First year with a permanent ice hut

[Swingpure]

I have been ice fishing for decades. Most of the time, we just sat out on the ice, sometimes hovered behind our ATV’s and sometimes in a tent. This summer we built a 6x10 ice hut. Perhaps a little heavy, but we do not have far to go. We will be putting the ice hut up on 4x6 blocks and will raise it as required.

My question is about the fishing holes. Do you drill them first and then slide the ice hut over them? More importantly, once you have the ice hut over the holes on your good spot, how do you keep the holes from freezing over when you are not using them?

I will have a bucket that goes through the shanty hole down to the ice, to help keep cold air from going up into the shanty and presumedly keeping the cold air from direct access to the hole. Our shanty will have a wood stove.

My auger is a Swede Mora hand auger, the shave blade type, powered by a powerful hand drill. Although it is great for new holes, like all blade type augers, it does not do well with old holes. Would I have to keep moving the shanty to drill new holes each day? (Or do i have to get an auger that is good at going through old holes)

Thanks and sorry for the ice shanty newbie questions.

[oaknut]

Just carry a spud in the shack to chop up the top layer of fresh ice on the holes. Styrofoam will keep holes overnight but freezes in after too long and becomes a bigger pain.

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[fishfood]

If you have a chisel drill 6 to 8 holes close together in a rectangular shape or what ever the sizes of your opening in the hut is. Chip out the ice it will break off easy if your holes are within a few inches of each other. Then push it pull the hut over the hole.

Keep the hole covered in the hut and well banked at the sides. You should be able to go a few days and chip the ice out. If it is well banked and has a cover over the hole it won't freeze up as fast as the little holes.

The bigger the hole the less it will freeze over just remember to mark your hole when you move the hut.


Drilling individual holes with that auger is not recommended it will just ruin your blades.

Chain saw works great too . Just push the block under the ice .

Good luck can't wait to get on the ice wont be long now depending on where ya are. I will travel north to find ice usually before Simcoe is ready. 5 years ago I was ice fishing a small pond up north now and on Halloween.. unfortunately the weather hasn't been the same since and the past few years it's been mid to late Nov before the ice . I was excited the other day -13 the other day at my mom's and I think it will be the same tonight but the long ranges doesn't look favorably good lol.

Bring on the ice . Going down to minus 6 tonight around lake Simcoe it's a good start to cool the water and bring the Kawartha walleye in to lol.

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[Fisherman]

A trick we learned years ago. Put 1 inch thick pink or blue styrofoam pads under the 4x6 blocks. Wrap the pads in plastic bags. They will not stick to ice and insulate between the wood blocks and ice. The wood blocks tend to absorb sun heat and slowly melt into the ice. Cut your holes, then move the hut over them.