I am not a fisherman of any kind. The last time I really fished was on a boat in the warm sun with a deck hand giving me a baited pole (key word "warm".) I have co-workers and relatives that take their fly fishing seriously and I get the passion that one can have for such an activity even though it may not be my cup of tea. I do not understand the desire to sit on a frozen lake fishing through an ice hole... I would much rather be skating on that lake! But to each his own.A main reason why I like my truck camper is being able to get into remote locations for for hiking and hunting with a good deal of daily living comfort.I stumbled across an RV that takes my ideals of recreating in comfort and combines it with the passion of ice fishing... I have never heard of or seen such a craft before. I don't get it, but I like it:Ice Fishing LodgeOne trailers this to a lake and then it squats down on the surface of the ice. There are holes in the floor from which to fish in comfort.I don't get it... but I like it!

Someone will buy it, for sure. And, it could be used for other types of travel with a few removable mods.

That's probably the hottest selling type of RV here in the frozen North. Thousands of them in use. They can be used in the Summer for camping as well. If you've never tried ice fishing you just won't understand...B.O.

There's quite a few similar commercial and homemade ice fishing rigs on the lake by our Adirondack cottage every winter. It's not my sport, but I do understand the passion for it in others.

I looked more closely at pics of one of those and posted on it. To me it looked like it was lacking the necessary escape routes I would like to see. But then I have gone through the ice on a snowmobile. Yes, idiot oil was involved so whatever. :) luckily the water was just shallow enough for me to put my chin in the water and grab the hand loops on the tip of the skis and keep sitting on the ice and break it until I got it into shore. Then I pulled the plugs and tipped it over as far as I could and pulled the started cord enough times to get the water out of the engine. It run and we got back to the cabin. It was cold but the snowmobile suit let a lot of the water run out but my boots were full. Sold that one. If I went in that TT I'd be looking for kick out windows or hatches on darn near every side.I can't imagine it being towed out by anything but a 4x4 truck etc so it also gets into insurance coverage if the truck goes in. People do it all the time but...

Hey B.O.- what kind of ice depth do you get in your neck? I would imaging that game wardens monitor it and set the "go ahead" and "get off" times of the year. Back in NJ growing up I used to play hockey on the river. There was not any ice fishing but I remembered plow trucks clearing snow off for the ice boat regatta so it was pretty substantial.

Ice fishing RV | Good Sam Community

CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Nov 30, 2015
westend wrote:
Yeah, there's hardly anyone fishing on ice anymore:

lol. A ice fishing contest somewhere no doubt. Do you know where this picture was taken ?
GoPackGo
Explorer
Nov 30, 2015
Personally, I like how the folks in Minn and Wisc embrace winter. They get out there and DO stuff.
MNGeeks61
Explorer
Nov 30, 2015
Ha! This weekend Aitkin, MN had their annual icehouse parade. Although they call 'em fish houses.

This year, I was surprised there was a lot less houses than normal.

click
Hondavalk
Explorer II
Nov 30, 2015
And then there is the show "Ice Road Truckers" if you want talk about some real weight. :B
westend
Explorer
Nov 30, 2015
Yeah, there's hardly anyone fishing on ice anymore:
B_O__Plenty
Explorer II
Nov 30, 2015
2 or 3 feet of ice is common in my neck of the woods. It's making ice right now. They will be walking out to fish in a couple weeks if the weather holds. Back in the "old days' I remember driving out on Upper Red lake in the more northern part of the State on the day after Thanksgiving to go Walleye fishing. Not so much anymore. The houses will be out just around Christmas.

B.O.
John_Joey
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
Dutch_12078 wrote:
The general guidelines for new, clear ice thickness safety are:

2" or less - STAY OFF
4" - Ice fishing or other activities on foot
5" - Snowmobile or ATV
8" - 12" - Car or small pickup
12" - 15" - Medium truck

We often see 12"-18" thick ice on the lake by us, and 24" isn't unheard of.

Where these things are selling the ice can easily get 3 to 4 FEET thick. At times you need to put on an extension onto your power auger before you hit water.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Nov 29, 2015
There are many different manufactures of them. Some people build their own. Some people start with a old Travel Trailer and modify it. They are getting quite common and yes I have seen them at the campground in the summer.

Personally, I am too afraid of falling though the ice to go out on it. I used to drive on lakes in my youth though. Young people do a lot of dumb things. Sure was a lot of fun spinning around on the lake in a car though.

Oh, and if your vehicle goes through, and assuming you survive, your insurance will not pay for it. Or, for getting it out of the lake and that is darned expensive.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2015
The general guidelines for new, clear ice thickness safety are:

2" or less - STAY OFF
4" - Ice fishing or other activities on foot
5" - Snowmobile or ATV
8" - 12" - Car or small pickup
12" - 15" - Medium truck

We often see 12"-18" thick ice on the lake by us, and 24" isn't unheard of.
romore
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2015
After almost getting into trouble snowmobiling on a lake, I would be very hesitant to take a trailer out. Ice fishing doesn't interest me either although give me a fly rod beside a stream and I'm happy.

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