akaShag

Big time! This is the only reason I fish from a hut a lot of the time....

An ice angler does not NEED all that much gear. A pail to sit on and carry ice rigs and lures (and fish being brought home!), a spud or manual auger, and warm clothing will suffice. I have been ice fishing for a very long time (over 50 years) and have rarely used a shelter. When I hit some of the back lakes, I take a minimum of equipment in a small sled, and a manual auger. No tent, no heater, no power auger, no graph, and I catch fish just fine thanks. Sure, the extra bits make life more comfortable and a graph is a great thing for some fishing, but you don't NEED them. Just sayin'.... Doug

With the tent, Ion ice auger, sled, pack and gear, maybe forty five pounds. Often, fishing with a buddy, one of us brings a shelter and the other brings an auger. For back-country lakes I take a hand auger. I am going for crappies tomorrow, no shelter, minimal gear but with the Ion, total weight probably 25 pounds. HTH

Are you asking me this question? If yes, I do not understand your term load out.

Looks like they have a new model: https://shopfreds.ca/root/rapala-shack-sherpa-m3/?srsltid=AfmBOoqe5T6tTutbDBAmQ5WtjfY339fWJOiNneBmyxDt9ycn3ydE1ywM But it is heavier, at 12 kg...........

See my note above about the Rapala "2 man" hut.....

The Outbound weighs 32 pounds, the Rapala weighs 22 pounds. I have no idea how the Outbound goes up, But with the Rapala, pop up the roof, then one wall, the next wall, the next wall and the final wall, time elapsed way less than a minute. To collapse it, push the roof down, then one wall BESIDE the one with the door, then the next and the next, and the door wall last. Pick up one corner of the flat shelter and it all folds easily into the middle. Gather up the sides and roll it up, put on the strap, and it's done. About two minutes, by myself. But putting it back into the bag.............I don't even try out on the ice, it is too tight a fit. I also have skis on my two ice fishing sleds, with small blocks of 2x4 from the sled down to the skis. It makes a world of difference hauling the sleds on skis. No reason for us "MATURE" anglers to give up something we enjoy........ Doug

Same here...but we have had an excellent year for ice, only a couple weeks when the slush (from heavy snow) made travel pretty tough. A small Rapala ice tent is dandy for one angler and works fine for two, and sets up and takes down in maybe a minute. It is also light and comes with six ice anchors for when the breezes blow. The only thing I do not like about it is the anchor grommets for the floor are on the inside, so you cannot (easily) install a floor anchor if the wind is a bit gusty, before setting up. In that case if I am solo, I put an anchor in the ice, pop up the tent and get a side wall guy line onto that anchor, then get an inside anchor installed. We are still fishing on safe ice around Kingston, although the shoreline will probably go soon. And even if there is a foot of good ice out there, six feet of water from shore to ice edge is more than I care to attempt. 😮 Keep the faith! Doug

I have been with my buddy in his Wilcraft, in slush and it struggles to claw its way out. DEEP slush would stop it because it would high-center on the hull.

I have owned two tracked eight wheel Argos. I got the first one stuck in deep slush. And when you are stuck in a tracked Argo, you are REALLY stuck.

Do like the guys at the gun shows, rent a table to get there early and scoop up all the best deals............. 😉and maybe misfish needs a table assistant! Doug

On Lac Seul with a guide a number of years ago, he was fishing with live minnows and I was using Berkley Power Grubs. This was his home water, and I had never fished there before. I caught as many walleye and sauger as he did. That being said, for ice fishing I would prefer to use live bait. Doug

Are you a member of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH)? They have an affiliated insurance broker that might be worth looking into, although I have not personally dealt with them. I am very happy with my insurance broker here in Kingston, but I have no idea if they would insure people from elsewhere. (If this is something you want to look into, please send me a pm) Good luck! Doug

and how long did it take that package to get there to you from me? Was it six weeks? (From Kingston to Barrie) Doug

Yep, just what I was saying up around Kingston here. Two winters we hardly had any ice, now we finally have good fishable ice and we can't get to the fishing spots. Doug