Otter cottage reviews

I found a deal on an otter cottage 1200 that I just could not pass up so I pulled the trigger. It’s listed as an ultra wide 1 man. I’ve always wanted a lodge but I figured for the price I got this at I couldn’t go wrong and I can always get the lodge another time if I ever have the dough. Anyway, I’m here asking opinions from those that own/fish from a cottage. There are tons of posts on cabins and lodges and even hideouts but it seems the cottage is the forgotten shack…

Anyone fish 2 guys out of this regularly?

I suggest not fishing two adults of any stature out of a cottage. It can work with kids, but it’s clearly a 1-adult shack.

I suggest getting a second cottage, one without the cross-link seating, so they can be stacked. I often prefer using two cottages over using a lodge and they are much easier to haul around and setup IMO.

crappie55369 wrote:

I found a deal on an otter cottage 1200 that I just could not pass up so I pulled the trigger. It’s listed as an ultra wide 1 man. I’ve always wanted a lodge but I figured for the price I got this at I couldn’t go wrong and I can always get the lodge another time if I ever have the dough. Anyway, I’m here asking opinions from those that own/fish from a cottage. There are tons of posts on cabins and lodges and even hideouts but it seems the cottage is the forgotten shack…

Anyone fish 2 guys out of this regularly?

Was this a deal for a new or used shack? If new, will you PM me where you found a deal? I’m in the market for the Cottage and am thinking about picking one up at the ice show this weekend.

i actually found two deals on black friday and purchased both of them because one store was going to run out of them before the other one opened up for business and i didnt want to miss out on the deals. i found an otter 1200 for 449$ plus 45$ shipping at marine general out of duluth & Cabelas had a 650 on sale for the same price. I plan on keeping the 1200 and selling or returning the 650. I think both of those deals are over at this time.

Crappie the wife and I fish 2 people out of our Cottage. I also bought another seat for it once we realized we could fish together out of it. It probably wouldn’t work to well if one of you were fairly tall or big but for us it works fine. I also just ordered a Otter Hideout today I do a lot of walking on ice around here and that 30# lighter is going to be nice !!!

If I do it all over again I buy 2 cottage as well. Most of the time its just me and my brother, but we hardly fishes together. Mostly hole hopping. 90% of the time our lodge don’t get setup. I think we would have used it more if they were cottages. Will probably sell my lodge if I can convince him. The lodge is nice if you have kids though. I can fit 2 kids and the wife plus me.

I love my cottage when on foot with one kid. You did great on the price! nice work.

I used a Cottage for years and I really liked it. Most the time I did fish alone in it but there were plenty of times I had two guys fishing out of it. Like Glenn-d said you can buy another seat and fit it in there. I actually would just set on the bar or stick a bucket between the bar and the side of the sled and set on that. But if I were going to fish with two people a lot out of it I would splurge for another seat.

thanks for the feedback fellas. feeling excited about the purchase now. ya I probably wont be fishing 2 out of it a lot maybe just the wife once in a while and my fishing buddy but hes 6’3 about 250 pounds so don’t know how much he would enjoy that. I know pulling will be a lot easier with the cottage than with the lodge

I have a Cottage and it’s great for the wife and I, we even squeeze my son in their with us sometimes, but that’s a tight fit.

I wouldn’t get too excited about pulling it around though, even though it’s smaller than the lodge it still plows snow. Build yourself a smitty sled and it pulls like a dream. Although I bet the lodge pulls almost the same one a smitty as the cottage.

I hear ya on the Smitty Phil !!! I built one last year and it’s amazing.

I love my cottage. I used locking pins to attach the bench seat instead of bolts so I could stack if I needed to. 10 seconds to pull the pins. You can fish 2 adults but, the person sitting on the front part of the sled needs to be ready if the other stands up. The sled may tip.

My wife and I have a 1200 Cottage. It works pretty good. I drilled a hole for an eye bolt in the seat rail and bungee a 5 gal. bucket to it on the deep end and have a boat seat that fits on the bucket. If you slide the Otter seat all the way to the other side it fits fine. Plenty of room for each of us to fish 1 line. I also have the Otter Cabin hub for when we set up for night time Crappie. Everything fits in my trailer with the atv. I put an Otter Monster Box on the atv and put the pop up in a Otter Auger Carrier that fits on the Otter Box and tow the cottage. You will love the Cottage it is the best 1 man and can double as a pretty good 2 man. Enjoy!!!

after having assembled the cottage I spent some time putting in all of the items I bring out ice fishing and boy its a tight fit! any recommendations or configurations that you guys have found to be the most successful fit? I bring with me an eskimo auger, big buddy heater, flasher, tackle bag, the otter seat, spud bar, shovel, and some other misc stuff… it is a smaller sled so I suppose it will just have to be a tight fit but I could barely get the cover on over my auger. the pole in the middle doesn’t help matters

The big buddy is over kill for a cottage, if that’s your only house sell or trade for a buddy heater.

