Portable vs Skid

Hi everyone. I’ve been fishing out of portables for the last 5 or 6 years as a “weekender” on lake Bemidji . My family has a lake place that we literally drive the snowmobiles out of the garage and onto the ice pulling either our otter lodge flip over or an eskimo 949 if more than 2 people. Super convenient and relatively affordable.

Enter kids into the equation. Needing maybe a bit more room (and less feet in wet snow). We like to move around and get off the plowed roads, but typically go to our main 3-4 spots. Not super mobile. Some days it would be so nice to have a skid house (looking at a 7×10 aluma lite) to be able to just drive to, flip a heater switch, and start fishing, but I’m wondering if cost/ease of movement I’m better off buying one of the newer large pop ups (otter resort or eskimo 650?).

We currently have a Polaris sportsman 500 with chains, a skidoo 600ace expedition sport (15” track), and a Polaris voyageur 550 if that makes any difference. Eventually the family will get a ranger, but no where to put it.

Thoughts? Does a skid house lose its appeal after a few seasons of towing?

I love small skid shacks, they are so versatile. Not always the most ideal but they can get a ton of usage. The most honest opinion is to have that skid for the times it’ll work and the snow or slush doesn’t make it a nightmare off the plowed path, also they are great for early ice can be pulled out right after ice allows wheelers and sleds. But when they can’t or you don’t want to take it out, then a otter resort or the eskimo is a great family shack. But they won’t stop wet feet, those kids can find any way to get there feet wet. The Otter monster lodge is another sweet hub with lots of room, we camp in ours. But they can be a bear to put up and take down I your doing it more then one or maybe 2 times a day. They are roomy enough you can give kids a entire area with no ice holes to play. We also use those harbor freight foam pads as a floor system in ours the keep drier. A small skid house will be my next investment

I live on a lake and am retired. I have a 6×12 skid and wish it was a little larger. It’s great for 2 people. My dogs go and are off the ice and dry, so not cold. Mine is unfinished inside so I just use a buddy heater, crack a window and have a small fan. It’s way easier than using a hub. I lock it and leave when I’m done, I don’t have to take it down. I’m fishing 5 min after I get out to it. It can easily be moved with a small ATV with chains. I have a tracked ranger and move it easily when there’s more snow. You would have no problem moving it with a snowmobile. I always put mine up on blocks, back up to it, hook up and pull it away. I always chisel my blocks out when I leave. I also have a hub and two pop ups. I am way more comfy in my skid house. I usually take it out when I feel comfortable driving my ranger on the ice. I don’t sleep in mine. I’m not sure it would be big enough. I don’t want fish bothering me when I’m trying to sleep.

Sounds like you have the ideal situation for a skid house. Having a lake place to keep it is the key if you don’t have to trailer it. I’d be leery about leaving it on the lake if you’re not there. Unless there’s a way to anchor it down to keep it from walking away. An aluminum skidhouse will be my next ice fishing investment in the next year or two. Being able to leave all the gear in it locked up at the cabin and just hook up and go would be the cat’s meow.

I always anchor mine with screw in anchors and chains. I had mine blow off the blocks.

Joe Jarl wrote:

I’d be leery about leaving it on the lake if you’re not there. Being able to leave all the gear in it locked up at the cabin and just hook up and go would be the cat’s meow.

Id be leery of theft too and certainly wouldnt leave any gear in it while it was on the lake unoccupied. My buddies who leave houses out actually leave them unlocked. Less damage that way from not breaking doors or windows only to get in and find nothing.

Thanks for bringing up the risk of theft. I assumed that being off ice roads would maybe deter that, but doesn’t sound like it. The cabin is just a weekend thing, so it would be left unattended for at least the work week, if not multiple weeks. Sounds like a larger portable with foam floor may be the better bet since I’d end up unpacking a skid house every time anyway.

Dragging the skid to shore if you have a lake place is what most folks do.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Dragging the skid to shore if you have a lake place is what most folks do.

Sure, so leave it out over the weekend to minimize setup time, then drag back to shore when not around. That makes sense.

Scott wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Dragging the skid to shore if you have a lake place is what most folks do.

Sure, so leave it out over the weekend to minimize setup time, then drag back to shore when not around. That makes sense.

