Anyone have a plow on the ATV?

[jfkro]

I have a plow on the ATV but have not used it on the ice.   Does any one have a plow on the ATV?
Do you take it on/off when you use the wheeler on ice OR do you use the plow to aid you in clearing snow to set up shack?  We are starting to get a lot of snow on the ice and just thinking if that was a wise move or not.   Many of the lakes here have restriction on ATV use but on the ones that do not I am thinking I might need it.

[matty23]

i take it off but was thinking of using it to plow snow away from the hole....

[eyesonice]

Be careful plowing on a lake, I know where I live if someone hits a snow pile that you caused by plowing and gets hurt and they can prove it was you, you can be held responsible. Some idiot on a snowmobile going way to fast could be a real problem for you.

[fishinfool73]

why are there restrictions on using atvs?

[NHSlabbinCabin]

I have a Yamaha Grizzly 700 with a Warn plow setup. I plow around the bobhouses all the time. Matty23 has a good point. Tuck the piles out of the way. But it works well on the ice

[jfkro]

why are there restrictions on using atvs?

Not in South Dakota where I do my Walleye fishing but I retired from the Military in Nebraska and I was reading the 2011 Fishing book that restricts ATV's use on iced lakes only in lakes listed in the handbook.  Most of the lakes I fish around here were not listed, thus I can not drive on them.  I noticed the lakes I can drive on were the larger bodies of ice.

[fishinfool73]

boy never heard of that one before. glad i dont live there.

[IDbasser]

I have a plow, but have not taken it on the ice.  I don't use the atv much for ice fishing.  The main place I go doesn't allow any type of motorized vehicle on the lake.

[Team Lightning]

I do have a county plow.... it rides pretty low and is WIDER than the 4-wheeler trailer so it doesn't get HAULED but I live close enough to my home lake to ride it down to the boat ramp.   You can plow the snow....problem here right now is that when you plow out an area....be prepared for a GUSHER when you start drilling holes....the snow is so heavy it is pushing the ice down and the water squirts right up thru the hole.....you can be fishing with inches of water and now slush on top of the ice.

[srock67]

I leave my plow on and have used it to plow a path out to the hot spots several times works great.

[Fatfish]

I take my plow off. I have been icefishing for 6 years and never needed to use a plow to get to or from my icefishing spot.  Jerry

[carpenter75]

Plows reduce your clearance greatly but with the right tires it works. We have 3 feet of snow on the ice here so mine would do me no good. If you are camping and have kids with you I would leave "SOME" snow to reduce slips on the slick ice but it will be easier for the little ones to get around.

[JIGGIN-]

I've had friends that offered to plow around my house so that it would increase sunlight penetration through the ice which would increase visibility on the underwater camera.

I tell them no thanks. Anytime I've seen a plowed area around someones shanty, it usually fills up with water and turns into a moat. I'd rather just let the snow suck up the water, deal with the slush and let it freeze up (better chance of freezing up). Keeping the house jacked up so it's out of the slush.

JIGGIN.

[Bugman1964]

They don't plow heavy wet snow very well even with chains. Mine doesn't anyways. I never used mine on the ice to plow snow.

[carpenter75]

The responses here depend greatly on weather you have 4" of ice in your area or 4' and weather you have 2" of snow or 3'.

[esox13]

only time I use it is when we are going to have a large group then I"ll plow the base camp area. Otherwise I bring a shovel to clear out the snow under my shack etc...

[Lobes]

The only time I ever did was in the middle of a long period of overcast days. The bite was very slow in the shallows where we usually get all of the action so I wanted to try the dropoff nearby. I plowed about a 60' line along the dropoff and punched in a line of holes to drop the camera. When that extra light came through the panfish swarmed in and we slammed nice gills for about three hours. This was mid-February and we were having to get creative.

                                       
NBG

[jfkro]

Plows reduce your clearance greatly but with the right tires it works. We have 3 feet of snow on the ice here so mine would do me no good. If you are camping and have kids with you I would leave "SOME" snow to reduce slips on the slick ice but it will be easier for the little ones to get around.

If I had to go through 3' of snow, I would invest in some snow shoes to pull my shappell and sleds out there or invest in a snowmobile.  And a good shovel for base camp

[jfkro]

The only time I ever did was in the middle of a long period of overcast days. The bite was very slow in the shallows where we usually get all of the action so I wanted to try the dropoff nearby. I plowed about a 60' line along the dropoff and punched in a line of holes to drop the camera. When that extra light came through the panfish swarmed in and we slammed nice gills for about three hours. This was mid-February and we were having to get creative.

                                       
NBG

A couple of you mentioned the advantage of the extra light penetration and even though I realize the snow defused the light I did not realize that it would make that much difference but from what you say it makes a huge difference even by the results you got from it.   And of course to aid in my camera as well.
Most of the lakes I have fished recently have drifted snow and at most perhaps 12-14" of snow which my plow should be able to take care of, especially if I throw on the studded chains.

[Trapperdirk]

I leave my plow on and often it is even a big help because if the snow is deep I angle the plow and it pushes the snow aside so I don't hang up on it . You have to have a plow though that is atleast the width of your tire track .

[carpenter75]

If I had to go through 3' of snow, I would invest in some snow shoes to pull my shappell and sleds out there or invest in a snowmobile.  And a good shovel for base camp

We drive on and shovel as well unless we have a large group with lots of little ones, then we try to get a little more creative so the small ones that have to short of legs to walk in the deep snow are not landlocked! They all need the opportunity to get to call "fish-on!"