Ely area folks -I need some help/advice

[45Fly]

Hello again,

I posted earlier about the White Iron Lake and got some great responses so thought I'd throw this out there.  I'm going to be up in the area for the month of February and want to bring my fishing gear, but have some issues -including:

Space in my vehicle
Cost of replacing/adding more items
Me approaching the stage of old fartness ... can I pull all this stuff day after day to and across the lake(s)?!!


So here goes.  I have a late model Clam trap.  It's in great shape but heavy!  I realized this last night here in ID when I went out and had a foot of fresh snow I had to drag it through - it was like dragging my car behind me.  Do I need to bring the Clam trap or look at something there - something lighter?  My Clam trap fits in my vehicle and I am hard pressed to justify buying another flipover.  Are there any options in Ely to rent something? Is there somewhere in Ely I can buy one if I can convince myself to do so?  Is there such a thing as a ice fishing coop sort of thing around there  - where you can buy gently used stuff or am I just dreaming?

Second problem -  cold feet.  I think this is where the old fartness comes in again.  Here we rarely get dry powdered snow.  It tends to be a much wetter snow.  The lightpacks are rubber bottomed cloth tops so when you walk thru the slush the water goes above the rubber top and soaks the liners and freezes my dang feet.  Any suggestions on any warm boots (yup, affordable)?  I have tried insulated Lacrosse rubber boots and my feet froze in them.  I have the mukluks from Steiger and they're not the expedition weights, so my feet still are cold.  Not sure if the expedition weight is feasible for out here since it has the leather top - and can't see buying boots just for this one trip.

I used to live in MN and it's where I learned to ice fish so I'm not completely green.  I've always dreamed of ice fishing in the Ely area this time of year. 
Here's my reality.  This is what my wife and I are calling our trip of a lifetime....she is having some health issues and we decided to bite the bullet, take the time off from work and spend money to head to MN so I can ice fish in heaven and she can have the month to rest, relax and use a sauna every day.  I would appreciate any tips, suggestions, leads and ideas you might have.  The last thing I want is to be stressing out about this great trip and I'm starting down that road.


Thanks in advance.  Youall are a great source of information.   

[Hard Ice]

Would it be possible to mount skis under your trap to disperse the weight ?
Don't take the whole kitchen sink just what you need to catch fish .. 2 rods and lite weight hole cleaner and bait , locater..


Now on the boots I've found the Arctic pro's from muck boots to be very warm  after you layer your socks find a wicking sock to put on first then a heavyweight sock ..

[45Fly]

Thanks for the input.  I have thought about putting skies under it which would work great out here.  But trying to fit it all in a Nissan Cube can be the hold up.  I see they have the woody max on sale do you know anything about them.

Thanks