Author Topic: Ice holes freezing over. Solution (Read 7986 times)

elktalk101 · « **on:** Nov 19, 2019, 01:32 PM »

People do you have your ice fishing holes freeze over. I know that I did. I tried all kinds of things, alcohol, buckets, the aerator egg that Walmart sells and nothing worked until now. I decided to try one of the portable fish aquamarine aerators. The one I found that works great is the Marine Metal Baby Bubble Box Aquarium Aerator Pump. It has a clip on it so I can attach it to my rod holder so it does not get kicked down the hole. Then you just drop the hose with the air stone on it about halfway down the thickness of the ice and wow no more freeze over. I have and my friends have purchased these and they have worked very well for all of us. A double A battery last all day. Let me know if this works for you also. I think that you will be surprised. Being as I am sharing, another little trick that I do is I cut a hole in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket so I can place this over my lantern. You leave enough room around the lantern so you can place your hands near it to warm them up. What makes this so good is the wind does not blow all the heat away it comes straight up out of the hole This works great. Cut a round piece of plywood to place in the bucket bottom so you can also hall stuff in it.

mtcommonwalleyeguy · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 19, 2019, 02:37 PM »

Great thought! I've used these bad boys for aerating the livewell on the boat to great success, so having an off-season use would be excellent!

missoulafish · « **Reply #2 on:** Nov 19, 2019, 04:19 PM »

also an option...
https://www.thornebros.com/products/cold-nation-ice-defense-classic-pro?variant=30179732127818

stinkyfingers · « **Reply #3 on:** Nov 19, 2019, 05:17 PM »

Quote from: elktalk101 on Nov 19, 2019, 01:32 PM

People do you have your ice fishing holes freeze over. I know that I did. I tried all kinds of things, alcohol, buckets, the aerator egg that Walmart sells and nothing worked until now. I decided to try one of the portable fish aquamarine aerators. The one I found that works great is the Marine Metal Baby Bubble Box Aquarium Aerator Pump. It has a clip on it so I can attach it to my rod holder so it does not get kicked down the hole. Then you just drop the hose with the air stone on it about halfway down the thickness of the ice and wow no more freeze over. I have and my friends have purchased these and they have worked very well for all of us. A double A battery last all day. Let me know if this works for you also. I think that you will be surprised. Being as I am sharing, another little trick that I do is I cut a hole in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket so I can place this over my lantern. You leave enough room around the lantern so you can place your hands near it to warm them up. What makes this so good is the wind does not blow all the heat away it comes straight up out of the hole This works great. Cut a round piece of plywood to place in the bucket bottom so you can also hall stuff in it.

Best choice, in my view, is the Hush Bubbles pump. Pretty quiet, about like a flasher. Said to run 52 hours on 2 "D" cells. I shim the air hose with a 3" piece of foam pipe

insulation so the air stone hangs down closer to the center of the hole. Amazon sells them for $15.99/ea.

missoulafish… those Thorne Bros. gadgets retail at about $100 ea. per the website.

missoulafish · « **Reply #4 on:** Nov 19, 2019, 05:22 PM »

considerable cost difference fo sho!

elktalk101 · « **Reply #5 on:** Nov 20, 2019, 08:10 AM »

Good thought Stinkyfingers. I slide a heavy nut down on the air stone to keep it somewhat straight down. The hose does tend to have a few bends to it. I also cut off any excess that I do not need. You can pick up the baby bubbles model for around $6 if you look around. These run fairly quite also. I have had several fishing trips on the same batteries but am not sure how many hours they will run.

Iceassin · « **Reply #6 on:** Nov 20, 2019, 08:31 AM »

Freeze over hardly a bother for me. Just hit it with the skimmer now and then. I also use spring bobbers so the skim doesn't affect them the way it does floats.

sra61 · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 21, 2019, 03:11 PM »

I bought some of these last winter, and they really work pretty good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3scZJmf_f2w

SirCranksalot · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 21, 2019, 07:01 PM »

I have used my reg rapala aerator that I use on the minnow pail.

wyogator · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 30, 2019, 10:51 AM »

I had no idea about the Baby Bubbles until I checked this thread. That's pretty sweet they run on AA. I may have to get one for my minnow container. I am sick of having to buy D batteries.

Sylvanboat · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 30, 2019, 02:23 PM »

12 X 12 inch carpet squares. Cut a slot from center of any side to middle. Slide tip up post thru middle. In my hut I also put carpet squares btw feet and ice for insulation. I put on the heat vent at night and they are dry by morning.

PerchPounderMT · « **Reply #11 on:** Nov 30, 2019, 04:48 PM »

Quote from: sra61 on Nov 21, 2019, 03:11 PM

I bought some of these last winter, and they really work pretty good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3scZJmf_f2w

Where did you find them?

Mizayikaa · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 01, 2019, 10:28 PM »

Get a couple of brain dead dogs. They will keep your holes open and everyone else's too.

gadgetman · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 02, 2019, 07:12 AM »

aquarium234 · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 02, 2019, 07:45 AM »

I hear a shanty can do wonders for keeping holes open.....;-)

Born Late · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 02, 2019, 10:15 AM »

Quote from: PerchPounderMT on Nov 30, 2019, 04:48 PM

Where did you find them?

