Ice Mods Part 2

(Also see Ice Mods Part 1)

Arriving with the newly modified pull sled, Drew and I found ourselves walking across the ice on Lake Superior’s Chequamegon bay once again.

Ice Fishing Sled Auger Mount Rod Rack

The pull sled was built with walking in mind when a wheeler or snowmobile would not be an option. I was able to rack my rods, auger, and fish house – leaving plenty of room in the sled for our other gear. Broom holders were installed on the side for a quick access to the chisel.

Ice Fishing Sled mods

I also installed a couple of eye bolts in the back to quickly attach another rope rigged with carabiners for guiding the sled down hills.

ice sled mods

Of course we got our lines wet too. Ice thickness was around 6 inches, but it looked like less than that.

Ice Fishing Lake Superior Chequamegon

The fishing was on the slow side, but we did manage to catch a few splake and a whitefish.

Ice Fishing Chequamegon Lake Superior Splake Trout

Ice Fishing Chequamegon Lake Superior Splake Trout

Ice Fishing Chequamegon Lake Superior Whitefish

Ice Fishing Chequamegon Lake Superior Splake Trout


Some New Ice Fishing Mods

Drew is ready to go find some fish!

Drew is ready to go find some fish!

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately making some modifications to my ATV and ice sleds for the ice fishing season. I have been wanting to fish more efficiently and take extra passengers. This is one of the setups I came up with. I mounted a 50 gallon tote on the back rack with a rod rack and additional storage for my hub style fish house. I then built an auger mount for the front rack on the ATV which is quick to clamp and un-clamp the auger off and on.

ATV Auger Mount ice fishing sled

Oh yeah we caught some fish too!

Ice fishing pumpkin seed sunfish minnesota

Ice fishing slab blue gill sunfish minnesota

Drew holds up a slab for a quick picture but won’t take his eyes of the Vexilar as a pile of fish were coming up off the bottom to his jig.

I also modified a pull sled for using to haul all of my gear when ATV or snowmobile travel is not an option and walking is the only safe way. See Ice Mods Part 2.


Early Ice in the BWCA

The lake was small, the ice was around four to five inches, the walk wasn’t too long and the fishing was good. The action was nonstop all day and the weather was nice. It was a perfect post-Thanksgiving outing and good times were had by all.

Ice fishing sunfish

The sunfish were fat.

ice fishing panfish crappies and sunfish

The “Fish” Pile

ice fishing minnesota pike

The gaff even got to stick some fish.

ice fishing northern pike in minnesota

What a catch!


Fourth Down

It was going to be a full moon that night, so I went out around 10 AM so I could sit through the middle of the day. Sure enough deer started showing up around Noon. A small buck came down the hill from one direction, and a large doe with a fawn came from another. I waited for a good clear shot on the doe and made it nice and clean. She weighed in at 170 lbs. I think she may be one of my biggest does yet.

bowhunting Minnesota whitetail deer