NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing => Product Discussions => Topic started by: JasonM on September 13, 2017, 10:27:10 AM
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As most of you know, I have just gotten started kayak fishing this year. I bought a less expensive kayak to get started and see if I liked the sport. I liked it so much that I have now bought another kayak and am trying to improve each aspect of my kayak fishing experience. One of those improvements that I'm trying to make is no longer dangling a stringer over the side of the kayak with one or more salmon hanging off of it. I lost a salmon that was first on my stringer last weekend. I caught a much larger salmon after that one and the larger one pulled hard enough to break through the smaller one's jaw, resulting in the smaller one coming off the stringer. I got lucky and happened to glance down and notice that I only had one fish on the stringer just in time to grab the bigger one before it also swam away due to there now only being a knot at the end of the stringer instead of another salmon.
I'm not a fan of metal stringers banging against the side of any boat, so that left me with finding a cooler or catch bag. The space that I have picked out in my kayak (Pescador Pilot) would work best with a soft cooler or bag to let me put larger fish in it while still fitting into the space. I've seen some nice, but very expensive, catch bags that would obviously be better than some random soft-sided cooler. I thought I was going to have to choose between the two when I saw a link to this Columbia catch bag on the Kayak Fishing group on Facebook. Has anyone tried this catch bag out? If so, how did you like it for the $70 price?
Columbia PFG Perfect Cast 45L Thermal Tote (http://www.columbia.com/pfg-perfect-cast-ultimate-thermal-tote-CAL820.html)
(http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/ColumbiaSportswear2/CAL820_464_f?$COL_grid$)
Since Amazon prime shipping is quick and returns are easy, I went ahead and ordered a blue one (matches the kayak) from Amazon. I did notice that it also comes in white, which might be even better at keeping the contents cool on sunny days. How much of a difference do you think color will make?
Columbia PFG Perfect Cast Thermal Tote on Amazon (http://amzn.to/2fj8dh6)
Thanks for any experience with this catch bag or any other that you might be able to share! :thumbsup:
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I've been using one for three years and love it. The dual bags to separate catch and food/drinks works great. Plus they pop out making it easy to carry just your catch to the fillet table. The zipper failed pretty promptly on mine but that is mostly because I overstuffed it with 5 Coho and 1 King. However, the velcro works to hold the bag closed anyways. With 4 or 5 frozen water bottles my catch stays cool all day. It easily handles all but the largest King Salmon.
I generally leave mine open and store behind the seat. Its very easy to pop a salmon in there. See 1:33 in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVFxBON0kGQ
Its a good investment. You won't regret it.
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I've been using one for three years and love it. The dual bags to separate catch and food/drinks works great. Plus they pop out making it easy to carry just your catch to the fillet table. The zipper failed pretty promptly on mine but that is mostly because I overstuffed it with 5 Coho and 1 King. However, the velcro works to hold the bag closed anyways. With 4 or 5 frozen water bottles my catch stays cool all day. It easily handles all but the largest King Salmon.
I generally leave mine open and store behind the seat. Its very easy to pop a salmon in there. See 1:33 in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVFxBON0kGQ
Its a good investment. You won't regret it.
That catch bag must be way bigger than it looks in the pictures! I've looked at that bag for bottom fish, but didn't think it would hold a limit of rockfish, let alone a couple of salmon. I have a XL IceMule Catch bag for Salmon that I love, and I've gotten 4 chinook in there, but it's overkill and not ideal for bottom fish. I may have to get one of these too.
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I've been using one for three years and love it. The dual bags to separate catch and food/drinks works great. Plus they pop out making it easy to carry just your catch to the fillet table. The zipper failed pretty promptly on mine but that is mostly because I overstuffed it with 5 Coho and 1 King. However, the velcro works to hold the bag closed anyways. With 4 or 5 frozen water bottles my catch stays cool all day. It easily handles all but the largest King Salmon.
I generally leave mine open and store behind the seat. Its very easy to pop a salmon in there. See 1:33 in the video below.
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Its a good investment. You won't regret it.
