Author Topic: towing or carrying your gear on the ice (Read 3553 times)

Uncle Al · « **on:** Jul 22, 2015, 11:35 AM »

I have a new to me sled to use this winter and wondered how everyone gets their stuff out to their fishing spot. Do you pack it all onto your sled or quad, or is everything on or in something you tow. Any pics?

Lavman · « **Reply #1 on:** Jul 22, 2015, 02:02 PM »

Two words for you to search this site with: SMITTY SLED

Seriously, it will blow your mind. It is the best invention for ice fishing since the auger

Uncle Al · « **Reply #2 on:** Jul 22, 2015, 03:27 PM »

You're right about the SMITTY SLED, I have one, and use it when I walk on the river to fish. I have never pulled it with a snowmobile, have thought about it but wondered how it would hold up. Where I fish is BIG and Brutal, lots of wind blown drifts and cracks to cross, sometimes travel 10 miles to get out to where the fish are.

Baetis62 · « **Reply #3 on:** Jul 22, 2015, 10:55 PM »

If walking and traveling light I have an old Jet Sled on a Smitty. If fishing large reservoirs and traveling 1-20 miles in a day searching for lakers I have a Magnum Otter behind the Foreman but drag it on the hyfax and leave the Smitty.

Chris338378 · « **Reply #4 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 02:54 AM »

For me it depends on where I'm going to fish and how long I plan on being out for the day. If it's going to be a short day, I'm only going to jig, or if it's a hike through the woods with no snow I put my gear in a trapper's basket, they work great. If I'm going to be out all day long, going to jig and set up tip-ups, and there's enough snow to get on the ice or a short distance to the ice I load up everything in my Jet Sled. That works good but I'm going to make a Smitty Sled to put it on when I get time.

hardwater diehard · « **Reply #5 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 07:34 AM »

I have a Shappel ATV rack on my Yamaha for my Frabill ..helps with my 1 mile trek to the lake via the main road ..after I set up on the ice I use a tow bar if traveling/movingany great distance across the ice (with a shelter travel cover). But last season was tough going for my ATV with the snow cover and drifting so the Smitty sled was in use for most of the season .

Uncle Al · « **Reply #6 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 07:39 AM »

Quote from: hardwater diehard on Jul 23, 2015, 07:34 AM

I have a Shappel ATV rack on my Yamaha for my Frabill ..helps with my 1 mile trek to the lake via the main road ..after I set up on the ice I use a tow bar if traveling/movingany great distance across the ice (with a shelter travel cover). But last season was tough going for my ATV with the snow cover and drifting so the Smitty sled was in use for most of the season .

how did the smitty hold up, I sometimes travel 10 miles on the ice over drifts, cracks. Last year was rough, stuff in my clam would be upside down, broke, missing, didn't like that. going to make some compartments in it for this year.

3300 · « **Reply #7 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 07:57 AM »

until the ice gets tough to walk thru with 200# of gear in it (early ice), i use a large cabelas sled with otter hyfax runners on the bottom to make it pull MUCH easier and save the bottom from scrapes. when the snow is deep enough i put my smitty skies together and then the cabelas sled goes on top of that and then load it down and hold the sled on the skies with motorcyle straps to the eye hooks i added to the raiser boards on each corner. i use a reflective rope and made it extra long so it doesn't try to lift the front of the skies. that makes it much harder to pull if using short rope. i added clips to my ropes and they clip to the front eye bolts on the raiser boards my motorcycle straps are on. i tried like many pictures show to use the ski tips, but that made it back heavy and much harder to pull also. it did make it easier to turn around is all.
if and when it gets hard to pull the smitty skies, then i use my snow blower to make plenty of parking for all and extra wide path to the general area we fish. one lake i only use it to clear the eavesment and parking properties and don't go that far out on the lake to worry about clearing trails in it.
some times if scouting, i travel extra light and only use the cabelas sled and minimal equipment and i do this when snow is too deep and hard to walk in and don't stay out as long w/o heat and shelter and lights.

i am on my 1st smitty skies built a few seasons ago and they need to be made stronger this season where the crossover boards sit on the raiser boards. i made them colapsable and want to keep them that way.

some have added skies directly to the bottoms of their plastic sleds, but only cross country skies are flat enough to do that and not wide enough like down hill skies are.
i might get the giant sized jet sled (110$) this season being i am hauling gear for 2 many times now, some times for 3.

heres the link you are being reffered to.
smitty0312
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?PHPSESSID=1299069f9a2c17bdab9e482ee81c73dd&topic=103927.0

hardwater diehard · « **Reply #8 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 08:03 AM »

Quote from: Uncle Al on Jul 23, 2015, 07:39 AM

how did the smitty hold up, I sometimes travel 10 miles on the ice over drifts, cracks. Last year was rough, stuff in my clam would be upside down, broke, missing, didn't like that. going to make some compartments in it for this year.

