavedra]

I don't like to bring a heavy bulky cooler with ice in the kayak if I can get away with it, so I'll usually keep fish alive on a stringer while fishing and then put them in a cooler on ice when back at my truck. The exception to this is when I keep snakeheads as they must be killed immediately. In that case I'll bring a cooler with ice on the kayak so I can bleed the fish and ice them right away. I suppose if it's really hot outside and I were plan to stay out longer than I'd expect a fish to stay alive on a stringer I would bring the cooler on the kayak too.

The stringer I use depends on the fish I'm keeping. Perch and crappie will go on a metal clip style stringer - just the $2 job from Walmart. It's starting to get rusty so I might upgrade to a nicer stainless one this season. However, I've had this stringer fail (clips pop open) on heavier fish so I don't trust it for anything bigger than panfish. For larger fish I use a nylon rope stringer, the kind with a spike at one end and a loop on the other end. Spike goes through the gill opening, out the mouth, and through the hoop to lock on the first fish. Subsequent fish are then threaded on through the gills and out the mouth. They don't survive as long when on a stringer this way, but it's the most secure way I've found.

[thedutchtouch]

I've been switching up as well, I started with the rope stringer, but have had a few times where it gets caught up in perch gill plates etc when taking them off- too much hassle, particularly when you've made the boneheaded decision to tie it off to the kayak-had to remove all the fish in the "surf" at jonas green once because I'd done this and it/I was a splashy sandy mess. I've also been using one of the metal clip stringers but found it also to be annoying to deal with so bought a cheap dive stringer like martin suggested and will be giving that a go early this season. I don't think any one solution is the best, we shall see. I also have an insulated fish bag that I've honestly never used, never really seemed to be the right choice. Perhaps if I catch some monster snakehead or something, but haven't had much success with them yet.

[moc]

I've been switching up as well, I started with the rope stringer, but have had a few times where it gets caught up in perch gill plates etc when taking them off- too much hassle, particularly when you've made the boneheaded decision to tie it off to the kayak-had to remove all the fish in the "surf" at jonas green once because I'd done this and it/I was a splashy sandy mess. I've also been using one of the metal clip stringers but found it also to be annoying to deal with so bought a cheap dive stringer like martin suggested and will be giving that a go early this season. I don't think any one solution is the best, we shall see. I also have an insulated fish bag that I've honestly never used, never really seemed to be the right choice. Perhaps if I catch some monster snakehead or something, but haven't had much success with them yet.

I also have both types of stringers. Naturally like anything it depends on your preference and species of fish. On the kayak, I find that I use the diver stringer exclusively, and I use the smaller multi-clip kind when I shore fish for pan style fish or fish less than 12 inches. I would stake the line on shore in the ground or tied to something and leave the fish in the water on the clips. But for me where the diver stringer shines is when I get back to shore and empty my fish in the cooler. I just open one clip and all of the fish just slide into the cooler, like they were on a train track. Really fast.

[thedutchtouch]

I also have both types of stringers. Naturally like anything it depends on your preference and species of fish. On the kayak, I find that I use the diver stringer exclusively, and I use the smaller multi-clip kind when I shore fish for pan style fish or fish less than 12 inches. I would stake the line on shore in the ground or tied to something and leave the fish in the water on the clips. But for me where the diver stringer shines is when I get back to shore and empty my fish in the cooler. I just open one clip and all of the fish just slide into the cooler, like they were on a train track. Really fast.

One of my harebraned ideas is figuring out some way to combine the two, a rope based stringer for ease of adding fish, that attaches by a screw on connection to the tip of the dive stringer. That way you can add a fish without having to haul up the whole stringer, once it's secured, pop open the dive stringer and slide it past the clip. Then when back at the cooler you can screw the line off to have that easy transfer off. Perhaps I'm overthinking it, I like to do do that, particularly in the off-season lol.

[YakMonkey]

One of my harebraned ideas is figuring out some way to combine the two, a rope based stringer for ease of adding fish, that attaches by a screw on connection to the tip of the dive stringer. That way you can add a fish without having to haul up the whole stringer, once it's secured, pop open the dive stringer and slide it past the clip. Then when back at the cooler you can screw the line off to have that easy transfer off. Perhaps I'm overthinking it, I like to do do that, particularly in the off-season lol.

Grind TT fish stringer has a quick release version of fish stringer. they offer a clip as well.


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