Author Topic: Camping on the ice.  (Read 72860 times)

Offline sra61

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #30 on: Jan 18, 2016, 06:01 PM »
I have a 6x12 wheelhouse and put a CO detector in and left the big buddy on medium for a couple of hours to see if the detector would go off, and it never did. I have a lot better feeling about it this year with the detector in there.

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #31 on: Jan 18, 2016, 07:36 PM »
Based off everyones valuable advice we've procured the CO detectors anyways.  I still don't plan on using heat but there are days where I do all day so at least now I'll be safe. 

Offline Whopper Stopper

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #32 on: Jan 18, 2016, 08:08 PM »
Based off everyones valuable advice we've procured the CO detectors anyways.  I still don't plan on using heat but there are days where I do all day so at least now I'll be safe.

 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Glad to hear it.

      WS

Offline Dean Nelson

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #33 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:26 PM »

Offline burck17

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #34 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:38 PM »
These topics come up a lot and I always recommend taking the time to shovel a large snow wall up wind to serve as a wind block... It will help you significantly. However if you don't have snow it won't help obviously

Offline sra61

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #35 on: Jan 18, 2016, 10:01 PM »
Based off everyones valuable advice we've procured the CO detectors anyways.  I still don't plan on using heat but there are days where I do all day so at least now I'll be safe.
I think I paid $15 for mine at Home Depot! Pretty cheap insurance I think.

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #36 on: Jan 19, 2016, 09:15 AM »
I think I paid $15 for mine at Home Depot! Pretty cheap insurance I think.

Ya it is...I spend enough time in the shanty to want to bring one all the time.   I am going to use velcro to mount ine to my otter, the other will sit in a pocket of the hub shanty.

Offline panfishman13

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #37 on: Jan 19, 2016, 11:17 AM »
i've slept out in a hub shanty a couple of times, it's really quite easy and comfortable when you treat it like sleeping in a snow shelter.

1. you're gonna want a tarp or flooring of some sort to put your stuff on so it doesn't get soaked.

2. for sleeping gear, you're going to want a cot, a sub-zero sleeping bag and at least one blanket, and a thick foam camping pad. the cot gets you up off the ice, which will keep you much warmer, the heavy pad insulates your body from the cold air underneath the cot, and the sub-zero bag and blanket should be self-explanatory. bring extra blankets if you think you'll need them.

3. a heater and a lantern. in most decent hub shanties, a lantern is more than enough to keep you warm while fishing. but if you want to stay warm all night, you're going to want the heater. just have the lantern on the entire time you're awake (be sure to properly ventilate, open windows a little bit, etc.) but turn on the heater any time you get cold, as well as for about a half hour before you go to sleep. don't try and leave the heater running while you're sleeping, it's just asking for trouble. (trust me, you'll stay warm enough with section 2)

4. milk crates or 5 gallon buckets. this is all about organization. it's no fun to sleep on the ice if your stuff is scattered all over the floor of the shelter and you can't find it. put the lantern on an upturned bucket, and the heater on the floor next to it. use the milk crate as a bedside table that you can shift under the cot if need be. keep your flashlight, pliers, lighter, and anything else you might make use of there.

5. if you intend to fish in your shelter before you sleep (i don't know why anyone wouldn't) you're going to want a board or two to cover the holes in the ice while you sleep. in the morning, this will also provide you with a nice surface to set a small campstove on to cook breakfast.

6. get set up long before dark. setting up camp in the dark is nothing less than tedious work, even more so when it's cold.

7. disposable hand warmers. put a couple of the jumbo ones in the foot of your sleeping bag, you won't get cold feet.

8. a hand towel. staying dry is key to staying warm, a towel to dry your hands on on is absolutely indispensible.

Offline ethoma1

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #38 on: Jan 19, 2016, 11:22 AM »
I just did what you're talking about, but only 1 night.  Used my kid's foam floor mats (interlocking) instead of the cot.  I also had a Clam Bigfoot 4000, so I could lay along one wall.  I was on Red Lake in northern MN, heavy winds and deep cold.  But, the shelter and a buddy heater kept me comfortable the whole time!

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #39 on: Jan 19, 2016, 12:16 PM »
Thanks for the continued input guys, I am sure many are getting some valuable insight from this thread!

Offline FG Steve

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #40 on: Jan 19, 2016, 02:28 PM »
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'm going to stay on the ice all weekend.  Bringing a cot and cold weather bag.  Just curious who's done it and how it went!

Thanks guys.

We did our first-ever overnight on Dec 28-29, at Henry's Lake in Island Park, ID.  I went with IS member ammondude, who is my adult son.

We arrived at about 1:00 p.m. and after checking out two areas, we headed to our selected area to set up camp.  Upon arrival, the temp was about 6 degrees F with winds light and variable.

For our first attempt, we chose a location was a quick snowmobile ride to a restroom and/or the SUV.  After the initial unload, it took four more shuttle runs with the Jet Sled Jr. to get all our equipment onto the ice.

