If you’re a catch-and-keep angler, you ought to own a nice quality fishing creel. Keeping your harvested fish fresh and out of the elements is, of course, pivotal to later enjoying them as a meal. You owe it to yourself and to the fish you harvest to properly store and transport your catch of the day.
Our list of the best fishing creels has compiled the top choices for every style angler and fish species. Whether you’re looking to stash a couple of trout in the river until the day’s end, or need to properly store a monster striped bass or mahi while out kayak fishing, we’ve found the right creel system for you!
Traditional options, as well as some new innovative products and features, are all included here, so take your pick based on your angling needs! Carefully consider the size of the creel, puncture resistance, and clean-ability before pulling the trigger.
Keep all your hard earned fish fresh as can be this season with a fishing creel tailored to your needs. Tight lines and maxed-out catch limits from all of us here at Heavy!
The Flambeau Tackle Fly Flax Creel Bag is an excellent value fishing creel that should fit your needs just fine for most freshwater angling applications.
At about 15 inches long, this is a great sized creel for trout, perch, freshwater bass, crappie, and other similar sized species.
The cottonseed flax construction is pretty durable against fish spines and it’s furthermore PVC lined to keep the inside nice and cool. There are D-rings and external clips for securing accessories like a bait knife for bleeding out fish, forceps, etc. External mesh pockets for securing other gear like a water bottle are also a nice touch.
The carry handle and shoulder strap make it easy to tote just about anywhere and a piece of cake to secure to a stream bank or lakeshore. It may not have an incredible insulating ability, but as far as standard fishing creels go, this is an excellent value option that will get the job done!
The Eagle Claw Polar Creel is a very basic freshwater fishing creel great for applications like trout fishing. This unit is only about 14 inches long, so don’t expect to fit any truly monster fish in there.
It’s a canvas creel so it won’t insulate very well on its own – you’re going to want to keep this one in the water with your catch.
The 12-inch tape measure on the front of the creel is definitely a nice feature that allows you to quickly check your fish length. A slim zippered pocket on the front also allows for a bit of gear storage.
D-rings and a shoulder strap make it easy to tote this fishing creel and also to secure it to the water’s edge. A great option for the budget angler looking to properly stash their day’s catch.
The South Bend Polar Creel Bag is a smaller sized fishing creel for freshwater use that’s both highly effective and affordable.
This option is built with a special canvas material that’s designed to keep the contents cool through evaporative cooling. It’s a pretty neat concept, but tossing your fresh catch back into a cold stream or lake water (within the creel of course) will likely be most effective.
This unit is particularly small at just 14 inches, so no monster fish in here! It’s the perfect grab and go size with an included shoulder strap to catch-and-keep a couple of tasty trout.
The inside cleans up easily, and external D-rings make it a piece of cake to tote and secure to other gear or to the water’s edge. There’s even a slim zippered pocket on the front for stashing some smaller fishing tools like a bait knife, forceps or nippers!
For the cost, this fishing creel is an absolute steal that you should fish with for many seasons with the proper care!
Here’s a slightly larger creel for stashing the trout limit of several anglers. The Super Creel by South Bend is a bit wider and much deeper than their other model listed here and capable of holding quite a few larger sized freshwater fish.
This option has a rubber vulcanized liner and nylon mesh vents so it cleans up super easy. A nice array of external pockets also give you some space to stash a few tools or tackle items. There’s no carry handle, but a shoulder strap makes toting this option a breeze.
For the cost, you can’t go wrong with this one – a high capacity freshwater creel that’s built to last.
This “Jumbo” fishing creel by Danielson is very comparable to the previous model listed but includes a 12-inch ruler for measuring your catch. This option is vinyl lined for easy clean-up and has several external pockets built-in for gear storage.
You can fit a few larger fish in here, and it may even be suitable for saltwater use depending on your target species. Absolutely a great value fishing creel considering the size, internal material and bonus pocket schematic!
If you’re looking for a classic choice, the Monkey Jack Wicker Fishing Creel is a great go-to option. It has the vintage fly fishing aesthetic that’s, of course, attractive to a lot of us anglers, and it functions great in the right angling context!
The wicker is sturdy and there’s both a carry handle and a shoulder strap. For freshwater applications, this is a great sized creel at about 14 by 9 inches. The wicker won’t stand up to saltwater use, so definitely look elsewhere if you’re planning on harvesting saltwater species.
