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Where to put caught fish?


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OK, so here's a dumb question from a newbie kayaker. I have had several good outings in the yak catching cocktail blues, but someday (soon I hope) I will face the question of landing a bigger fish. i think i can grab him successfully from the boat but what then? When I haul him in, where does he go, and how do I prevent being thrashed with the plug as the fish writhes about? Or having him flop back in the water after I unhook him? I've seen lots of pix of yaks with big bass lying across the stern of the boat, dead, but I'm sure they were not in that spot while still alive and kicking. By the way I have a sit-on-top pedal drive, so I can place the fish in between my legs but he will slime me and the boat, get in the way of the pedals, cause general havoc. There's a storage area in back of me but it's not deep enough to hold a writhing fish securely. I can also of course use the hatch and put the fish into the hollow of the boat but the smell in there would be awful after a few days, no?.....

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For handling smaller fish I used a short-butted net. For "most" larger fish, I a use a boga type lipper. I have an original version of the Berkeley lipper and a Rapala lipper/scale. I prefer the cheaper berkely as it gets on the lip quicker, used many seasons now and it still hasn't failed on me. I have the lipper tethered to the yak via a longer strap. Once I lip a bigger fish while still boatside, I can then safely take off any hook. I then just drop fish and lipper together into the water and get organized -secure hooks, stash rod in holder and so on. The weight of the lipper on the fish seems to mellow even large choppers and they don't thrash about, they just sit there under the yak. This is good for getting your camera ready too for released fish, as the fish stays in the water and the lipper does no damage.

 

For keeping fish, I use 2 types of insulated softsided bags. For smaller fish like scup, seabass, fluke and the like, a zippered cooler bag that I keep tethered in the tankwell. For larger fish, I use a triangular shaped long bag with zipper strapped on the bow of the kayak, shimmy up towards the fronts, unzip and stick fish in. There are couple variations out there. I use a creative feathers bag and it can hold large stripers.

 

Hope this helps.wink.gif

Tauras
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I keep blues for people every so often. I catch them, pinch them right behind the gill plate and cut out their gills. Then I just let the blood drip out the scupper hole.

 

The only fish I keep for myself are fluke. I put them on a stringer and tie off to a cleat. When I'm paddling, they sit in the cockpit or the tankwell and when I make a drift, I just toss them in the water.

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Definetly get some sort of lip gripper. I've got a cheap orange one ($12), that does the job, and floats also. It's much easier using the gripper when unhooking a fish. As far as getting slimed it's gonna happen. I clean my Kayak after each use and hand wash my dry pants in a woolite and water mixture. So far no lingering smell.

 

For storing my fish I've always used a stringer, the way patrick does.

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i'f i'm keeping fluke or porgys i put tem in one of those triangular kayak coolers strapped to the back of the yak. bass and blues get bled in the tail and gills, then a rope in the mouth out the gills, looped, and attached to the yak and dragged behind until I get home.

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I put bass and blues in a 40 inch long heavy guage mesh bag that I then drop overboard. I have had bass after 4 hours still flopping around when I pull the bag in at the end of a session. I get them custom made in PA just for that purpose. For fluke in warmer weather I use the big flat zipper coolers sold at Sams and grocery stores for bringing home frozen food. Putting fluke in hem is like putting paper in a file cabinet.

Alot of guys down my way just stringer the bass and they stay alive for hours swimming behind the yak like a dog on a leash. Other bass will come up and keep them company at night.

BARRELL
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Let Them Swim

I catch and release! Nothing else to say.

Paul

 

Not sure how that is relevant what-soever to this conversation? - perhaps you should of just bit your tongue and not say anything. I think you guys that are so adament to point this out every time possible should find another hobby. Take up bowling or something - or better yet stare at your fishtank all day. By the way, I easily release 95% of the fish I catch.

 

Back on point - I use a Sports xtreme bag to hold the fish I keep. This is not really a cooler, but a heavy vinyl water proof bag. When it's hot out, I throw a bag or two of ice in it and I store this in the front hatch of my Hobie Outback. This method has worked pretty well for me.

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I use a lip grip (Berkley). I Grip the fish and unhook outside the yak, don't like having flailing fish with hooks around my legs. If I need a second hand I just drop the lanyard over a cleat.

 

I use a Sit in yak except for the spring season or when the weather starts to get much warmer I consider the interior a slime free zone. After I unhook the fish I pick it up with the lip grip and drop him in a soft plastic bass tourney weight bag available at Dicks. Then the bag is wrapped around the fish and kicked up into the bow of the boat.

 

I don't like to have stringers or bags hanging off the yak for speed and safety purposes. I had a stringer get stuck in some rocks and it about ruined my night.

"Nick did not like to fish with other men on the river. Unless they were of your party, they spoiled it." Ernest Hemmingway, "Big Two Hearted River (1925)
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View PostI catch and release! Nothing else to say.

Paul

 

 

This wasn't a C&R topic. If you don't keep fish then you shouldn't post in this thread.

 

I have a divers bag that holds the size fish that I enjoy. Hang it over the side and you're good to go.

John LIBBA 440 MSA 791
MEMBER: Team Green
Monday to Friday I do nothing. Saturday and Sunday I rest.
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