Insulating Fishbox Covers

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crimson tide

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Wondering if any of you have devised neat ways to insulate the fishbox covers in your boats as they seem to be the weak link for keeping the ice. Also wondering if the boats usually come with fishbox drain plugs as I have read that keeping the cold water will maintain a colder fishbox. If plugs aren't included, what do you use?
Thanks in Advance 247 :D
 
I usually try and get the fishbox cold by placing a couple of frozen gallon milk jugs of water in the box the night before I put in my ice the next morning. This makes a huge difference on how long the ice lasts.

I'll also put a wet towel on top of the box if it's a hot, sunny day.

I agree that the box should be better if the lid was insulated. Not sure what the best way to do this.
 
If plugs aren't included, what do you use?


Friend of mine uses the rubber transom plugs with the T handle to tighten it up as it swells out to fit. Has them in all his overboard draining boxes including fish box under the helm seat. 1986 Seafarer. Don't know if your drains are the same size though. Hardware store may have some different size rubber drain plugs like for oldschool sinks and tubs.
 
I haven't tried it myself yet, but at my local Lowes they have an assortment of insulation pannels. The ones I'd try have the cardboard (or other type of material) on both sides with a soild foam insulation sandwiched inbetween.

Shouldn't be difficut to cut to fit and then attach to the lid.
 
I'm not sure the longevity of carboard on the lid but the foam panels might be an idea if it wouldn't soak up water. Another though to help seal the lid would be some type of gasket to keep the cold air inside.
 
Honest;y I'm not sure if they are cardboard or someting else.

A few years back I was planning to build drop in fish boxes on my pacemaker (which I never got to do) and was planning on using these panels and then coating them in a few layers of West Systems.
 
Keeping your fish cold and firm

I also put frozen milk jugs in my boxes the night before excellent idea!!!! Then fill it up with Ice and put the plug in I fished last week in 90 degree weather and my salmon were so cold I had to put a glove on to get them out of the box.Good luck fishing and conserve your stocks for future generations!!

Tight lines
 
Checked out my local Lowes this weekend. There were various sized styraform (??) pannels made by Dow and another company who's name escapes me at the moment. NO CARDBOARD...just in some cases a plastic cover.
 
Most advice I have seen recommend pre cooling as suggested above. Bubble wrap put on top of the ice is also a good idea. Even with my on deck cooler I will lay a wet towel over it to help keep it cool.

On the deck lids I would look at installing some type of gasket to seal the lid.
 
Personally, I'm yet to have a problem with ice melting to fast in my livewell. We've had ice last over 2 days even in the summer but I'm in the Northeast. Others may have an issue with it.
 
I just fill it with 400 qts of salt ice from a local commercial fishing warf, cost me $20 and will last me about 4 days with 60% of it still frozen and the remaining water ICE cold. We only do this on offshore trips, as for inshore, I have a 70 qt cooler that fits perfectly in my big fish well so that works best for me, fish go in there in ice and it stays super cold and never melts between the cooler and fish box insulation. The only way to insulate the cooler would to build a custom piece made of high density foam covered in a layer of glass and gel coat, then plexus it on, it will never come off, will not be effected by water and will keep things cold. down side is cost and time to do so, and that you will loose about 2" of space from the lid down inside the box to make it worth while, this is how most companies build insulation into lids on bigger boats, some mold it in as well but not everyone wants it so this method allows for flexibility. Grady would make a killing offering this as an option, I could see it now.....fish box insulation package $1500....but how many of us would probably opt for it... probably a lot more then you would think even if the price was steep.
 
LI Grady said:
Checked out my local Lowes this weekend. There were various sized styraform (??) pannels made by Dow and another company who's name escapes me at the moment. NO CARDBOARD...just in some cases a plastic cover.
Click to expand...

Careful with styrofoam if you are planning on bonding it to the lid. Certain types of resin (poly, vinyl, epoxy...I can't remember which) eat right through it...
 
I believe that a rubber or foam gasket to better seal the cold air in the box along with pre-cooling the box the night before is probably the best option for most conditions.

The ice always melts a good bit when I spend the day offshore fishing -- especially on a good day when the lid's being opened frequently to add to the box :D Also, the temperature is almost always in the 90s and at the very least the upper 80s.

It would be nice if GW sandwiched some insulation into the lid like a Igloo cooler. I'm sure it would be a big improvement. I think I'll try a gasket and see how that works and not attempt any glass work on my lids.
 
It gets very hot and humid here , like southern Florida. My buddy is a refrig mechanic. I noticed we were getting condensation on the lid of the big kill box from the ice and it wasn't staying cold enough.

The aircon/refrig guys have excellent sheets of insulating 1"thick composite foam with a silver foil on one side and sticky on the other. We cut that to fit. Then added silver tape around the edges for extra staying power. No more condensation and it stays really cold.That has been on for 12 months with no probs.

As Gradyfish says we also use frozen salt water (20 deg lower freezing temp) in 2-3 litre plastic juice bottles. I have 10 of those in the freezer always .

I found rubber plugs at a rubber store that fitted well.
 
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