Anyone heave experience with articreel

[Pauly]

Looking for a way to keep things fresh. Im not a real fan of stringers.
Arcticreel

 

[SBecker]

75$ for a bag to keep dead fish in? Lmao. Just buy a cheap mesh laundry bag, so the fish stay alive longer.

 

[Fishidiot]

I use a similar creel (although much less expensive). Line the inside with a grocery bag before you go fishing and when you head out, add to the creel one of those blue, plastic frozen ice things for coolers. You can keep trout fresh in the creel for hours with an ice pack. At the end of the day, throw away the plastic bag and you'll have less mess in the creel.

 

[Pauly]

SBecker wrote:
75$ for a bag to keep dead fish in? Lmao. Just buy a cheap mesh laundry bag, so the fish stay alive longer.

Besides the fact that I make really good money and like spending it. You know since I earned it and my Apple stock dividend checks roll in every quarter, I liked the idea of this.

I was kind of hoping that this conversation would progress and someone would explain or describe the bag so I could replicate it with cheaper materials.

 

[Pauly]

Fishidiot wrote:
I use a similar creel (although much less expensive). Line the inside with a grocery bag before you go fishing and when you head out, add to the creel one of those blue, plastic frozen ice things for coolers. You can keep trout fresh in the creel for hours with an ice pack. At the end of the day, throw away the plastic bag and you'll have less mess in the creel.

Yeah I found them for less on other sites. I just posted this one because it was the first one I found. If your just putting the fish in a bag in this bag then what makes this bag so special is my question.

The description indicates cool fish via evaporation. I was just curious about the build.

 

[SBecker]

Pauly wrote:

SBecker wrote:
75$ for a bag to keep dead fish in? Lmao. Just buy a cheap mesh laundry bag, so the fish stay alive longer.

Besides the fact that I make really good money and like spending it. You know since I earned it and my Apple stock dividend checks roll in every quarter, I liked the idea of this.

I was kind of hoping that this conversation would progress and someone would explain or describe the bag so I could replicate it with cheaper materials.

Well if you make so much money you should just put a chest freezer in your Hummer.

 

[Fishidiot]

Pauly wrote:
If your just putting the fish in a bag in this bag then what makes this bag so special is my question.

The description indicates cool fish via evaporation. I was just curious about the build.

I don't know if I'd characterize it as all that special - it's just a creel: something to carry trout in rather than a stringer. I have no idea why it's so much more expensive than other similar versions.
I like this general type of creel in that it has a shoulder strap and is flat, thus laying close to my fishing vest and not snagging on vegetation etc. The plastic grocery bag, for me, is just a way to minimize mess and reduce the amount of blood/fish slime to rinse out of the creel. With respect to evaporation, theoretically, the way this is supposed to work is, once you've got some fish in it, you're supposed to dunk the creel in water so as to soak the outer, burlap layer (or some other material that will soak water). As the water evaporates, this keeps the interior cool. You just have to keep the outer part of the creel wet. I never thought this worked well and much prefer the ice pack.

 

[pcray1231]

Well, if you want the scientific explanation, evaporation is endothermic. It cools things down. That's how sweat works to cool your body. And that's also why wind feels cool, moving air evaporates more sweat off the body. And it's why garments that allow air movement, like cotton, feel so much cooler in the summer than those that don't, like wool.

so like the old timy wicker type creel thingies, they allowed air passage through it, which allowed evaporation, which cooled the fish and kept it fresher. This looks like the intent is the same.

If you put it in a plastic bag, that would stop evaporation and warm the fish, making it spoil. Of course, if you put ice on it, I'm sure that more than counteracts this effect, if you wanna carry the ice pack.

 

[Pauly]

The problem with the chest freezer on my hummer is that other fishers get pissed when I come driving up the stream just to keep my cooler close by.

I m savy to the process of evaporation and the whole phase change of water from liquid to gas phase. I didn't realize this was old school and used on desert water bags. With those, the water inside provides a constant supply of water for evaporation. Based on what I just read. Now with the creel the bag fabric itself is wetted and the evaporation of this keeps the inner contents cool. But from what fishidiot wrote, it's not so great. My thoughts were around the construction. I didn't know if the inner side was coated. It is from what I have summized. Another name is the flax creel. Some sell for $20. The problem is that you have a wet bag of fish hanging on your side.

So I guess SBecker had it right with the laundry bag idea.

