Who's lived in their shanty for a weekend? What did you do right? What could you have done better? How cold was it?
I suggest you update this yearly
Ammondude and I completed our third overnight, at Henry’s Lake in Island Park, Idaho, December 27-28, 2018.
Here is the post from trip 1 in 2015:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=325954.msg3440566#msg3440566
And the post from trip 2 in 2016:
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=325954.msg3587572#msg3587572
As usual, preparations began just after our last overnight trip. Primary acquisitions:
-Eskimo Fatfish 9416i
-Two Goal Zero Light-A-Life 350 lights
-Some additional Thermaseat hole covers.
We made all the adjustments from last year’s list, plus the following:
-Our urethane foam cot pads were retired and replaced with Cabela’s cot pads, which are just fabric-covered urethane foam.
-My Goal Zero Yeti 150 was brought along to power the lights and other stuff. It has about a 12.5Ah SLA battery. The Goal Zero solar panel we use in the boat was left at home. We had tested a single Goal Zero light on our boat overnighter in May and were so impressed that I purchased a second one.
-New 10-ply cooper AT3 tires on the Yukon XL
We had set up the new FF9416i in the yard before the trip to ensure it was all there. Eskimo ships their hubs with enough straps to tie down half of the wall panels, so I obtained three more and an extra anchor pouch. With 12 anchors and 6 straps we can tie down all sides.
Here is an image of the Light-A-Life 350:
Ammondude’s goal was to catch brook trout. I thought it would be nice to catch a monster hybrid, but they have been sparse this year up there. My other trips so far this year were successful enough that I wasn’t too uptight about it.
I was eager to meet up with prospector, who planned to join us this year. I wanted to see him slaying fish with his homemade plastics and I wanted ammondude to see his awesome sleeper setup.
A successful earlier start enabled our arrival at the State Park entrance just before Noon. The road had not been plowed, but it was evidently still being used, so in we went. After towing the snowmobile trailer through some rutted 2-3 foot snow drifts we found ourselves at the parking lot.
When we were just about loaded for our trek across the ice, prospector showed up with a friend in tow, but no snowmobile(s). Dude! Where’s your sled? It turns out I don’t communicate well enough and he thought we would be camping near the truck. With camp over a mile away this was going to be a problem. We determined that their stuff wasn’t configured for towing, so we parted company and ammondude and I headed out across the lake. Yes, prospector caught a hog on the day after we left, on the other side of the lake.
With winds blowing at least 15 mph, it was something of a mild ground blizzard. Even though we have done this before, it still gives me pause to travel on the ice, over a mile from the truck, with a temperature in the teens and an expected low below zero, in a ground blizzard.
At this point it may be good to understand that I have little patience for folks who haphazardly attach items to motor vehicles. My buddy lost a boat off the roof of his SUV once and I just rolled my eyes and figured it was a bad attachment job. How can you not attach something successfully to a vehicle?
An additional point that may help is that when we switched over to Jet Sled XLs for the 2016 trip, they didn’t quite hold everything. We ended up strapping a few things on here and there, and this year was no different. In fact, it was probably a little worse, because of the new Cabela’s cot pads don’t compress as easily as the old worn-out ones did, and we had a few additions, like the Yeti 150 and lights.
As we crossed the ice in the ground blizzard, I occasionally slowed down to turn around and check Ammondude and get a thumbs-up. About half way across I turned and he was not there. After stopping and looking directly behind, I saw him a few hundred yards back, off his snowmobile, picking something up off the ice. Turns out it was my food cooler. It had become detached from his rig and scattered all its contents.
By the time I got back there, he had kindly reloaded the cooler, which I then strapped onto my ice fishing sled with a tie down strap and cinched it down hard. How can you not attach something successfully to a vehicle?
Upon arrival at our chosen site, we found that the wind was somewhat moderated even though it was coming at us from across the ice. It seems that the steep rise on the shore sheltered us a bit even though the wind was blowing at it from across the lake. So, despite the wind, we had a fairly easy time setting up the hub shelter. The trees atop the ridge gave an audible reminder that it was howling up there. From 00:00:19 to 00:00:36 in this video from prospector, you can see what it was like on the rest of the lake at that time:
By 3:00 p.m., camp was all set up. Here is a look at the site, taken the next day:
We had a great time catching and releasing small brook trout and rainbow/cutthroat hybrids. Ammondude was psyched to be catching brookies, even though they were small. He was also having a total blast using the MarCum lx-6s. “Hey there’s a fish down at the bottom. I’ll drop to entice him. Oh! Fish on!”
