Taz nailed it! I’ve got propane & love the no gas smell benefit. Just remember to keep a propane tank in your warm truck to keep it warm & you’ll be fine.

I was going to buy a new Aluminum shell and finish the interior myself. It would have been a fun project but when I found a very nice used Ice Castle for the same cost as a new unfinished shell, I couldn’t turn it down.

Besides, it’s my first permanent and I know I will learn more of what I want and maybe have the “best” fish house with exactly what I want someday.

I really wish I had a fully spray foamed house & already had to remove the window trim on the inside to caulk/ spray foam around them to prevent mini snow banks inside the house. Ya get what ya pay for, but it works.

I’ve got fly fishing line on mine, everybody that sees it & uses it is jealous. You need a mono leader. Very expensive in stores but reasonable on Ebay if you can wait for it to come from China. Comes in orange, blue, yellow, green, etc, different colored lines make it easier to untangle lines. 100 foot spools are plenty for where I fish. Don’t get too hung up on size, weight, and floating line vs non floating. I’ve got some of each and don’t notice a difference.

I have an old clam, think its a “Fish Trap II” that must be 25 years old. It’s from a time Long before Hyfax. It has to have a couple thousand miles on it across anything & everything and there is just now starting to wear through slightly. Maybe the plastic was better back then, don’t really know. Several poles have been replaced and the tent many times, but the sled is good.

Not sure if the hyfax make it easier to pull, that would be the only reason for me to buy them.

Eric.Christians wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>biggill wrote:</div>
I have been hearing that west has been good as well. Reports from springsteel have been good I hear.

Same here, I was supposed to be leaving for Springsteel on Wednesday night but gonna go a day early on Tuesday now instead because the fish are biting.

Just got back from Springsteel on LOW from a 6 day trip & can’t complain. Caught a ton of 11-13 perch and a good amount of walleyes & Sauger. New Years Eve, my wife’s birthday & my own birthday may have caused equal amounts of drinking & fishing, but we still did pretty good. We caught some big walleyes at night, I caught a 24″ at 11:30 pm. We did not move around or fish hard!
They did have some cracks that were a PITA but I think they have that sorted out now. Ask at lodge before heading out!!

What would be a good place to start, resort to go out of, for somebody who has never fished Mille Lacs in the winter? I’m headed up Jan 9 weekend. I have an Ice Castle and would not have time to move around a lot. Not lookin for secret spots, just a resort that does good with plowing & treats visitors well (bar at resort preferred.)

biggill wrote:

I have been hearing that west has been good as well. Reports from springsteel have been good I hear.

Same here, I was supposed to be leaving for Springsteel on Wednesday night but gonna go a day early on Tuesday now instead because the fish are biting.

They are magnets with great suction. With kids in the house the only place to “put stuff where it can’t fall in a hole” is on shore

I was on Red and did awesome too, just got home! My wife caught her first burbout & the look on her face was priceless. We threw back a pile of 17″-21″ and didn’t keep anything under 15″ or we would have been done fast!
A buddy was on LOW out of Springsteel (are we supposed to mention resort names? Apologies in advance if not) and he did really well too, no burbout though

When one person leaves behind a small pile of trash it encourages others to do the same. Eventually there is so much trash people get the mentality that their vey small amount of trash is nothing in comparison to what is already there, so why bother picking up my own trash. Just don’t fall into that mentality and pick up more than your share. You may feel like your peeing in the ocean but every little bit helps!

Hold your buddies accountable & tell them to pick up their trash. If they don’t, go pick it up when they are watching. They will feel bad that you had to pick up after them & will follow your example next time.

My list keeps getting longer, Thanks for all the input! Any other ideas, keep them coming.
Mark B. I get the feeling you have experienced some troubles on the ice or you really paid attention in boy scouts.

Great ideas guys, thanks for your input!

Last storm we had there was a cute little BMW convertible blocking the middle of the road on a fairly main highway. I pulled him off to the side of the road & unhooked my tow rope – he was still stuck in snow but no longer blocking the road. As I was unhooking the tow strap I gave him the number for a tow truck & told him I’ve gotta get to work. I have sympathy for the unfortunate – not the stupid!

Looks like my driveway after the snow plow goes by

Great info! Thanks for the reply. I have spent the whole day researching this stuff since we can’t even see 50′ here with the storm we’re stuck in the house. No fishing

Other input welcome

Adrian’s is a good resort that plows a good road If you’re driving yourself out. LOW has been abnormally inconsistent this year in my experience. Won’t catch anything one day than next day will be hot fishing with no change in weather etc.

I’ll be on the other side of the lake at Springsteel if ya wanna compare notes after the weekend.

Lots of other resorts/ bars real close if you wanna grab a bite to eat somewhere new or have a beer.

Great article, it would be great to know what is causing the problem but all of the experts will likely come up with “inconclusive results” so I’m really glad to see some ideas for solutions in this article.
I like the $10,000 fish idea – even if 10 fish @ $10k were paid out, this cost is so minimal in comparison to the revenue generated by getting people out fishing.