I dragged my Smitty by hand ...but I suppose if you built one with your needs in mind a studier model could be designed for motorized travel . Every thing has a place ,compartment, storage and/or tie down add a shelter cover and most mishaps can be avoided .. sportsmans totes, buckets...file crates galore .

Uncle Al · « **Reply #9 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 08:17 AM »

HD, i hear ya about everything has it's place, I like to have my stuff organized and after a roller coaster ride everything is a mess. One ride last year i found my locking cooler that i use for a minnow bucket upside down and empty of water.

hardwater diehard · « **Reply #10 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 08:33 AM »

On my ATV I mounted/strapped a file crate to the front ...I then place a 5 gallon bucket in that and then goes my Plano 722 minnow bucket ....keeps the mess down some in the shelter due to minnow bucket tip over .

Uncle Al · « **Reply #11 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 08:52 AM »

I bought a 2 gal coleman water jug at a rummage sale this year going to see how it works as a minnow bucket. Had a 1/2 gallon one a couple of years ago and the screw on cap kept freezing and couldn't get at the minnows.

Spider1 · « **Reply #12 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 08:58 AM »

I pack everything into my clam big mouth. With hyfax runners it is fine on ice or in snow that is only a couple inches deep or less. If there's any real snow on the ice I put it on my good ol' smitty sled and load 'er up. If I'm only going out for a couple hours on an impulse I might just carry some stuff out in a bucket but for most of my trips, tossing the sled in the back of the truck ain't much of a problem.

I agree with the guys, if you are gonna pull a sled around and you get snow, a smitty is the way to go. I had a 2x8 and a couple pieces of 2x4 and some old skis, took about an hour to bang one together. Not hard at all to make, if you can use a saw and a drill, you can make a smitty sled.

bean counter · « **Reply #13 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 09:00 AM »

Quote from: Uncle Al on Jul 23, 2015, 08:52 AM

I bought a 2 gal coleman water jug at a rummage sale this year going to see how it works as a minnow bucket. Had a 1/2 gallon one a couple of years ago and the screw on cap kept freezing and couldn't get at the minnows.

I ran into the same thing with the screw top cooler (design flaw i didn't see coming). I switched to the flip top cooler and it works great. I drilled a small hole for the air hose and double stick velcro'd the portable air pump to the lid. Works great. No more water slopping around... Here's a link to the cooler i used:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-9-Quart-Island-Breeze-Cooler/23735483

Uncle Al · « **Reply #14 on:** Jul 23, 2015, 06:37 PM »

the cooler I had was about twice the size of the one in the link with a lock when the handle was up to carry it, and also locked when the handle was down in a certain position. made a heck of a mess in the bottom of my clam. I have a piece of carpet on the bottom trying to keep things from moving, everything was frozen to it when I got home that night,including the carpet frozen to the bottom, put it up in the garage with the heater on till i could remove it.

Uncle Al · « **Reply #15 on:** Aug 02, 2015, 07:21 AM »

bean counter, after seeing that cooler in your link I knew that I had one somewhere, I found the cooler, but no top. I finally found the top, your mention of an aerator has me thinking also. Thanks

bart · « **Reply #16 on:** Aug 02, 2015, 02:32 PM »

Both, but I usually don't have anything in tow unless someone is with me or sometimes bringing the tip-ups.

Lavman · « **Reply #17 on:** Aug 03, 2015, 06:51 AM »

I have been wanting to build something like this for some time now to tow behind the ATV. It would easily carry all the gear (thinking to make some compartments to keep items secure and organized) and you could have a couple passengers on it

Uncle Al · « **Reply #18 on:** Aug 03, 2015, 09:00 AM »

Lavman, you could get a flip over tent and frame, hook it to the side of that sled, and fish in it.

Lavman · « **Reply #19 on:** Aug 03, 2015, 09:27 AM »

There's a thought Uncle Al, lots of possibilities.

I have a Frabil Headquarters tent and after all the snow we had last season and trying to set it up I am thinking to build a folding portable floor system for it....

Here we are out in the deep snow, a floor would have been really nice! With the deep snow you don't want to shovel down to the bare ice (ice will flood) so you have to try and pack the snow inside the tent which doesn't work very well. A lightweight folding floor system would be sweet.

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Author Topic: towing or carrying your gear on the ice (Read 3553 times)