For a classic looking fishing creel that functions just fine in bodies of freshwater, this is a great value option from MonkeyJack.
Here’s a really neat approach to keeping your catch fresh that backcountry anglers and kayak fishermen will love. The Wilderness Systems Insulated Catch Cooler is designed to be brilliantly compatible with their various fishing kayaks, but it’s a killer system that is practical for all sorts of catch-and-keep applications.
This is a big cooler bag at almost 30 inches long that can handle larger sized fish. The inside is furthermore effectively resistant against puncture from fish spines so species like striped bass, triggerfish, grouper, perch and sea bass won’t damage the bag. It cleans up super easily and even has multiple access points which definitely might come in handy.
Due to the amount of space with this unit, it would make a great cooler for food and beverages as well!
It mounts great onto a kayak bow, ATV, drift boat or anything really by utilizing D-rings around the base. There are also backpack straps which make this the ultimate backcountry creel in my opinion. Fishermen who hike out into the wilderness in hopes of coming back with some fish for the dinner table and the freezer will really appreciate the shoulder straps.
If you’re going to have some ice and several heavier fish in your cooler bag or creel at the end of the day, you better be able to carry it!
All in all a killer fishing creel alternative that you’ll be able to utilize for all sorts of angling scenarios.
The Buffalo Gear Insulated Fish Cooler Bag is a big-fish option for keeping those saltwater species and freshwater monsters fresh as can be! This 40 by 17 inch soft cooler bag isn’t exactly a fishing creel, but it more or less functions the same.
This unit will hold ice all day long, although the standard zippers may leak. It’s a non-issue in terms of insulation, just be careful not to put this bag on your car seats or boat cushions if it’s got bloody fish inside – it might drip a bit.
This bad boy can be folded up or stuffed for easy storage in a kayak hold, fishing cart or larger vessel, so it’s quite portable despite its enormous size. The carry handles are well built, but you may wish you had a shoulder strap if you really land a big one!
The inside of this bag is a puncture risk for spiny fish like striped bass so be mindful when placing your catch inside. Clipping spines with a pair of cutters is an easy solution, but most spiny species can be laid down in a manner where the spines aren’t exposed. For big soft-finned fish like salmon, there’s, of course, no issue.
Most of the comparable products to the KatchKooler II Bag are a good bit more expensive. Although the higher-end cooler bags insulate remarkably well, this particular model performs just fine and stands up to the competition making it a great value.
This fishing creel alternative for monster fish is available as either a 60 or 40-inch bag. If you fill this bad boy up, then you’ve got a lot of mouths to feed!
This is a killer option for offshore fishermen targeting species like tuna and Mahi, as well as river anglers hoping to carry home some tremendous salmon.
This unit is designed with a three-point folding system so it stores nicely on board your vessel, in your vehicle or tucked into your fishing cart. It also has dual carry handles to employ the help of a fishing buddy, as well as a shoulder strap.
The interior cleans up super easily, is highly puncture resistant and utilizes closed cell insulation to ensure your catch stays cold and fresh. The stitching is reinforced, and the zippers are engineered to be effectively leak proof, so go ahead and tote this fish-bag around without having to worry about any drip.
For large and in charge species of fish, Elkton Outdoors has you covered with a brilliant fishing creel solution!
The Insulated Waterproof Fishing Kill Bag by Calcutta is a big creel for big fish that’s perfect for offshore and inshore anglers targeting larger species like striped bass, Mahi, wahoo, redfish, tuna, and more!
Measuring 40 by 16 inches, this extra-large creel features a heavy-duty, thick insulated no-sweat design paired with a waterproof liner. The result is a mess-free space to stash your fish that features exceptional ice retention.
Despite this creel’s large deployed size, it’s been designed to be foldable in order to ensure it’s effectively portable and easy to store. There is also an integrated shoulder strap for easy carrying when there’s a monster fish in there!
Calcutta has even included a fish ruler on the front of the kill bag so you can get an instant-read on whatever you’re tossing in there. With a tool like this, you can avoid tossing bloody and smelly fish carcasses into your main cooler – a blessing to say the least!
You owe it to the fish you harvest to properly store your catch of the day. Our list of the best fishing creels has the top choices for every style angler and species of fish!
