Hand Painted Bags

The original bags were a Costco special for my own personal use. Now I paint them with that same utility in mind, but for others.

Story time!

When I first moved to the Fairbanks area, I was living in my travel trailer out past Haystack. I’d work in town, and then come home to my gray jay friends, dogs, and 100 acres of woods to explore as I pleased. On the way home, I would often stop to fish. My spots were typically the Chatanika River pull off, Olnes Pond, or a couple other secret spots that I went to specifically for pike. I was at one such spot, just relaxing and throwing a couple lines before heading home. I threw out a cast, and hooked onto what I at first assumed was a snag… Some kind of log, maybe a rock. Something solid and not a fish. Until it started to move and I realized I had a large pike on the line. After finally getting him to shore, he spit the hook at the last second and almost took off again. But I swooped in with my net, desperate after the battle, and got him. I then struggled to finish him off with my very cheap Walmart fillet knife, which bent in the process. AND THEN, I went to put him in my handy dandy cooler, that turned out to be substantially too short to comfortably fit him. I had my dinner, but he still had the last laugh as his slime got my back seat when the cooler tipped mid journey home. I was victorious, but annoyed.

I measured him at home and he was 32 inches, which isn’t huge, but at that point was at least a foot longer than any other pike I had caught. I ate well.

But I vowed that I would get a better method of transport than the cooler. I wanted something collapsible, easy to carry, inconspicuous if I didn’t get anything, but big enough to fit a large pike just in case. Costco happened to have extra large insulated bags in stock for a more than reasonable 10$. I stocked up. My mom bought more. And my first bag, I painted in honor of my pike.

That first round of bags were donated to a cancer benefit in 2022, but I always have one on hand.

Now I paint 3 sizes, for a range of utility. The small ones are great for a quick forage session or your lunch. The medium are about right for your average trout or grayling, or a couple bags of groceries. And the large… The large can fit a couple big pike. Enjoy the art of current and past bags here, and if you’re interested in enjoying their usefulness too, head on over to my shop to see what I have in stock!