Vinegar and baking soda are all you need.

Yes. That’s the combo. Skip the bleach and the fancy cooler deodorizers.

Rinse the cooler with fresh water immediately after dumping the fish. Then scrub the inside with a paste of baking soda and water. Rinse again, then wipe down with white vinegar (full strength or diluted — doesn’t matter). Let it air dry with the lid open for a day.

The baking soda neutralizes odors, the vinegar kills bacteria. Together they handle the worst fish smell. Bleach is overkill and can leave a chemical smell that transfers to your next catch (or your drinks). Just don’t mix baking soda and vinegar at the same time — they neutralize each other. Do one, then the other, then dry.

If the smell still lingers after that, you’ve got a crack or a porous liner. That’s a different problem. But for a standard plastic cooler, this works every time.

A $5 bag of baking soda and a $2 bottle of vinegar will outlast any “cooler deodorizer” spray.