Fish Cooler Bag Review

I did a few upgrades on the boat recently and one of the best was the Reliable brand fish kill bag 30×60. This bag is 30 inches high x 60 inches in wide and the bottom is 12 inches deep. This fish kill bag can hold a TON of fish, easily 300 or 400lbs. With 4 guys on the boat the bag has the capacity to hold full limits of salmon, halibut, and lingcod with room to spare.

My Striper has the Volvo inboard with the engine hatch sloping back toward the waterline. I installed the fish kill bag so it rests on top of the engine compartment, at a slant. The back of the bag hangs barely off the back and is not supported by anything. I installed 2 SS cleats inside the boat, above the battery hatches, and use nylon rope loops to quickly secure the fish kill bag. The fish kill bag could easily be installed on other boat transom designs, to rest on the swim platform, or, in the outboard engine transom well.

We put 2 or 3 5gal pails of sea ice into the fish kill bag from the cannery at the start of the day, and then add some sea water. By design the fish kill bag bulges out at the base and there is a drain so it is excellent for this application. The ice lasts all day without problem and there is lots of room to add fish and work the ice around the catch.

When I was looking to purchase a fish kill bag I had a lot of questions, which is why I post this review – Will it be the right size, what will happen if it hangs off the back unsupported, will it be easy to clean, will it get damaged by spiny fish like ling and rockfish, and will the heat of the engine cook the fish inside.

After using the fish kill bag for two years now and putting thousands of pounds of fish into it, I am 110% satisfied. The 30×60 is the perfect size for draping across the back of a Striper. When installed it is not in the way of the kicker motor, swim ladder, or the stern rod holders. It will hold tons of fish and keeps them cool all day. It is easy to get the fish into the fish kill bag. Having the bag potentially hanging over the stern does not seem to be a problem. If the bag is getting full then having it on the engine compartment is not the best, fish will start falling out when you open it to put another one in, so at that time I pull it into the boat and put it on the deck in between the seats. On the deck it will stand up on its own and does not need to be tied up. It will hold 2x more fish than the Costco XL Igloo Cooler I used to use. Cleaning the inside is easy, hoses right out clean even halibut slime, and the material is strong and durable.

The fish kill bag does have a drawbacks for some people which is worth mentioning. The Reliable brand that I bought is sewn and that gives good strength and durability, but also means that there are needle holes through the material at the seams, this can allow some water to seep through the bag. In my application it is not a problem because the bag hangs overboard over the stern, or, is placed on the self bailing deck. Others who would put the bag into a boat that did not have a self-bailing floor might prefer a more water-tight model. I chose the reliable bag because of its triangular floor design which holds a lot more fish than comparable other fish bags, and I can handle the seepage, which, does not seem to be a whole lot anyways.

Overall highly recommended for everyone, an excellent product. Eliminating the hard-wall cooler is a great space savings and mitigation for 3-foot-itis, since it allowed me to get rid of that big bulky cooler and free up all that space.