what to bank with

[spearingMN]

should be enough ice next weekend for my permanet house, but theres no snow for banking and nothing in the forecast for this week, Never had this problem before. What do you do when theres no snow? im thinking about plywood skirting or drilling a bunch of holes for the slush?

[PikeSticker]

Drilling a bunch of holes is not a bad idea for the slush if you have some decent ice thickness. 12 inches doesn't make much slush though = lots of holes. If you go with something that wet I'd suggest taking some black garage bags and tack them along the sides of your shanty with a staple gun then add the slush on the bags and just out beyond their edges. The bags serve two purposes: They darken the ice for a couple feet around your house and therefore don't allow as much light to penetrate the ice under your shack so your house is darker. And it keeps the slush from freezing to your sidewalls and skids but the stuff frozen to the lake ice makes everything locked in and secure from the wind storms. Just some thoughts on some things I've used in the past. Bright sunny days can heat up the bags and melt your ice but maybe by then you will have plenty of snow for banking.

[marlich9]

There is some snow on the edge of the lake so I plan to fill my Otter sled  a few times to bank my house.
One year their was no snow and we just setup and was rewarded with a nice 11 lbs northern.

[spearchucker]

I like to use burlap sacks. You can pack them around the bottom or wet them and let them freeze down.

[gooseblaster49707]

never thought of burlap sacks but, makes sence.   would prefer pieces of insulation held in place with the ice/slush from my tip-up holes until we get some snow.

[jasonmichalski]

A few weeks ago when there was no snow I banked the edge of the hub shanty with the auger and the spud and the ice chunks.