Yogurt slammers in the morning.... who knew???     Good luck fishing neighbor, let us know how the cooler works out, I'm definitely in the market for something light and efficient for a little winter fishing.
 
Something that would fit my new Christmas present, my kids don't know they're getting me.
 
 
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I like the hitch part.  You will be thanking yourself (kids) for upgrading to those balloon tires.  Nothing seems to compare to them pulling through sand.  If I fished the salt more, I would definitely get one of these or a 4v4 permit...  Especially if doing the bait and wait fishing.  Even just spending the day without fishing at the beach and getting a full cooler, chairs, umbrella/tent and other gear.  I have no idea why anyone would spend the day at the beach without fishing though?  Every so often we get lucky with a beach rental that has one and so much nicer than trying to carry things or use my beach dolly with the inflatable rubber tires.  
 

Pork the hitch is what caught my eye too. No way I put a cart, coated with sand, into a vehicle.

So if not the pictured beach cart then an all purpose hitch carrier is gonna be needed.

I agree with the balloon or bubble tires too. Guys I talked to while fishing the beach all recommend the bigger wider tires.

My problem, no matter the cart, my dumb asz will overload it and so I'll probably need to rent an Alpaca or Camel to pull the thing. 😁

I know you're itchin to get in the surf but til ya can make it, I hope this vid by the "bama beach bum" helps a bit.

https://youtu.be/7QNgBsSHYBc

Good times and tight lines.

The times that I have used them, it is more about over packing vertically than weight allowance.  I can't say that I have ever tried to throw a ton of weight on to test one though.  When they are packed 3' over the a cooler (full on the way, not so full on the way back), then you are relying on your strapping skills.  Leaving the beach at 11PM after drinking beers all day, diminishes the strapping skills a bit.  The most difficulty that I have had was making it through the dune decking obstacle course with boogie boards hanging half way off and trying to maneuver with one hand still holding a beer...  Also got to worry about trees and stuff on some of the board walks to the beach.  Got to almost make a dry run before pre-rigging your rods at the vehicle.
 
Since my wife's SUV is newer than my truck, we have taken it the past 6 years.  Always have a cargo hitch that always goes with me on my fishing excursions beyond walking distance of where we stay.  You can't clean sand from those carts without a hose.  Mine is even worse with the knobby tires, especially if they get wet.

I was looking at the backpack style soft coolers at Walmart and like the idea of using a dry bag as a liner.  I have aways used frozen water bottles instead of ice to avoid leaking but also liked the large freezer packs I saw at Walmart this week (I think they measured 16"x10").  Just one sandwiched between the inside of the cooler and outside of the dry bag should do fine.  As for spines poking through, most people I know who use fish bags carry a small pair of kitchen shears to cut the tips of the spines off before they go into the bag.

Pork - last OBX trip my dad asked for something like this.  He wanted to beach fish but not have to lug a cooler.  We got one of these thermal bags:  https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Cold-Bag-Insulated-Thermal/dp/B01H0HXFMK?th=1 Cheap and easy to find in grocery stores or Costco.  Washed up easily and was big enough for a couple wipers or a mid sized cat or two.  
 
For ice you guys need to make your own PVC icepacks.  Get some PVC pipe and end caps that match, and glue.  As thick as you want, I use 2" pipe for most of mine and inch and a half for a few others.  Glue one end on.  Use lots of glue, make sure it is 100% sealed.  Fill the pipe 2/3 of the way with water and then add SALT to it.  Eyeball the amount, ~1T per cup of water.  Then glue on the other cap.  They freeze super cold (around 0 degrees if your solution is 20%) and last forever.  You can dishwash them if needed, but I find that the hose gets them most of the way and a quick stop in the slop sink makes them nice and clean for refreezing.  Best of all they can be made exactly the size of your bags and coolers.  You'll have around $3 a piece into these vs $15-30 for the yeti ones.  
 
Can't get sucked into the pier cart/beach cart discussion right now as I really need to be working.  Will return later though.  

I seem to be at Lowes/Home Depot about 2-3 times per week as of late, so adding to my list!  Definite addition to my arsenal.  I wonder if a bunch of 3/4" ones would act like a bunch of ice cubes and distribute that cold a bit more evenly on fish?
 
Those are the bags that came to mind when I read Fisherlady's post.  I am pretty sure that I have one in our pantry that will be making it's way into my fishing gear...
 
Excellent tip on the clipping those dorsal spikes Yakr.  I love the Harbor Freight scissors that I have.  They make easy work of bleeding fish, good with braid and just good all around cutting scissors.  One of my favorite HF purchases.  I will be grabbing another pair for this as I hate taking mine off of my boat and them not there when I am looking for them...
 
