I have hauled fish back from Alaska a number of times using both methods and I like the cooler best. I get one of the coolers with the wheels because when your lugging 60 lbs of fish around the airports along with all your gear and baggage it all gets very heavy and tiring especially after staying up all the night before fishing and having a good time in all that daylight.

After filing the cooler with fish I duct tape it closed tight for shipping. If you put regular ice in it don't tell them at the Anchorage Airport that it's there. They will make you open the container and get rid of it right on the spot. With the cooler and duct tape I have had no problem with leakage but the airline would probably not like it if you soaked everything in their baggage compartment.