The “Brag Yak”: A rigid, rollable, fish measuring mat

Having struggled for years with using traditional floppy vinyl “brag mats” to measure my fish while out kayaking, i started looking for a reasonable alternative. The goal was to buy something which could provide a solid, flat measuring surface, but which didn’t take up mountains of room when not in use. Nothing existed... until now.

It was after landing this PB Saratoga, when i was in the middle of a windswept lake with only a 60cm measuring board, that i decided enough was enough, and that kayakers needed a measuring device which actually worked where you didn’t have a huge level surface.

The design is incredibly simple, and it’s produced from a single piece of 5mm corflute sheet. I get mine printed by a place which does realestate signs, then i whack on a layer of clear vinyl to protect the print.

Strategic cuts allow the sheet to be rolled into a tight triangular prism about the size of a water bottle, and when unrolled a longitudinal cut allows the sheet to form a stiffening “vee” which keeps the fish centred and provides stiffness throughout the 1m length. Borrowing from the iPad folding cover, tiny magnets keep the mat rolled up.

The vee is maintained by a piece of shock cord, which is pinched by a captive cord lock. To form the vee you pull the cord by the loop, and to flatten the vee you just squeeze the button. It’s dead simple, and quite sturdy, with the corflute handling being bent backwards with no noticeable structural effect.

Early efforts left something to be desired, but it only took a couple of prototypes to settle on the recognisable design which is now being tested by people all up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia!

I love the way this thing turned out, it has finally solved a problem I’ve been annoyed by for years, and i hope that now it exists no one else has to suffer in silence!

Tight lines!