I'm going to key largo next week for a couple days of fishing. I went last year and sent my fish home UPS. It was expensive. I wondering how much trouble it would be to take it on the plane with me.
Have any of you flown home with your fish?
- Thread starter m_allison71
- Start date
If you can get it frozen before your flight and you don't have long lay overs you would probably be ok. Soft sided cooler in your checked bag works but may depend on how much you are bringing home. Double check with your airline on what restrictions they may have on your bags. I have had salmon shipped by the guide and that has worked fine too, but it is expensive. I 've also had a carry on cooler full duck on a flight home. Good luck and hope you have a good time!
That's sort of the way I was thinking. I've got a dry bag with a cooler insert I was thinking of using. I also have a Yeti hopper, but I think the dry bag would be easier and hold more.
I was listening to a Meateater podcast the other day and they said they traveled with fish by freezing them and putting them in a Yeti hopper.
waynesworld
Well-Known Member
I have flown from Mexico years back with cooler sealed and fish was frozen solid. Had no problems and never even started thawing. You can also use dry ice but there are restrictions and limit of 5.5 lbs but that will hold at least 10 lbs of food for 12 hours. From what friends told me that work in a lab that deals with dry ice if items are frozen going in and spend most of time in air last a lot longer.
Just out of curiosity what kind of fishing will you be doing there? Lived down there for a little bit when I was younger loved fishing in the backcountry. Would love to retire down there one of these days.
spoonie":zlkzsu8n said:
Hoping to get a boat load of mahi. I caught a bunch of yellow tail snapper last year. It was a lot of fun, but I really want mahi.
m_allison71":30d8vcz2 said:
Nice! I'm sure you already got a boat in line to hire out or use, but if not check out Ankle Deep Fishing Adventures Capt Jeremy is a machine when it comes to catching fish. My favorite restaurant down there is Hobo's café and for a local dive I always enjoyed Shipwrecks. Good luck hope you catch a cooler full
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Freeze solid in a cheap $30 cooler with wheels. Be sure it weighs less than couple pounds under the airline checked baggage limit. Tape it completely shut and check it in at the airline counter as checked baggage. The wheels make it easier to drop off and after you pick it up.
Last time I did this, it cost me $35 for the airline checked bag fee, plus $30 for the cooler with wheels, and i still use the cooler.
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Last time I did this, it cost me $35 for the airline checked bag fee, plus $30 for the cooler with wheels, and i still use the cooler.
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Thanks for the ideas. Hopefully I will get to try one of them out. Right now, it looks like the storms are going to interfere with some of my fishing. I really hope not. I can sit at home and watch it rain.
Shanman
Well-Known Member
Have always brought our fish home in fish boxes with dry ice as check-in luggage, from Alaska. Friend of mine packs his stuff in a large cooler on the way up, uses the cooler as a tote. On the flight back he puts frozen fish in the cooler and everything else in a duffel bag. Two things I was taught on my first trip up was that air is your enemy when it comes to frozen meat. We always used newspapers to fill any voids and taped the lid seam. Hope you have a great trip, sounds like fun.
Crosshairy
Well-Known Member
I went on a charter boat on Lake Tahoe 8 years ago, and we brought home a relatively modest haul of fish after releasing the rest. Due to the "no liquids" rules, you have to be sorta careful.
What I did was buy a roll of Saran wrap (plastic wrap) and individually wrap each fillet in that to protect it from air. I froze all of the fillets the night before (after wrapping them), and then put them in a cheap styrofoam cooler for travel. In my situation, it was relatively cold outside, so I filled the cooler with ice, drove to the airport, and then drained any melted water out of the cooler just before going inside. I made sure to tell one of the TSA folks exactly what I had, and they inspected it and said it was OK since there was no free-running water inside. In my case, I took it along inside of a tote bag as a carry-on, and paid nothing to transport it.
The idea about the cooler as a checked bag opens up more options for you, but I'm pretty sure they won't take a flimsy styrofoam cooler as checked baggage, so plan on buying something plastic to go that route. The good thing about that is that it's way colder in the cargo section of the plane, so you'll have less issues with melting.
With a high-grade cooler, I think you could wrap and freeze all the fillets, and if the cooler was pretty full I'm sure you wouldn't even need any ice. The ones on the outside edge could go in the refrigerator when you got home to cook within a few days, and the rest could go into the freezer.
What I did was buy a roll of Saran wrap (plastic wrap) and individually wrap each fillet in that to protect it from air. I froze all of the fillets the night before (after wrapping them), and then put them in a cheap styrofoam cooler for travel. In my situation, it was relatively cold outside, so I filled the cooler with ice, drove to the airport, and then drained any melted water out of the cooler just before going inside. I made sure to tell one of the TSA folks exactly what I had, and they inspected it and said it was OK since there was no free-running water inside. In my case, I took it along inside of a tote bag as a carry-on, and paid nothing to transport it.
The idea about the cooler as a checked bag opens up more options for you, but I'm pretty sure they won't take a flimsy styrofoam cooler as checked baggage, so plan on buying something plastic to go that route. The good thing about that is that it's way colder in the cargo section of the plane, so you'll have less issues with melting.
With a high-grade cooler, I think you could wrap and freeze all the fillets, and if the cooler was pretty full I'm sure you wouldn't even need any ice. The ones on the outside edge could go in the refrigerator when you got home to cook within a few days, and the rest could go into the freezer.
Great job on the mahi!! Some tasty fish. Headin Down to Venice tomorrow as their opening snapper back up for 4 days. Hopefully get on some yellowfin as well.
You'll be addicted if you hook into swordfish, we've caught 5 in last 18 months with biggest at 200. It's incredible tasting as well.
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You'll be addicted if you hook into swordfish, we've caught 5 in last 18 months with biggest at 200. It's incredible tasting as well.
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