1st ice trip ever(outfitters wheelhouse) what to bring

I’m taking a trip to Mille Lacs in January with 2 friends who have never ice fished before. I only have limited experience with ice fishing and none of my own equipment. We will be doing one day of mobile guided fishing then staying in a new Yetti fish house for 2 nights. The outfitter is providing the ice fishing equipment and a generator. What are the things we should bring other than the obvious(beer, food, paper plates, etc..)? What don’t we know?

Here is the list of things we need to bring according to the guide for the fish house:
five gallon gas cans-for the generator. the guide can not supply the gas due to insurance policy reasons.
sleeping bags & pillows
disposable plates, silverware, cups
food and booze
unlimited data or jet pack/hotspot and a roku or other streaming deal
Drinking water
paper towels
bait bucket with aerator use the wall plug in the ice house
slippers and comfy clothes
fillet knife and cutting board
ziploc bags and sharpie for fish
Trash bags
portable loo if we wanted it.

We’ve been told that using the in-house toilet will smell horrible and isn’t advised. I’ve seen things on this forum about using a bucket with toilet seat and plastic bags then throwing the bags away in a trash can outside. How do you mount the seat to the bucket? Is there a better system/method?

Other things we need to know?

Not sure how familiar you are with the regulations on Mille lacs. You can only keep 1 walleye per person and it has to be within 21-23 inches. I haven’t caught one in that range in multiple years now. The perch can be huge but are few and far between. So unless you plan on eating pike, you probably won’t need the ziploc bags. That being said, you can have a blast catching and releasing fish on this lake if you time it right.

Portable grill or small weber so you can grill up brats, burgers, steaks.

5 gallon bucket and some trash bags should suffice for a toilet. Check to make sure the group you are renting from disposes of all of this stuff for you. The lugable loo toilet is nice but not a neccesity.

Pay attention to the new Covid regs as well. According to the governor’s speech, you can only have 1 househould for “outdoor” activities. Doubt anyone up there will care, and you’re still 2 months away, but that could easily be extended into January.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the tips! We are watching the covid recommendations and directed health measures closely. We will make sure we have a regs book with us. We aren’t particular about what fish we catch we just want to catch some and we don’t have any problem releasing them.

Jim Ageton wrote:

We’ve been told that using the in-house toilet will smell horrible and isn’t advised. I’ve seen things on this forum about using a bucket with toilet seat and plastic bags then throwing the bags away in a trash can outside. How do you mount the seat to the bucket? Is there a better system/method?

Other things we need to know?

This seems odd about using the inhouse toilet. I figured by design the stench would be mitigated somewhat.

The bucket? Unless you’re going to use it outside (not recommended) you’ll still be releasing some funk inside the house. I would recommend the Lugable loo though. It’s not expensive and the seat makes the process much more comfortable. I’d also suggest the Lugable bags, they have a dry chemical in them plus they fold up into a compact Ziploc when you’re done.

Don’t forget pots/pans, first aid kit and rattle reels for the overnight when the big walleyes show up.

As far as the bathroom goes, you just have to be quick. Get in and out and crack the window. As mentioned, tie up the bag and get it outside.

I’ve seen worse then the specific ice castle design I think you’re mentioning. But, you can stink up the whole house a little.

Some of the homemade outfitter houses I’ve been in on LOW have nothing more than a curtain dividing the bathroom, and it’s in the back of the house where there is no ventilation. In those situations, everyone would go stand outside and drink a beer while the other took care of business and thoroughly ventilated the house and sprayed some air purifier (add that to your list – ozium is you can find it, is the best).

Backup heat source like a big buddy heater and extra propane for buddy heater. If you have a small hub fishhouse that works for good for bathroom outside. Can even heat with buddy heater if needed.

Take about 5 anti-diaharea pills and you won’t have to crap until you get home.
If it’s a new yetti it should have a dry bathroom, like a outhouse with a door, window, and toilet seat with a bucket underneath. Do your thing,close up the bag and throw it outside. It’ll be frozen solid by the the time you leave, then put all those in a big trash bag (leaf bag)

Whomever takes the last leak of the night top off the generator, ya don’t wanna wake up at ten to four in the morning & get out of that cozy sleeping bag half hungover, half drunk and go outside. That just sucks…so I’ve been told.

I leave a stocking hat with a headlamp on it hanging by the door. Always good to be able to see when the generator dies at 3:50 in the morning.

One thing I’ve learned over the years whether its open water fishing, hunting, whatever, when a group gets together for a few days there’s always too much food. Guy’s mean well and want to pitch in(hopefully) but snacks to graze on throughout the day along with a nice dinner will suffice. I’ve many trips where 75% of the food brought up makes the trip back home.

A small rug outside the door is nice so when you go outside you don’t kill yourself on glare ice.
Ask if the house has rattle wheels, it should.
You’ll have a blast!

The rug out side is the best thing I’ve read. AND like he also stated we always bring to much food.

If you go to mille lacs bring enough batter and oil for the fish

Don’t forget tp. Coffee, and a pack of mtn dew

Beer, beer, and more beer.

Bearcat89 wrote:

The rug out side is the best thing I’ve read. AND like he also stated we always bring to much food.

X2

If you go to mille lacs bring enough batter and oil for the fish

Pretty much have everything already covered. Games to pass the time, cards, dice, whatever your fancy.

Sometimes if you bring everything everyone suggests it’s too much, just like the food. You’re only doing a couple nights so keep it simple.

Antacid, ibuprofen should be first on the grocery list. Heard that from let’s say a friend

If the bathroom does have a window, we always brought a small battery powered fan and when someone went #2, open the window and stick the fan in there to blow the smell out. Don’t forget to turn off or you will go through the propane.

Patk mentioned cards and reminded me that last year I bought a large piece of green felt at Hobby Lobby to put on the table for playing cards. Its inexpensive and very nice to have.

This is more directed at guys that own houses I suppose.
I’m kinda getting fired up, might have to go hang out in the shack today!

On Mille Lacs most of the resorts have showers and toilets, my wife and I like to go once a day, take care of toilet use then, and freshen up with a shower. I know this in not ideal for people who can not hold the business for 24 hours, but it works for us, and keeps us from dealing with full cassettes in the toilet.

Also a Lagaloo works great in a second hand pop up hub works great, and you can still fish.

A pizzaz pizza cooker works great for pizza poppers and hot wings! If you bring a slow cooker, get the bags to cook in, saves on clean up and waste. Hand wipes, clorox saniwipes, Wet wipes are all great things to have with.

What outfitter you using? I Dont know of any that rent Yetti models on Mille Lacs.

A shovel.

I throw some cat litter in the bag with my 5 gallon pail toilet. Works pretty good. Be nice to your outfitter and use non oxygenated gas, he’ll appreciate that.