If you get cold, so will the fishing! Staying warm when ice fishing can be hard. Even with great, modern clothing, gloves and boots, things can get chilly in a hurry.
Back in the day… We used to use old Flexible Flyer runner type sleds to transport our augers and gear onto the ice. For a seat, we used metal Milk crates. To stay warm, we placed an old paint can on the bottom of the crate. A few air holes added ventilation for some charcoal briquets. Once the charcoal was hot, our fannies were warm and comfy. If your hands got too cold, you could toast them over the coals. If you needed some warm soup or sandwiches, you could place them atop a grate over the can.
Truth be known, we used a spud bar or an axe to cut our ice holes. Mom’s holed serving ladle helped remove the ice chips. Rough and rustic, these simple tools allowed use to stay warm and get to the fish. We seldom got skunked.
Anyway, the heated seat and warmer worked great! Not only were our fannies warm, so were our bodies. The slow burning charcoal briquets lasted several hours. You could always take along some extra briquets. With plastic sleds, the heated crate could be an issue. You would need to insulate or protect the sled.
I am sure that he creative Ice Fishermen of today can come up with a similar adaptation to keep their bodies and the fishing HOT!
No Cold Butts About It!
Montana Grant
For more Montana Grant, find him, and his warm butt, at www.montanagrantfishing.com.