We planned to sleep and fish in our Eskimo QF6.  Here's our camp:



In spite of the decent snow load on the ice (and thus potential for overflow), we drilled three holes in a corner of the shelter, two for jigging and one for the camera.

For sleeping, we were trying out a brand new set of Cam-O-Cot bunk beds, size L.  Yes, that's a bunk bed cot, purchased for this very purpose.



On my level of the cot was a Thermarest Camp Rest mattress, a three-inch urethane foam pad, a zero-degree cotton duck bag, and a zero-degree mummy bag.  Ammondude had the same setup, but his Thermarest was an original, his mummy was 20-degree, and he added a fleece liner.  I used a full-size pillow and he used a camping pillow.

With camp set up, our attention turned to fishing and dinner.  Smoked beef brisket and sauce reheated in a freezer bag, in a pot of water over the Sterno stove, was placed on some onion rolls for a substantial main course that worked out very well.  Then some Tang mixed into the hot water for a beverage.

Had some fun jigging and at about 9:30 p.m. the ammondude ices this 3 lb. 15 oz. cutt:





A four pound fish flopping around in tight quarters makes for some excellent pandemonium!  In the pic above you can see the bunk beds in the background waiting for us.

As the sun had gone down a breeze had kicked up to about 10 mph.  With the eventual temp that night about -10F, that is a -30F windchill.   Our heat source was a Mr. Heater portable buddy.  In the pic with the cutt you can see a small patch of defrosted shelter above the heater.  Until the next afternoon, that was as much of the shelter as got defrosted.  The rest just continually built up a solid layer of frost. 

At one point that evening we each took a turn to warm up our toes at the heater.  It was a real life saver.  Should have put some Toasti-Toes on to begin with.  We managed our body temp well, but agreed that a little more heat would have been nice, especially in case of emergency.

At bedtime, we each made sure that our stomach was full and our bladder was empty.  We changed into completely new clothing to go to bed: Underwear, jammies, sweats, socks, beanie, scarf.  Even though we had a CO detector, etc. we decided to use the heater only if needed.  We turned it off and went to bed.  It never came back on all night.

We had left two in-shelter rigs in the water at bedtime.  At 3:30 a.m. a fish hit one of our rigs and the ammondude woke me up but it was gone and we never figured out which one it had bitten.  Other than that interruption, I slept very well for about 8 hours.  I can't stay up all night like some of you guys and still drive home safely.

The alarm went off about 7:00.  There we are at a trophy trout fishery, on the ice, with the auger only feet away, and I was so warm it still took me 15 minutes to get out of bed.  At -10F, getting dressed in front of the heater was a real pleasure.  And we didn't burn any clothing.

Most of the food was in an Igloo Island Breeze cooler with a 2 liter bottle of water.  Cold breakfast included boiled eggs, grilled ham, Fruision drinks, etc.   Nothing was frozen that had been in the cooler.  Everything was frozen that didn't fit into the cooler.

A slow fishing day produced a four pound brookie:



and another nice cutt:



It's like 3 degrees F but the ammondude peels off layers to get a good Rapala pic.   ;D

Lunch was stew from the Sterno and hearty bread.

When the shelter warmed up in the afternoon, it was quite the indoor rainstorm.  The fishing towels were a little outsized by the rain.  This would have been problematic if we were staying a second night.

After running the heater about 8 hours total, the max reading on the CO detector was still ZERO PPM.  Amazing.

By 4:00 p.m. we had made four more shuttle runs, were packed up and ready to head home, at 6 deg F:



Now to your questions.

Did Right:

Sleeping system was A+.  Down to -10F and no need for the heater.  We both got a little extra warm by morning.
Snowmobile was a must.
Food was great.
Cooler with 2L water in it kept stuff from freezing.
Good old Thermos brand thermos kept water unfrozen the whole time.
Harbor freight cheap interlocking floor panels were AWESOME.  Especially for changing clothes.
Glad we had the CO detector.
We love our Cabela's Ice Angler and Guidewear Extreme clothing.

To do Better Next Time

Take two snow machines.  More gear per trip and a backup plan in an emergency.  We'll be further from the road next time.
More cargo space.  The selected solution is Jet Sled XL with cover and HD hitch, x2.  Watching end-of-season sales.
More cooler space.  A second Igloo has been purchased.
More heat capability.  Big Buddy heater and 11-lb cylinder are on the way.
Bunk bed extensions already purchased (more space between the bunks).  The ammondude couldn't even roll over in the night without bumping the old man on top.  They should be standard equipment on those beds.  Don't buy a set without them.
Bigger wipe-the-wall towels.  Not engaging in the insulated vs. not discussion here.  Suffice it to say that we choose 2 lbs. of towel over 15 lbs of insulation.
Still discussing at-the-camp restroom options.  Not engaging in that discussion here, either.

Our camp was not mobile.  I know Prospector and others have excellent mobile overnight setups, but this is a good method for us.

YMMV.  Ammondude might have additional input.
 Happiness is a wife who can outfish you.

Offline bowski76

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #41 on: Jan 19, 2016, 02:43 PM »
Wow! Looks like a lot of fun AND a lot of work!