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-multipurpose-stainless-steel-scissors-97042.html
 
I made the Amazon purchase of this bad boy...  Cheap and decent reviews.  I really wanted something that I can wear and keep fishing.  Keep moving until I find some sort of structure that keeps my interest and not have to circle back 100 yards to go pick my stuff up.  Which I seem to always do when I am beach fishing.  I am not a fan of wearing things while fishing, but with Spanish mackerel in particular, they are almost always in schools.  Catch one, look to the beach and seem my cooler is 50 yards down the coast.  By the time I get the fish to the cooler, that school is gone.  Throw it on the beach that is 80 degrees and humid at 8AM, and it is mush by the time you fillet it.
 
Extra compartments for some small tackle boxes (which is how I do my salt water stuff and my freshwater wading stuff - boat is all in a big box, but compartments too).  I have it sectioned off for beach metals NC/south, beach flea rigs, beach Skinner rigs, beach hi-lo, beach fish finder, beach NJ/North lures (bigger box), pier lures, pier Carolina rigs, inlet lures, inlet rock/piling rigs, inlet long lining flies, sound lures, sound bait rigs, etc.  Many sort of interchange, but usually able to grab 3-4 boxes that will be 99% of what I plan on doing and able to stay mobile, which is the key for this bag.  If I plan on bait and wait, I'll take the hard cooler.  With this bag, I'll still have the hard cooler waiting for it. 
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RZL3MSM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I'm planning to modify it a little. Going to figure out an easy on and off rod spike attachment that will be out of the way and not smacking against me when I walk.  Those are nice regardless if bait and wait or rod in hand.  When changing lures or messing with a fish that isn't cooperating with the pliers, it is nice to keep the reel out of the sand or drink.
 

Pork the first thing I'd recommend to anyone beginning to fish the surf. Buy sand spikes. Especially if you're planning on backpacking out onto the beaches.

Definitely comes in handy keeping your rod out of the sand😎 while baiting, tieing, but I don't know, about unhooking no stupid fish.😣

I make a cheap gun like shoulder sling from parachute cord. Tie each end of the cord to the spike using clove hitches and sling it over your shoulder. Sling can be removed or left in place.

Clove Hitch lessons included. umm, not responsible for tic toc commercials.🙈

https://youtu.be/bUBIvWf-Udc

So, I made some of the PVC ice tubes (2" pipe).  I did them 9" long each (seemed to be a good length for all of my coolers).  Used 2 cups of salt to 1 gallon of water ratio (2 tablespoons per cup).  6 tubes ended up using 1/2 gallon.  Other half gallon went into an old juice bottle that I was already using as an ice pack with regular water.  Each tube was filled about 80%.  Wow, did PVC end caps go up in price???  Over $2 per.  I had to go to both Lowes and Home Depot to make sure one wasn't just mispriced...  6 tubes, including the cement and tube which I have a bunch left over and some white spray paint to make them look a little nicer, was over $45.
 
I did some tests and have to say that I am extremely disappointed.  Hoping the results were just a flawed initial test.
 
When I have used the juice bottle in my cooler (using regular tap water), it will stay mostly ice for a day.  2 days it is about 1/2 ice and after 3 days, it is usually melted.  In a Yeti soft cooler, so the cooler is pretty insulated.
 
I put all 6 of these PVC packs in my cooler.  The next day, my temp gun was reading 65 degrees in my cooler.  Each pack was about that same temp as well.  This was sitting in my basement that stays about 72 degrees...  Maybe 12 hours.  One thing to note, the ice packs were 18 degrees when I put them in the cooler, so they start off initially colder than ice.  They were kind of semi slushy/solid.  Had been in my freezer for 2 days.
 
My initial response right now is that these these are a huge waste of time and money and shocked of how poorly they worked...  I hope my initial testing was flawed somehow though, maybe need to be in the freezer for longer?  I know the regular ice pack as noted, is a full half gallon in itself, so slower to melt a larger block rather than smaller blocks.  Usually when I put that ice pack in, I have some already cold beers keeping temps lower too.  
 
My next test will be using my new cheaper fishing cooler back pack.  I really only need them to last for 3-4 hours.  It would be nice for longer, but usually is all that I am out for while at the beach.  Then hit the house/condo and back at it in the evening for another 3-4 hours.
 
 

Something isn't right Pork.  I left a couple of those in a normal cooler for two days in my basement and they still had frost on them when I put them back in the freezer.  They should not be slushy... they should be ROCKS.  Possible your freezer didn't get them cold enough.  I know the two phase-change icepacks I have will only fully freeze in my big chest freezer.  The side freezer on the beer fridge leaves them only partial.  The magic of that salt is that they freeze much colder than regular water.  Maybe give them another shot?