Any recommendations on a decent cooler.

Aces said:
Nanaimo too
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On Clark in Vancouver too. Seems expensive but man does it hold things for those extra couple days. We would buy the slabs and then stick them on top of a cooler full of ice with towels on top. We'd be pulling out fresh, fully frozen bags of ice three days later. Or for saving space and keeping the groceries cold without all the water mess they're also great. You just have to make sure you put the slabs below that stuff or it burns everything. Kind of neat how they work that way with the super cold air going down but not up.
 
Can you guys report back on the igloo marine price at Costco? I don’t see them listed and Walmart has them for $250.
 
These cooler’s work good and cheaper than Yeti
 

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jackfish said:
Thoughts on 12V coolers?
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I've investigated them a bit, and am tempted, but have a couple of concerns:
1. Weight -- 60--70 lbs before they are loaded
2. Power draw -- I'm usually out for a week or 10 days without plugging into shore power, so I'd be concerned unless I added more battery capacity
3. Expense - around $1K vs. my 20 year old 120 qt Coleman
 
I’ve got a 110lt dual zone domestic and to be honest, it’s not much use in fishing trips. Too small and doesn’t have enough power to chill down a big load of fish. Better off w ice and a biig cooler
 
We have two Yeti 65's I got them at different times when they were on sale on sale from Atmosphere for 25% off.

We were out for 11 days last month and before we left we pre-loaded the coolers with blocks of Ice for two days.

We had to add new block ice twice. Having two 65 this and using one as a freezer and one as a fridge works best for us. I would buy white or light coloured ones instead of dark coloured ones next time,

They are simply stupid heavy when they are full of ice. They stay on the boat securely locked in place.
 
I use a 128 Q Cordova cooler for the back of the truck on long overnight trips and an Opah soft cooler for the boat. Both fit the largest Springs.
 
I realize this is a "small" variation for the topic at hand but it seems relevant for folks who are looking for an extra little brother or sister for their big cooler


Consumer Reports on Small Coolers

tinyurl.com

Best Small Coolers - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports tested six popular small coolers by Carhartt, Coleman, Igloo, RTIC, Titan, and Yeti.
tinyurl.com tinyurl.com


This gentleman owns 60 large coolers and has his own ranking


I am looking forward to his wife's follow up video. "How my Divorce Attorney arranged for our common property division to award over 60 of my husband's Cooler Lids to my CATS."
 
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Well, I’m not quite as bad as that dude, but I do have a minor cooler addiction myself. My cooler stable includes (ignoring smaller coolers):

45 Yeti
65 Lifetimer
105 Yeti
150 Coleman
250 Yeti
48” Reliable kill bag
60” Reliable kill bag
110 Dometic 12v/120v

For me, the 105l and smaller are camping coolers, and the 150 and 250 are the core coolers used for fishing trips.

I just find if you have the deck space, a single large cooler against the transom means less faffing around and keeps ice better. No decent sized cooler can be lifted off the boat when full anyway, and they all can be shifted around on the deck, even the 250. So I don’t see a transportability advantage of going smaller. For the largest coolers, you need to make sure you have enough (3) buckets on board to scoop out and hold the ice to allow you to bury your catch at the bottom of the cooler at the end of each day. When I get home I dig out the fish from the boat cooler and transfer them to an empty cooler for processing. I like the 250 for trips where I don’t have access to the truck. When I can access the truck, I keep the big cooler there and bring the 150 on the boat with just a bit of ice that gets replenished mid trip.

I am sure I over think the cooler and ice thing, just bc I enjoy that part of catch care.
 
I'm over hard coolers for fish. The bags are more convenient in every way. I'll even fill a hard cooler with salt ice and then use a big flour scoop to cover the bled fish in the bag. These Reliable bags are way better than the Calcutta ones.
reliablefishing.com

Fish Bags

The drain plug at the bottom corner allows you to clean, rinse, and drain your mackerel after use. Buy UV and mildew resistant insulated fish bags in USA
reliablefishing.com reliablefishing.com
The 18x36 is good enough for 8 fish (obviously nothing huge) and then I have the 28x48 for longer trips. That one easily holds 20 fish and lots of ice.
 
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jcon12 said:
@Rain City where do you keep the bag? Can it sit out in the open and hold ice or does it need to be in a fish box or something insulated?
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I keep it on deck while I'm fishing. They can be jammed beside a rail and tied off which is nice. The smaller footprint makes a huge difference on the deck. These ones are really well insulated with heavy duty zippers.
 
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