Ice Fishing
Homemade Ice Fishing Stuff
Tossing together a new salmon ice rod. Stopped in at Reinke Brothers needed a couple guides. Word is he will be closing the doors for good in the near future. Very sad. Walked in there bout 33 years ago with pops for the first time. I can remember that as if it was yesterday?
My old back aches pretty good after pulling my loaded up Frabil 2 man out aways-even with downhill skis attached.
No cash for an ATV and internet searches for ice-machines led me to start a Redneck project-the kind my wife wants me to store in the back of the barn out of sight.
With an old 1970's era 8-horse Snapper 2-stage snowblower sitting in the shed and no one wanting to buy it, I decided why not see if it could pull me and my gear out on the ice. I pulled it out of storage, put gas in and 2 pulls later it was rocking as usual.
I cut off the front auger housing and blades leaving the 2nd stage blades intact to use to bolt floatation on the contraption (Madison area lakes require it). I did not want all that weight and figured I would follow ATV tracks out if the snow got deep.
I then cut the wheel rims in half and bolted 12" trailer tires to them. Tossed on tire chains that were lying around.
Bolted a $12 snowboard from St. Vinnies to the bottom leaving most of the board towards the rear.
Bolted a handle from a yard cart to the snowblowers handle down to some clamps on the rear of the snowboard so it won't fall backwards.
Disconnected the auger drive belt and attached enough floatation to the front according to the sheriff's regs.
I used an old football tackle dummy I had lying around and filled that with foam and strapped that to the auger blades. Added Redneck value.
Took it for a spin in the yard at the fasted drive setting. Looks promising.
Dane Cty. sheriff has to inspect any "vehicle" you take out on the Madison lakes and this thing counts as just that-a "vehicle".
I drove it up my old ATV loading ramps to the truck and set out for an inspection. One deputy did not know how to categorize it and deferred to his older partner. He said it reminded them of an old snow-hog (?) and after a $10 fee, slapped a sticker on it, off I went for a real test.
It hauls me and my sled quite well, a little bumpy on clear ice and it slips a bit. Once on snow it's just fine. I stand on the snow board or step a foot off to guide it once in awhile.
Other than being noisy and moving no faster than a fast walk, I think it will do quite nicely. My back should be feeling better after an outing.
Redneck ice machine:
Cost - $25
Look on guys faces - Priceless!
Not so much homemade stuff but just a tip I want to pass along.
For many years I've made my own jigs, everything from 1/2 oz down to tiny ice jigs. I used to paint them in a 3 day process, white primer, colors than clear hard coat.
A number of years ago I started using a way easier process, Nail Polish. It comes in every color you can imagine, many with glitter, dries clear and hard and fast, it's cheap and even comes with a built in brush in the cap.
Not really homemade, but kinda I guess. I bought a wifi sending unit and put it on my old aqua vu camera. It's black and white, but good image. And now I can use it with my phone or tablet, and not have to have it in the shack with me. I can set it up over a tip up and watch my bait or put it outside looking back at my jig and not have to clutter my shack with a camera unit too. Easy to switch to any other camera with a yellow av port too. Just velcros down and plug into power. Just need a way to mount my tablet to the shack or my arm or my flasher so I don't drop it in the whole.
Picture is a screen cap or the camera looking back at itself.
Tunes,
Would this stuff work from Menards?
I have also thought about going that route, but I came up with a different solution.
Good luck.
Drew
I'm looking for some 1 1/4" steel banding to make a couple of homemade tip downs. Can't seem to find it anywhere without buying a huge roll.
If anyone has an idea where I can get about 10' or 15' of it I'd appreciate it.
We used to get it as scrap in the shop, but no longer have a connection.
Thanks,
tunes
I made 3 autos myself. Light and trigger from amazon. 1 inch pvc and gorilla glue. Reflective tape from home depot. Maybe around $30 total for the 3. Trout, crappie, and walleye beware.