Offline jon ny

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #42 on: Jan 19, 2016, 04:45 PM »
Wish I saw this earlier from you.  Did a weekend on Carmi.  It was probably the most fun trip I ever did.  Made up for the slow fishing.  The one thing I did wrong was I didn't have a heater at the time.  It sure was cold climbing from sleeping bag into the ice suit.  Oh, and I used one of those fold in half clam shelters.  I forget the model.  But it was about 6" short for my legs and the rubber seam from where it folded in half was in my back all night.

I'll send pics if I can find them.
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Offline prospector

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #43 on: Jan 19, 2016, 05:09 PM »
Best post ever!

Offline Crane Man

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #44 on: Jan 19, 2016, 05:48 PM »
Great story new to the sport sounds like something I would like

Offline Loso015

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #45 on: Jan 19, 2016, 06:11 PM »
Awesome. Probably have me going no heat at night now. And I was questioning a cooler...but not anymore!

Offline perch bait

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #46 on: Jan 19, 2016, 06:51 PM »
Awesome!! I never would've thought of sleeping in a Pop-Up!! Awesome story.
Perch bait- a small minnow that can have big results in the ice fishing game.  :icefish:
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Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #47 on: Jan 19, 2016, 07:18 PM »
Guys again much appreciation for the input...soaking it all in.

FG Steve outstanding post, it takes time to put a post together like that, thank you!

Offline curt69

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #48 on: Jan 19, 2016, 07:36 PM »
Great report , thanks for sharing . There is a good video on youtube . Henry's Lake 2015 December 26 .
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Offline ItWasThiiiiisBig

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #49 on: Jan 19, 2016, 07:39 PM »
I have never been out on the ice overnight. I bet it would be fun tho
Even Jesus had a fish story.

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #50 on: Jan 20, 2016, 07:10 AM »
Great report , thanks for sharing . There is a good video on youtube . Henry's Lake 2015 December 26 .

Will check it out, thanks.

Offline FlamDragger

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #51 on: Jan 20, 2016, 02:54 PM »
Excellent report!  I think that was one of the better posts I've read here.  I learned alot! Thanks!

Offline waltman

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #52 on: Jan 20, 2016, 03:02 PM »
great post your guys rock

Offline wyogator

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #53 on: Jan 20, 2016, 07:20 PM »
I tried this in a Quickfish 6 during a tournament last year.  I slept on a cot with a 0 degree bag and a Thermarest pad.  I had a portable buddy heater with good ventilation.  The heater never did get that hub warm enough,  although it was okay once I was in my bag.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a massive headache.  The heater was out and everything was covered in frost.  I grabbed my bag and pillow, hiked 300 yards to the SUV and slept in it while turning the engine on and off all night for heat.  The next morning the headache was worse and I was throwing up.  I just left everything on the lake, drove home and went to bed.  I slept all day, drove back to the lake that night to pull my tipups and retrieve my gear.  It had snowed that day and I could barely pull the Otter sled off of the ice, not to mention that I was still sick, weak and tired.  needless to say, I had a few walleye on the tipups, but didn't win anything.  I will never do that again, unless it is warmer and I don't need a heater, or I have a set up with a vented heater.  Stay safe!

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #54 on: Jan 20, 2016, 07:34 PM »
Man that sounds awefully like the symptoms of CO poisoning to a T.  Glad you are ok. 

Offline wyogator

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #55 on: Jan 20, 2016, 07:58 PM »
I am pretty sure it was co poisoning, Iowa.  At first I thought it may have been the flu.  Thank God for the low oxygen shut off.  I just don't understand how I got sick before it shut off.

Offline ammondude

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #56 on: Jan 20, 2016, 11:04 PM »
YMMV.  Ammondude might have additional input.

I can confirm fgsteve's post. That was like the best trip ever... period.

Can't wait to sleep on the ice again.
I really appreicated the aqua vu on this trip.  Jigging into the night on the IR display was so much fun. It was totally amazing to see big fish go for the jig, in black and white.
It was kind of hard to sleep after that late night bite though. Sure got my attention! :P

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #57 on: Jan 21, 2016, 04:13 AM »
I am pretty sure it was co poisoning, Iowa.  At first I thought it may have been the flu.  Thank God for the low oxygen shut off.  I just don't understand how I got sick before it shut off.

Because it is a low 02 shut of not a CO shut of.  2 different things as the fine folks pointed out in the first pages of this thread.  I hadn't thought about that myself, but thankfully have not had the experience you did. 

Offline Loso015

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #58 on: Jan 22, 2016, 08:51 AM »
With the cooler..I am assuming you put no ice in..just room temp water and the cold items?

Offline BaitBucket

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #59 on: Jan 22, 2016, 09:21 AM »
Jon. i did an overnight on the ice last season. We had a small heater going all night as well. I had the vents open and left one of the side doors partially unzipped. Everything went fine, but i wont lie, i had that thought in the back of my mind the whole time. Which doesnt make sleeping any easier.

Another thing to consider, could having a few guys sleeping in a small pop up huffing O2 all night pose a similar problem? Even with vents?
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