ice fishing in a wall tent..

[LacLaBicheNS]

anyone ever fish from a wall tent?

I hate those clams, ice tents, etc.. too small and too "cheap" looking..

I was thinking about buiying a wall tent with aluminum poles for ice fishing.. more expensive, but more room and more long lasting.

thoughts?

[lugeboy]

yeah if you have the place to leave it up all season, but seems a little cumbersome for a day of fishing espically if its windy or cold. Just my .02

[Marlin07]

I did it 2 years ago out on Gull. Had a blast, spent 3 nights and would love to do it again. I'll dig up some pictures for you when I can get a minute. We were lucky and had no wind.....

[deanmc]

I did it 2 years ago out on Gull. Had a blast, spent 3 nights and would love to do it again. I'll dig up some pictures for you when I can get a minute. We were lucky and had no wind.....

Doesnt the cloth tarp freeze down?

[sco22]

I have done it too, but not overnight. It certainly is good for socialable fishing, but you really have to commit to a spot since it isn't the kind of tent you want to be hauling around. It wasn't as good to see down the hole, but that was offset by how much more comfortable a good wood stove is for keeping you warm. We had 6 guys fishing in it. I tried throwing a big tarp over the tent, but it didn't make much of a difference for darkening the inside.

Cheers.

[TexasTornado]

I think an old smaller mobile home would be the way to go.

[LacLaBicheNS]

thanks for the in put! I've been looking on line for wall tents, hopefully I will find a decent one at a decent price. I'm going to try it I think

[guysmiley]

That's my plan over the winter to do some on the ice camping in a canvas tent. I was planning on using it as the basecamp.

Garrick.

[aulrich]

One thing I would be concerned about is the seal along the bottom. I used my hunting tent as a icefishing shelter and in a wind I got tons of draft in along the bottom. The flap on the bottom icefishing type tent will to alot better of a job sealing drafts than a straight down wall.

I'll be buying one of the larger clams, at the end of winter we should compare notes.

Though the most I would be wanting is 4-5 people at a time.

[WalleyeDeitz]

I have a 14' x 16' wall tent that I ice fish in several times per winter. It is large, but so have some of the groups that have fished inside of it. If I could do it again I would buy the one size smaller. At the AO Chain Lakes gathering it was so windy we had to park a truck on one end to hold it down but what can you expect putting a big tent up in hurricane alley. Otherwise I drill holes into the ice to preset the poles an inch or so and then drill holes for spikes into the ice for some tie downs. It takes me 1/2 an hour to set up all by myself and about 10 minutes with a group of helpers. It is true that you will want to commit to a spot. You can move it but no one ever feels like it after it is all set up. We typically know our hot spots which we set it up over…if the fishing sucks no one usually cares because we are having so many laughs inside. I have also done camp outs on the ice in it and the only thing I can recommend that makes it a bit more comfortable is to bring a bunch of pallets to lay on the ground...gets your feet up off the ice and keeps them warm and takes some of the danger out of slipping on the melting water around the stove. We also made a sheet of wood with aluminum to help reflect some of the heat directly from the stove. I also use the fold out aluminum camping beds to get up off the ice and in my opinion this would be a must have. When drilling the auger holes inside, depending on the weather and if it is below -20 or so, we try not to put the wet shavings on the tent bottom to hold them down but rather use drier snow and I often use chunks of fire wood. If its not so cold, use the wet snow and the heat inside the tent prevents it from freezing entirely to the ice. You just cant let your fire go out for a couple hours and then try to pack up or you will find yourself using an axe to try and get it out (I have done this with a burrowed tent years ago….it cost me some $$’s in repairs). Wind is the enemy when camping in a wall tent…if its -20 that is fine but if its -20 and extremely windy, the heat tends to get sucked out a little too fast. You have to keep the fire burning hotter and therefore quicker which means someone (your buddy hopefully) will have to get up a couple times a night to re-stock the stove. I went all out and purchased a very expensive large stove for this very reason but it still required re-stocking if its cold and windy…no wind then it lasts all night on the lower settings. Perhaps others can comment on the right sized stove but if you google the stove manufacturers some of them have recommendations on the stove size required for the size of tent you have. Cant remember the name of my stove but I remember it was $750 if that means anything. It has a hot water tank on the side which I thought would be very useful but instead it is just more work as you have to keep it full as it boils and evaporates quickly. It also has a cooking side that is very handy. Oh yeah, I also throw it up and take it down for several 1 day excursions each winter and its not that bad if you have help…..when your unpacking it to set up I find myself thinking “why are we setting this big thing up?” and then 20 minutes later when your sitting in your T-shirt in a lawn chair catching fish I find myself answering my earlier question….I love it and don’t regret buying one at all.

