Offshore Fishing

[lpwoodle]

This summer I will be taking the 2310 offshore out of NC. My biggest concern right now is icing down my fish all day. I was wondering what yall do for the long fish(like wahoo). I have a fish bag but I dont know how that is going to work for the fish all day long. If I buy a big cooler that just means I am going to have a lot of weight on the boat. Any suggestions??? Thanks in advance.

 

[Billy V]

I use a 20" x 60" flat bottom kill bag with a salt water brine/ice mixture.
-(2) 10 lb. block ice and a mixture of cube ice will keep your catch very cold overnight - no problem. The salt water mix lowers the temp lower than the ice itself.

I use Channel Lock cutters to clip the gill rakers and Bleed the fish as soon as it comes over the rail. Let it bleed out on the deck for awhile - rinse - and slip it into the brine.

-BTW- I tie my kill bag up front to the tower rails, so its out of the way.
That size bag will hold
2) 45 lb white sea bass
1) 27 lb. yellowtail
and a 37 lb halibut - before its maxed out.
-The morning after, throughly chilled, ready to cut.

 

[lpwoodle]

I put this thread in the wrong section. Sorry guys do you mind moving this thread to the fishing section.

 

[mrGeeze]

I mostly fish offshore NC from Hatteras or Oregon Inlet.
Over the last 6 years I've destroyed 1 fish bag and 1 or 2 150 quart coolers.

I think the most practical solution for a boat your size is a cheap 150 quart cooler.

I doubt I would ever buy another fish bag. Between hooks and teeth (kings & wahoo) they will get holes in them.
Once they get holes in them they never dry out. The insulation then decays. Plus the zippers corrode.
On a hot day they really don't knock the heat out of fish unless you have lots & lots of ice.

The 150 quart cooler is probably best bang for the buck. It normally holds a days catch with ice.
They can be had for less than $100 at wal-mart or amazon. don't buy anything fancy.
I fill it with a barrel of ice in the morning & swap ice around with 5gallon buckets as needed throughout the day.

The problem with this sized cooler is long wahoo- say anything over about 30lbs.
You can bend a few 20pounders but a 40lb fish simply won't fit.
You can cut off their head but admittedly this does impact the quality of your photos at the end of the day.
Remember, its not every trip you will catch numerous citation sized wahoo or too many fish to fit in the box

This past year saw the total destruction of my canyon bag. So I broke down & purchased a Moeller 270 quart cooler.
It was $400 (about the cost of a bag and a cheap cooler) which is a lot less than some of the big names (yeti/icytek)
It will easily hold a 100pound wahoo should I ever be lucky enough to catch one.
This cooler does look big in my 25' Sou'Wester. I think it would be too large in your 23'

A 150 quart cooler will work fine in a 23 & not cost you much more than $100. Try to find one without a high top to it.
]The lower the height the more comfortable you will feel sitting on it in the pitching ocean.
If you catch a lot of citation sized fish, I'm sure you'll be willing to upgrade.

Anyway, that's been my experience with coolers on small boats offshore.

 

[lpwoodle]

Thanks guys!!

 

[Chief C]

Paul, I fish out of OI and Hatt often and my experience has been the same as Mr. Geeze (good info). Ditch the bags, overpriced and wont last long. I did want to add a little more advice though. Before I purchased my 2320 with the long stern cooler/fishbox (main reason I upgraded from older parker I alwasy carried an additional room/truck cooler with clean ice. When we fish the weekend Ill launch and recover from Pirates Cove Marina. Good deep ramp and marked route to sea. If possible make it a point to purchase things like ice and bait locally, with the foul weather its nice to help the local commerce. They also have a cleaning table where I clean 1st days catch and ziplock meat. Now,,, comes in the room/truck cooler. Do not take out the 1st days catch back out on second day it will count against your quota and the warden will lecture you about having mutilated fish onboard.

Lastly, I was there three weeks ago and Mr. Geeze is absolutely correct,,, If you are not farmiliar with the inlet get there early enough to follow someone out. There were times when we marked some VERY skinny water and regretably saw some strandings.

Good luck, we leave tomorrow.

 

[mrGeeze]

Chief C offers good advice on getting today's catch off the boat, cleaned & packed on plenty of ice at your hotel, truck, house etc. My rule of thumb is 50% fish 50% ice by weight in the cooler.
Make sure no water is in the fish bags.

Check out my post "Hatteras 6/1/2013" for an action photo of my new cooler. Its pretty big (even in a 25) but it is totally cool. I just love to hear those gaffers beating their brains out in that big white coffin of death.

 

[Chief C]

Mr Geeze, good to see you at Teaches Lair this weekend, good day of fishing sat and we decided to go out sun. Got the snot beat out of us, you made the right call if you didnt go out.

LPWoodle, sorry, dunno why I said pirates cove I got it mixed up with teaches lair. It is a long ride from Pirates Cove to the inlet. Good luck when you make out.