That or keep it hooked up and drag it in every night, then leave it at the cabin or what not for the week. With my old small wheel house I kind of played it by ear. Some nights I’d drag it in, some nights I’d leave it. I’d always take the hitch with me so it was impossible to pull unless they had their own coupling.

If your place is on the lake, then go for the skid. I have a 6.5×10 skid house at the family cabin in WI and I’ve been very happy with it. Started off with portables, then built a ski platform for the 949i to tow around, and finally got the skid shack. World of a difference for fishing in comfort. On early ice with little snow cover you can push it out by hand, otherwise the Honda ATV with chains pulls it no problem. I now have a ranger that will be the primary pulling vehicle which should make it even easier. I’m on a small lake so theft is not much of a concern, but you could easily anchor one with an screw if you left a hole cover off.

I have mine set up with a jackknife sofa and boat seat. Have been able to squeeze 4 adults and 1 kid in fishing at the same time. Takes almost nothing to heat and the convenience of all the lights and other gear being attached to the walls cannot be beat.

Currently working on setting up a battery bank that I can connect my solar panel. Then I’ll be upgrading heaters to either a truma forced air or a diesel heater.

If you ever need to transport it, I wouldn’t go wider than 6.5ft unless you already have a deck over trailer. I have access to a tilt car hauler with a winch mounted to the front that lets me pull up the shack between the wheel wells. If I was going to get another to keep at my house and hit closer lakes with, I’d go to a 6′ wide.

Lost wrote:

If your place is on the lake, then go for the skid. I have a 6.5×10 skid house at the family cabin in WI and I’ve been very happy with it. Started off with portables, then built a ski platform for the 949i to tow around, and finally got the skid shack. World of a difference for fishing in comfort. On early ice with little snow cover you can push it out by hand, otherwise the Honda ATV with chains pulls it no problem. I now have a ranger that will be the primary pulling vehicle which should make it even easier. I’m on a small lake so theft is not much of a concern, but you could easily anchor one with an screw if you left a hole cover off.

I have mine set up with a jackknife sofa and boat seat. Have been able to squeeze 4 adults and 1 kid in fishing at the same time. Takes almost nothing to heat and the convenience of all the lights and other gear being attached to the walls cannot be beat.

Currently working on setting up a battery bank that I can connect my solar panel. Then I’ll be upgrading heaters to either a truma forced air or a diesel heater.

If you ever need to transport it, I wouldn’t go wider than 6.5ft unless you already have a deck over trailer. I have access to a tilt car hauler with a winch mounted to the front that lets me pull up the shack between the wheel wells. If I was going to get another to keep at my house and hit closer lakes with, I’d go to a 6′ wide.

I have a 8.5ft wide 12ft long snowmobile trailer with a front V. So width won’t be an issue. What kind of anchor do people use inside to prevent unwanted movement? We are on a part of the lake that is mostly untouched, and away from town. Theft isn’t a huge concern to me, but something to think about. To the earlier comments, I think if I’m dragging back to shore each use it almost defeats the purpose and I’d just stick with my otter flip over shack at that rate with a pop up for large groups.

You sure your trailer is 10 ft. wide? That would need oversize load signs going down the road.

mxskeeter wrote:

You sure your trailer is 10 ft. wide? That would need oversize load signs going down the road.

Thanks for the catch haha. 101in – so about 8.5ft

I personally don’t anchor mine at all, I just put it up on blocks if leaving it for long periods of time so the skids don’t freeze down. My hitch either goes inside the shack or with me back to the cabin. If you wanted to anchor it, just take an ice screw and a short length of strap and put it through one hole and out the other.

If trailer isn’t a concern, consider how width will dictate your layout. With how I like to fish, I want to be close enough to the holes to be able to jig directly from the couch/chair and have holes running the length of the shack. If you go 7’+ in width, you will want to think about hole placement relative to how you’re going to fish while also considering the frame underneath. Some people like 8′ wide and have a couch at each end facing each other. All personal preference.

Never anchored mine either. We just put ours on 4×4 blocks and bank it and have never had issues. We just keep a jack in them to get the shack on and off the blocks. 6×10 and a 8×12 alumalites.

IMO, light weight skid houses are 100% the way to go if you live on a lake. Not sure if I’d want to deal with trailering them but that’s just me.

As far as kids and wet feet it can happen with both set ups. I have 3 boys and they have all managed to step in a hole both with portables and permanents. Good boots will solve the issue for when their feet stay on top of the ice.