PM me your email address and I can send you a bunch of photos of it set up for ice fishing....I just cant figure out how to attached photos to this website….wish they could make it a bit easier or that I was a bit smarter…one or the other. Not sure where you live but if you are ever wanting to check out a day or weekend fishing in a wall tent prior to purchasing one your certainly welcome to join one of our many excursions this winter.

Regards,

[LacLaBicheNS]

I have a 14' x 16' wall tent that I ice fish in several times per winter. It is large, but so have some of the groups that have fished inside of it. If I could do it again I would buy the one size smaller. At the AO Chain Lakes gathering it was so windy we had to park a truck on one end to hold it down but what can you expect putting a big tent up in hurricane alley. Otherwise I drill holes into the ice to preset the poles an inch or so and then drill holes for spikes into the ice for some tie downs. It takes me 1/2 an hour to set up all by myself and about 10 minutes with a group of helpers. It is true that you will want to commit to a spot. You can move it but no one ever feels like it after it is all set up. We typically know our hot spots which we set it up over…if the fishing sucks no one usually cares because we are having so many laughs inside. I have also done camp outs on the ice in it and the only thing I can recommend that makes it a bit more comfortable is to bring a bunch of pallets to lay on the ground...gets your feet up off the ice and keeps them warm and takes some of the danger out of slipping on the melting water around the stove. We also made a sheet of wood with aluminum to help reflect some of the heat directly from the stove. I also use the fold out aluminum camping beds to get up off the ice and in my opinion this would be a must have. When drilling the auger holes inside, depending on the weather and if it is below -20 or so, we try not to put the wet shavings on the tent bottom to hold them down but rather use drier snow and I often use chunks of fire wood. If its not so cold, use the wet snow and the heat inside the tent prevents it from freezing entirely to the ice. You just cant let your fire go out for a couple hours and then try to pack up or you will find yourself using an axe to try and get it out (I have done this with a burrowed tent years ago….it cost me some $$’s in repairs). Wind is the enemy when camping in a wall tent…if its -20 that is fine but if its -20 and extremely windy, the heat tends to get sucked out a little too fast. You have to keep the fire burning hotter and therefore quicker which means someone (your buddy hopefully) will have to get up a couple times a night to re-stock the stove. I went all out and purchased a very expensive large stove for this very reason but it still required re-stocking if its cold and windy…no wind then it lasts all night on the lower settings. Perhaps others can comment on the right sized stove but if you google the stove manufacturers some of them have recommendations on the stove size required for the size of tent you have. Cant remember the name of my stove but I remember it was $750 if that means anything. It has a hot water tank on the side which I thought would be very useful but instead it is just more work as you have to keep it full as it boils and evaporates quickly. It also has a cooking side that is very handy. Oh yeah, I also throw it up and take it down for several 1 day excursions each winter and its not that bad if you have help…..when your unpacking it to set up I find myself thinking “why are we setting this big thing up?” and then 20 minutes later when your sitting in your T-shirt in a lawn chair catching fish I find myself answering my earlier question….I love it and don’t regret buying one at all.