As it got dark I became amazed at the awesome lighting in the shelter. Ammondude came in and was impressed. Then I explained that the lights were on low and bumped them up to high. Wow! Completely lit the shelter with just two lights. They have integrated clips and daisy chain together. Totally, totally sold. They burn 1W on low and 5W on high. One more item for which the experimentation, trial, and error are over.
The evening bite continued both inside and outside of the shelter, and we had more fun running for bells outside and jigging inside.
Dinner at about 7:00 p.m. was our traditional brisket sandwich on an onion roll, with the Ziploc-packed brisket reheated in hot water. Only this time, Ammondude had two sandwiches. The leftover Christmas brisket was SO GOOD, but I was amazed that anyone could eat two of those. Time to put Tang in the hot water, and we found the tang was still at home on the table. D’oh! Cold Powerade was fine, but I missed my annual hot Tang. As the evening progressed, Ammondude regretted his second sandwich but his stomach calmed by sleep time.
We had even more fun catching and releasing a few more small hybrids and brookies, using the MarCum and the Aqua-Vu, in the green glow of the Quarrow submersible light. Soon it was time to call it a day and hit the sack. By 10:00 p.m. the heater was off and we were cozy. The temperature was dropping with an expected low of -3 deg F. We covered the in-shelter holes to help them freeze up less, and as I drifted off to warm sleep, I wondered about the drifted road as the wind continued to make the trees sing. Not interested in a stuck-truck adventure on the way out.
At 11:11 p.m. I was awoken to the happy sound of a bell ringing on a bouncing rod. Ding, ding, ding. I turned on the light from my position in the top bunk, to find that it was my pole. So I jumped out of bed to catch a 3 lb. cutthroat.
So I’m sitting on a floor pad in my jammies with wet, cold hands and I figure I should at least get a picture of the fish. Not my best work:
Just as I finished, Ammondude, without stirring in the bed asked if he should take a pic. Nah.
I untangled the two lines, re-baited, and went back to bed.
At about 5:20 a.m. ding, ding, ding. I jump out again to catch and release a small hybrid. Re-bait, jump back in bed, and as my head hits the pillow, ding, ding, ding. You gotta be kidding me. This basically repeats over and over, and before you know it the heater is on and I’m up until about 7:00, catching and releasing small fish and thawing out the worm box that I had left open at 11:00 (yikes).
I gotta get another hour of sleep. Just as I settle in at 7:00 a.m., ding, ding, ding. Ammondude, please catch that fish on my pole I’m going to get a little more rest.
I slept in until 8:00 and awoke to a bright and calmer day. We caught lots of fish and had lots of fun fishing on camera, or “video game fishing” as one of my buddies calls it. Nothing larger than my 3 lb. cutt, but Ammondude got a 2 lb. cut:
… and we kept some brookies that would be between 1 and 2 pounds. Prospector reported similar results but would stay another night to catch a pig on the third day.
The brook trout were very pretty.
Yes, most of them went back:
Traditional cold breakfast was delayed from fishing action but it still hit the spot. Boiled eggs, pre-grilled ham slice, Frusion drink, and granola bar stuff.
I was a bit surprised that the larger volume of the FF9416i (vs. the QF6) took more effort to heat. I had thought that the insulated cover would offset the larger volume. The Big Buddy with fan on, at High, with closed doors and windows (except ventilation), can make it very comfortable in there, and would defrost the ceiling and most of the walls, but we ran the heater much more than with other trips. I’ve seen other folks talk about two Big Buddies in a 9416 and I understand it now, but I think we are OK with just the one for now, though we agreed that having a heater was imperative. We will consider backup or secondary options. Total propane use: about 2.35 gallons. Update: Worthington web site says the capacity of that 11 lb tank is 2.6 gallons, so we used something like 90% of our primary propane supply. My most accurate vendor was closed for repairs, so the used amount is somewhat approximate.
As before, the heater was not run while we were both sleeping, and was not needed for that. I slept a little too warm at times, and a little cool at others, but was able to adjust in both cases to remain comfortable.
Between the insulated walls and the Big Buddy fan, we had zero ceiling drips for the whole trip. That was nice. Maybe we can back off the large towels a bit. Neither was used this trip. In fact we only used one of two fishing towels.
