Being that any hardcore ice angler practically lives in their portable shack all winter while on ice there are many ways to make them more user-friendly. I couldn’t guess how many hours I have logged sitting inside my portable. I’ve seen many different upgrades done by people that I took on myself and am finally satisfied with my setup.
Must haves for any portable shack are: A travel cover, rope lighting and the runner kit. The cover and runners will no doubt extend the life of your shack. Rope lighting is a great addition if you ever plan to stay out after dark.
Here are a few other tricks that I’ve done to mine to “pimp” it up!
The Floor. All makes of portables have those grooves in the floor. What I’ve done is fill the grooves with styrofoam and then covered it with a rubber carpet. It levels the floor and gives a nice finished look.
Then covered with a rubber carpet that dries out well.
For heat in my portable I use a Buddy heater, I went with the smaller style and is more than enough to get my coat off inside even on the coldest days. After talking to the Ice Fishing Godfather Dave Genz at a show and seeing how he setup his heater it just made sense. His heater never leaves his shack. It sits beside him so when he is “hole-hopping” nothing is on the ice that needs to be put inside his shack before moving. Brilliant really. Being in the sheet metal business I made myself a box to house my heater. It works like a charm.
Most heaters on the market these days are fueled by propane and there is nothing more annoyoing than rattling propane bottle in the bottom of your shack. Here is a simple fix to that!
I lucked into finding this style of rod holder that is compact and fits perfectly on the edge of the sled.
Another thing I’ve started doing that is real handy is carrying a spare battery that runs only my lights in the evening. It saves trying to fumble around getting them hooked onto your flasher’s battery.
Other accessories I have inside are a few hooks for my coat, camera bag and rod bag. A towel hangs from my roof top for cleaning up those wet cold hands.
A wise fishing buddy of mine is famous for saying “Any fool can be uncomfortable”, I certainly am not in my portable!