I have an old messenger bag. I could adapt. But I'm afraid things would get to hot.

 

[FrequentTyer]

Pauly wrote:

So I guess SBecker had it right with the laundry bag idea.
.

But what you don't know is that Becker only uses Scottish flax laundry bags.

On a serious note, for evaporative cooling to work, the bag will have to be at least partially above the water, so the material and location are both important. Try your messenger bag. The worst that will happen is a few spoiled fish, and you may save $70.

 

[SBecker]

But think of how fast you could get our beer cold with that freezer. A mesh laundry bag can't do that.

 

[iceyguides]

i got an articreel for christmas. The inside is lined in plastic and so is the backside of the creel so you don't have a wet bag of dead fish laying directly on you. i've used it to keep fish in a few times this year and it's done a good job keeping them cool. There's nothing really special about it, it's just a bag basically, so i dunno why they're so expensive. It does seem well built though, so it should last a long time. let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[Pauly]

Thanks Iceyguides,

It has to be the special scottish flax canvas that makes it special. I was looking at my messenger bag to see if I would use it in similar way. It is not breathable at all. If its warm out then I think it will be an oven in there.

 

[ryguyfi]

How often are you keeping fish? If it's fairly often and you have the money to spend, then get what you want. If it's a few times a year, then don't bother. You'll be carrying something around that just takes up room and is not a good bang for the buck.

I think the old timers used to line their creels with grass and foliage to help keep the fish cool IIRC. Just in case you forget the ice pack.


(did you get my PM I sent you a week or so ago about the vise?)

 

[Pauly]

ryguyfi wrote:
How often are you keeping fish? ...........(did you get my PM I sent you a week or so ago about the vise?)

I just got the PM thanks. you know I never realize i have messages in there. But thanks for the info.

As far as keeping fish: not that often. Like I mentioned in another posts about keeping fish safe during the catch and release, Im mostly catch and release.

BUT
I have been thinking as I learn more. If the stocked waters I'm fishing around my neck of the woods will be to warm for them to survive, I may as well take a few.

So on that note, I'm just getting something in line for when I do. I hate doing things halfa$$ed on the whim. but planning and taking a cooler bag full of ice is not as freewheeling as I'd like to be about this
I have a stringer, I guess that's the best way for me for now. I can keep it in my sling pack.

 

[tomitrout]

Pauly,

I've been thinking along the same lines as you lately. One of my favorite streams is an ATW that also supports a nice population of brookies and browns. Starting to get the urge to harvest a few stockers for the grill and don't like the idea of dealing with a stringer as I scramble from pool to pool. So will probably just throw a gallon ziploc w/ some ice in it into the fishing bag I already use.

 

[McSneek]

I know sbecker's response had a bit of an edge to it but his suggestion is along the lines of what my dad and I used to do when we kept stocked fish. We would save the mesh sacks that potatoes or oranges came in. Not all are of the same quality so you had to get the right ones and I guess in some case peel off a label. They had a drawstring and we would just put our fish in their as we caught them and then leave the bag in the stream with a rock holding it down. Most would stay alive for the day unless they were deep hooked. Clean them all when done fishing and head home. I always figured this kept them much fresher than killing them as you caught them. You could also do wthis with a mesh laundry bag or somehting similar. I do recall great disappointment though when a nice fish I had caught on Clover Creek somehow managed to escape the sack. I probably wasn't much more than 10 years old at the time.

 

[iceyguides]

McSneek, your experience reminds me of a story my dad told me. He stached some trout under a rock or a root ball in a sack somewhere along the stream and fished a little longer. When he came back for the sack it was torn apart or open, the fish were gone, and there were mink tracks all over the bank...at least somebody got a trout dinner.
I don't keep fish often, but when i do i like the creel becuase it's discreet and with the shoulder strap it's easy to carry a few lbs of fish. Not to mention it keeps them cool. True, the articreel is overpriced. i could never bring myself to pay that much for a glorified sack. I've heard it said that it's appropriate to ask for things you want but can't bring yourself to pay for as gifts, so for xmas this yr i asked for a wading staff (glorified, overpriced stick) and an articreel. I'm happy with both, but partially because i didn't have to pay for them.

 

[Pauly]

Well said iceyguides.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Truth be told an old wicker creel has a charm all it's own. Lined with wet ferns it did a good job of keeping trout cool.
Bamboo rod and a wicker creel that's how the oldtimers rolled. GG