After running lights from late afternoon into the night, and intermittently after that, and after charging my phone once, the Yeti 150 still showed 40% capacity available as we put it away.
When we were packing up, the CO detector said the peak reading was 28 PPM, which surprised me as we normally get zero. However, it alarmed as we unloaded the running SUV at home. I realized that we had also unloaded the running SUV as we arrived at the lake. I guess we got some CO exposure but it probably came at the truck and not in the shelter!
Once again I was happy to have the Luggable Loo with us, and the “Double Doodie” bags. Enough said about that.
Stew and hearty bread for lunch also hit the spot.
Fishing action was so regular that it was a good thing I finally kept a couple of fish, so I could turn some attention to packing. Ammondude cleaned all the fish. Thanks, dude! We were packed up by 3:00 p.m., and it was time to head back to the truck.
By the way, those Cabela’s cot pads are a pain to roll up. However, we found a great method. Just put four hands on it instead of two and zip-zip it becomes almost easy.
Up to this point, we had seen only one fisherman, on the second day, about a half mile away. Jet airplanes overhead at cruising altitude sounded loud. We had a full 24 hours of peaceful solitude in gorgeous surroundings. Totally amazing.
This time, we started with my cooler strapped tightly onto the shelter, on top of the box sled. As before, I checked for a thumbs-up once in a while. And as before, about half way across Ammondude wasn’t there. Looking behind I saw him again picking stuff up a few hundred yards back. It was my cooler, which had bounced off and again exploded its contents onto the ice and snow! How do you (I) not attach something successfully to a vehicle?
Finally back at the truck, we found a few SUVs in the parking lot and knew the trail out was at least broken. Indeed, the drive out was uneventful, and we stopped for a picture on the way:
Having stripped off all our layers for the 2.5-hr ride home, we were both amazed at how cold it was when we stopped for a Big Mac in Idaho Falls.
Although we slept fine, we were kinda tired and it took about 36 hours to fully recover. I guess sometimes survival alone takes energy.
We both have a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, and we both have another trip on which to reflect throughout the coming year. And we are already anticipating doing it again, though it is a big deal and an annual cadence is probably best for us. It is a challenge, and it’s hard work, and it is a total blast.
Identified Improvements from Last Year:-Get the blasted extensions into the cot bags: Permanently stored there. Don’t use one of these cots without the optional extensions.
-Get the CO detector into the right case: Check. And it’s good to know the thing works.
-Pack some paper towels in the kitchen bag: Permanent checklist addition. Check.
-Leave the spare propane tank at home: Total propane usage: ~2.35 gal.
-Take fewer floor panels (like 6): We took 8 and it was the perfect amount for us.
-Cover the inside holes overnight: Much better! Permanent addition.
-More light: Goal Zero Light-A-Life 350 x 2 is perfect for us, and we will use them on our boat overnighters, too.
-Get an earlier start to enable afternoon fishing on day 1: Much better! The evening bite was so fun.
-If we return to Henry’s, use the easy access up the shore and ride the shoreline to our spot, rather than fight the more difficult (or private) access that is closer: Check. No undesired trespassing or stuck-snowmobile adventures.
-Eskimo Fatfish 9416i: We have agreed that this is now our overnight shelter, but that will likely be its only role. I love the way they integrated the anchor grommets in the skirt. Much of the frost was on the seams only. It is shorter inside than the QF6. It is a heavy beast but quite sturdy. It is not as easy to pack as the QF6, but we agreed that the original bag will work just fine for us. The new-style cam straps are very nice and there is a little pocket under each hub to store them.
Do Better or Different Next Time:-Limit Ammondude to one brisket sandwich
-Remember the Tang! I guess that means re-check the food checklist.
-Add another Jet Sled XL, Shappell HD hitch, cover, and an Otter hitch receiver, to eliminate the remaining strapped-on equipment load. Ammondude will pull a dual-trailer setup as I already do. I already purchased the sled and ordered a cover and the hitch receiver. Watching for sales on the hitch.
-Convert the box sled to use a Shappell HD hitch
-Consider a backup/secondary heat source
-Take a folding stool for the old man sleeping on the top bunk
-Take more and better trip documentation pics
-Record some Aqua-Vu video
-Get a more accurate measurement of propane usage
