Many new vessels have insulated fish lockers that hold ice and chill large fish nicely, but some older boat models lack insulated lockers. This is where kill bags come in handy. Some boating anglers fill the kill bag with ice and stow it on deck, but I’ve found the practice creates an obstruction, a tripping hazard that gets in the way. I take a different approach: I stow ice in a cooler that’s out of the way. I keep my reliable 30-by-60-inch kill bag rolled up and stowed in a locker until after we’ve caught, bled, gilled and gutted our fish. Then we unroll the bag and ice down the catch. By that time, I’m happy for the obstruction — a sign of success.