PM me your email address and I can send you a bunch of photos of it set up for ice fishing....I just cant figure out how to attached photos to this website….wish they could make it a bit easier or that I was a bit smarter…one or the other. Not sure where you live but if you are ever wanting to check out a day or weekend fishing in a wall tent prior to purchasing one your certainly welcome to join one of our many excursions this winter.

Regards,

lots of good info...

I do have some experience fishing in a wall tent.. I was the guy who took 100 grade 3's ice fishing last year in a wall tent. I asked on AO for rod donations. So I do have some experience and I'd love to post pic's of our trip, but we have school rules for protecting students identity (for good reasons).

I was hoping to get experience and advice for smaller tents with this thread and I think I have lots to get me started. Thanks again.

For the wind- When I took the kids fishing in the tent I drilled about 10 holes along the outside of each tent but I didn't drill them all the way through. Than I put a fence post in each hole and tied each fence pole to a peice of the frame. WOrked great. The people I borrowed the tent from showed me how to do this.

For the draft- I was thinking of either piling dry snow up on the outside walls of the tent. Or running a cheap tarp along the permiter of the tent and placing a pre cut log along each wall to hold the tarp in place.

I was thinking 8x12 for my tent. Enough for 3 or 4 people.

[iliketrout]

Could you build a frame for the bottom perimeter of the tent that you could attach both the canvas and the tent poles to? I'm thinking a piece of 2x4 or 2x6 or something, with a holesaw "ring" cut into it (not the whole way through the wood). The hole could be the same size as the aluminum pole, so the pole could slip in and be locked in place, sort of like a dowel. If the lower perimeter frame was rigid enough, it should allow for 3 or 4 guys to be able to push the tent a couple hundred feet if you wanted to move spots. You could even put a cross member in, on the inside of the tent, to stiffen it up during moves.

Not sure how you would quickly lock the wood together :thinking-006: maybe re-bar and matching holes or something?

Then again, it may be more effort than its worth...

[iliketrout]

Posting pictures for WalleyeDeitz:

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/icefishing026.jpg

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/icefishing012.jpg

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/icefishing022.jpg

[sco22]

The pallets are a great idea. We brought a couple of bales of hay and after drilling and shoveling, we just scattered the hay and then put some 2x3 foot pieces of carpet - like the size of a welcome mat - down on the hay. For the room it takes, pallets might be a better idea.

A couple of modifications we use: I have 1x2 surveyors sticks that are notched at the top and I use those as side supports under the tie down ropes. I then take a cordless drill with a 3/4" bit and drill holes down into the ice - about 6-8 inches. I put in some long bolts and fill up the hole with water. By the time you are ready to stake the sides, the holes are frozen and the bolts are solid. They stick out of the ice about 2-3 inches, which is long enough to attach the tie down rope. One pound with a axe frees them to put away. However, I really like the fence post idea.

I drill a hole underneath the stove about 1/2 the thickness of the ice. There will be some melting from your stove, depending how high off the ice it is, so it drains into that hole and doesn't make it wet around the hole.

We generally have quads at least if not trucks. I try to position the tent such that one of the sides, ideally the non-stove side, is positioned against the wind. I have an old tarp that I attach to the end of the tent wall facing the wind and to the tie down ropes that hold the wall up. I take it right down to the snow and park a couple of quads on it. This generally deflects the wind up the tent roof and over, but also can get noisy if the wind is really howling. I might try some 4X8 plywood this year.

Finally, i bring some 8 foot 2x4 and tack them down to the tent flaps such that the flaps are on top of the 2x4. The weight of the 2x4 keeps the flaps down, if they freeze to the ground, you can pry the 2x4's up without ripping your tent flap and it keeps the tent flaps flat.

I have a good sized stove for in the tent, but I find when it is really cold you end up using a couple of little propane heaters in the corners away from the stove to keep the chill off while awake. At night I make sure we have some green, thick wood to set in and it usually makes it most of the night.

Cheers.

[Who Da Fisherman]

been camping and fishing in these for 10 years @ the Badger Derby. We build a floor to keep off the ice, one tent just for sleeping with bunks. hope the pic works.