I found the best price at Sportsman’s Guide but they’re also available at Amazon.

Exactly the same unit sold by Lucky Duck as a “quiver magnet.”

elktalk101 · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 02, 2019, 04:03 PM »

You can also find them on Ebay for around$10 each.

Worktoplay · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 04, 2019, 01:37 PM »

Go to lowes and have them cut a sheet of plywood down to 12x12 squares make a slot for the line or tips ups paint them black n clear coat them problem solved

SirCranksalot · « **Reply #18 on:** Dec 04, 2019, 05:46 PM »

or get a black piece of runner normally used to step on inside the door---usually made from rubber.

elktalk101 · « **Reply #19 on:** Dec 04, 2019, 05:58 PM »

That's all fine as long as you are using tip ups. But if you use a bobber that doesn't work so good.

RuttNutt · « **Reply #20 on:** Dec 04, 2019, 06:18 PM »

Quote from: elktalk101 on Nov 19, 2019, 01:32 PM

People do you have your ice fishing holes freeze over. I know that I did. I tried all kinds of things, alcohol, buckets, the aerator egg that Walmart sells and nothing worked until now. I decided to try one of the portable fish aquamarine aerators. The one I found that works great is the Marine Metal Baby Bubble Box Aquarium Aerator Pump. It has a clip on it so I can attach it to my rod holder so it does not get kicked down the hole. Then you just drop the hose with the air stone on it about halfway down the thickness of the ice and wow no more freeze over. I have and my friends have purchased these and they have worked very well for all of us. A double A battery last all day. Let me know if this works for you also. I think that you will be surprised. Being as I am sharing, another little trick that I do is I cut a hole in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket so I can place this over my lantern. You leave enough room around the lantern so you can place your hands near it to warm them up. What makes this so good is the wind does not blow all the heat away it comes straight up out of the hole This works great. Cut a round piece of plywood to place in the bucket bottom so you can also hall stuff in it.

Just curious why the egg aerator didn’t work for you? I’ve been using mine for several years now and it works great! Even bought another one last year so I have a backup.

elktalk101 · « **Reply #21 on:** Dec 05, 2019, 08:05 AM »

Egg aerator problems. If any water gets in them while pulling in a fish (they sometimes get submerged from the action) they quit making bubbles. I had six of them and they all died. My fishing buddy had six and his all died. The motor still runs just no bubbles. We tried everything we could think of and still get no bubbles. We dried them out at home and still nothing. I wasted a lot of money on these just to throw them out. If you use these be very careful that they do not get any water thru the cap.

RuttNutt · « **Reply #22 on:** Dec 05, 2019, 08:58 AM »

Yeah, you definitely have to watch that. And how you handle them so they don't get dunked underwater(can't drop them in the hole). If you notice, I made a lanyard on mine thru the hole in the cap so they are easy to grab. First thing I do when I have a fish on is pull it out of the hole.

I had a few issues before I made the modifications. But every time they got dunked, I took the cap off and battery out and dumped the water out and blew out all the excess(wasn't a lot of water, but apparently just enough to cause problems). Still wouldn't blow bubbles, but once I got it home I put it next to the wood stove to dry and next time out it was fine. I have done this several times with each of my bubblers and they are still working fine.

wyogator · « **Reply #23 on:** Dec 08, 2019, 01:13 AM »

I have tried everything from carpet squares to the foam sleeping pads you get at Wal-Mart, cut in a circle. My friend used Heet for cars. That's gotta be bad for the environment. The best thing for me is a good old spud bar. The Eskimo Red Neck chisel would be smaller and lighter weight. A skimmer works for thin skim ice.

Born Late · « **Reply #24 on:** Dec 08, 2019, 09:50 AM »

Even if you paid me the $140, I wouldn’t add 6.5 pounds to my sled.

pmmpete · « **Reply #25 on:** Dec 08, 2019, 10:22 AM »

I made hole insulators out of a foam cushioned foot mat I bought at Home Depot which is glued to a piece of masonite. I made mine long enough to support the Ice Rigger tip-ups I use, but you could make similar insulators just a couple inches bigger than your fishing holes.

G fish · « **Reply #26 on:** Dec 08, 2019, 10:27 AM »

Now that’s using your dipstick Pete. Great idea. 👍👍

Mizayikaa · « **Reply #27 on:** Dec 09, 2019, 12:03 AM »

Oh man, this is about to get good.

RyanW · « **Reply #28 on:** Dec 09, 2019, 01:01 AM »

Quote from: Van Noord on Dec 08, 2019, 11:10 PM

It's for extreme cold weather deadsticking. Usually by way of snow machine.
Not really intended for the walk on, sled pulled by hand, pond jumping type of angler in who fishes in mild-moderate winter temps.

Is that what the salesman told you?

Quantoson · « **Reply #29 on:** Dec 09, 2019, 07:35 AM »

Quote from: Mizayikaa on Dec 09, 2019, 12:03 AM

Oh man, this is about to get good.

Got my pop corn ready!

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Author Topic: Ice holes freezing over. Solution (Read 7986 times)

Mizayikaa

Mizayikaa