Oh, it's that's one! I saw that in your video before and noticed that a king salmon fit in it easily, and that it was also a lot better and easier to use than a stringer over the side or a hard-sided cooler. One of the reasons that I am looking at that bag is the dimensions. The website quotes the dimensions as 25.5" x 18" x 10" and that should easily fit as much as my meager fishing skills can catch in freshwater or saltwater. Thanks!
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I've been using one for three years and love it. The dual bags to separate catch and food/drinks works great. Plus they pop out making it easy to carry just your catch to the fillet table. The zipper failed pretty promptly on mine but that is mostly because I overstuffed it with 5 Coho and 1 King. However, the velcro works to hold the bag closed anyways. With 4 or 5 frozen water bottles my catch stays cool all day. It easily handles all but the largest King Salmon.
I generally leave mine open and store behind the seat. Its very easy to pop a salmon in there. See 1:33 in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVFxBON0kGQ
Its a good investment. You won't regret it.
Not to derail the thread, but I just noticed in the video... Are you using a Trevala for salmon?
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Not to derail the thread, but I just noticed in the video... Are you using a Trevala for salmon?
Yes 7' light Trevala. Love it!
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Not to derail the thread, but I just noticed in the video... Are you using a Trevala for salmon?
Yes 7' light Trevala. Love it!
Nice!! Was thinking about trying it with mine, it's a medium, but would probably do just fine.
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How are you attaching it to the boat? Do you notice any difficulties with righting the boat once it is flipped with the box and bag in the back like that?
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Interesting. I've had this bag for about a year and it just seemed awkward to carry on my Outback, though I've never tried lashing it to the stern. That may be the answer.
It does work quite nicely as a large soft side cooler.
For fishing where I don't want the fish hanging off the side of the boat, my current solution is an IceMule lashed to the bow.
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How are you attaching it to the boat? Do you notice any difficulties with righting the boat once it is flipped with the box and bag in the back like that?
I don't attach it when in freshwater. In salt I bungee each end to the rear of the boat.
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for those in the PDX area, they currently have these bags (in white) at the employee store and are $52 I believe.
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I was thinking about getting on of these. FWIW there seems to be a slightly smaller version on Amazon, although I can't find any reference to it on Columbia's web site.
Does anyone have any experience with this smaller one?
Columbia PFG Perfect Cast Thermal Tote - Blue
by Columbia
Link: http://a.co/chUKX4Q
Thanks,
Aaron
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I have a costco cold bag $6.99 each. It seems to work good so far for my son as I use the stringer and big game clip but might start toting it for salmon trolling with a 1/2 gallon block of ice. I have the older one in white and blue, the new ones are black ?!?!? For cold storage what were they thinking?
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for those in the PDX area, they currently have these bags (in white) at the employee store and are $52 I believe.
Good to know, thanks!
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I have a costco cold bag $6.99 each. It seems to work good so far for my son as I use the stringer and big game clip but might start toting it for salmon trolling with a 1/2 gallon block of ice. I have the older one in white and blue, the new ones are black ?!?!? For cold storage what were they thinking?
How you doing? I've been using big mylar ziploc style bags inside of that silver horde catch bag. For salmon, they work great. Lings and cabbies fins have spines that pop right through them, but salmon, no problem.
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I bought one. This is what it looks like with coho blood on it:
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This is what it looks like with 2 solid keeper lings and 3 BIG BRF in it:
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Nice fish. Evidently mine came with a curse. I haven't caught a salmon since I got it. I did fine before that and not a single salmon since.
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SWEAR TO GOD SAME.
Well, sorta.
I've caught fish since owning it, but if i take my old costco bag out on the kayak = fish! If i take my new-to-me PFG bag out on the yak = no fish day.
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I got the skunk on my first couple of trips with the new bag, but Hobuck made sure that sh*t didn't continue.
I suggest an emergency trip to Makah Bay to get the skunk off.
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Best way to keep any fish after killing it is laying it flat, not bent. Laying the fish straight after it dies reduces the amount of separation in the flesh that results from rigormortis. I realize you've already purchased the Columbia bag, but this Silver Horde one is great: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Horde-Katchkooler-II-Bag/dp/B00C500BLQ
It's cheap, can be found for $25 or less on sales, like on black Friday, and does exactly what it needs to do. I really wouldn't recommend a "catch cooler" for holding salmon that is only 28" long.