I would have to double check, but I’m normally able to get a normal buddy heater, my auger, my rod case, tackle box, 5 gallon pail, flasher and other odds and ends in there. If I remember right, the normal buddy heater is small enough to fit under the bench, but it sounds like you might not be using the bench if you are bringing a seat?

It’s not super spacious, but enough for the essentials. Definitely agree that the big buddy is overkill though, my normal buddy heater gets the cottage PLENTY warm.

“the normal buddy heater is small enough to fit under the bench, but it sounds like you might not be using the bench if you are bringing a seat? ”

I have the 1200 so it has the otter seat with the cross bar. yeah I realize the big buddy is overkill but I user it for other things too and I can always shut it off when it gets too warm in the otter.

Overkill in heat and size for that house :).

Although swapping for a buddy won’t give you that much more storage space, but it might make a little bit of a difference.

thought I would share my experiences after having fished out of my otter cottage for half a season so far. First, the quality is as advertised. The shack is excellent from the tub, to the canvas, to the seat, it all is very well built and heavy duty. My only complaint is that my cross bar was bent due to the extreme tightness of the fit for the seat onto the crossbar. I tested this with other otters at stores and they were not as tough to get on as mine and I bought an otter sportsmans caddy and that goes on like butter, so I think the seat I got was just too small. It still works fine for now so im not too bummed out about it. The shack is extremely warm! Coming from using an old Dave Genz Fish Trap II for many years its like night and day. As mentioned I use that Big Buddy heater and it IS WAY OVERKILL! I usually run it on low for about 10 minutes and then shut it off for another 10 minutes and repeat. This kind of sucks cause its either too hot or too cold but I refuse to spend more money on a heater since I spent over a hundred on this thing so its my problem to deal with. I have fished 2 people out of this and it works for me! Im 5’9 175lbs and ive fished with my wife, who is very small at 5’0 about 110lbs and with my buddy who is very large at 6’3″ and about 235lbs and both worked. its a tight fit but it was by no means un-enjoyable. The sled is a little small for fitting in all my gear but I make due. Overall, I think Otter deserves all the praise that it gets for their flip overs! They are extremely well built and I cant imagine fishing out of anything else at this point.

For any of those that are considering purchasing an otter or specifically an otter cottage, I hope this thread helps you make your choice.

I had a cottage size Otter before upgrading to the Cabin, the only thing I didn’t like about the Cottage size is that the Otter rod case doesn’t fit flat inside the tub… small quibble but it was a big deal to me as I like to load my gear in the tub and cover it up when traveling across the ice…I have a small buddy heater and you can run it on low with a vent flap open and it keeps it a pretty stable temp inside…

The only thing that would get me to upgrade to a new Otter model would be in they added side doors, otherwise imo you can’t beat the Otter thermal line..

Crappie,
Thank you for the great review. I should be getting mine tomorrow. I needed something smaller for early ice hole hopping, the lodge was just getting to heavy…Thanks again!

Has anyone rigged up a heater to sit behind the seat in one of the corners. I’m looking for ideas to free up some floor space. Using a little buddy heater

Thanks

I have a cabin 650 xt and place my Little Buddy in one of the front corners and the thing cooks me out after a while.

I use the smallest buddy in a 1200 cabin and it roasts us in 0degrees. I have a rechargeable hand warmer and I wear my striker bibs with no heater. If the kids are with me I bring the buddy and the camera to keep up the interest level and happiness. We have been known to toast a marshmallow or two on the buddy! A propane lantern puts off enough heat too, but make sure the vent is open for the fumes!

Thanks for all the information on the Cottage. I ended up purchasing one because of the lighter weight and the fact that you can fish 2 people in it. Assembly was not difficult. I noticed the seat plastic bottom fit tight over the center bar. Do most people just leave it attached when folding up or remove?
Thanks for all the information from this post and a previous post also

Contact otter if your seat fits too tight on the crossbar. Otter replaced mine at no cost and was terrific in taking care of my issue. The woman who helped me even gave me a little tour of their warehouse. Truly top notch customer service from otter!!!

I am going to put out my 2cents, I do not have a cottage but a Cabin and I fish by myself 99% of the time and I love the extra room and I have just enough room to fit my auger, shovel, 20 lp tank and Mr. Cooker, Marcum, 5 gal pal and rod bag. I was thinking about down sizing to a cottage to lighten up. But now do not know what I want to do.