Ice House Holes

[SY]

Does anyone have any tricks they use to keep the holes in an ice house open for extended periods of time, when you are not fishing? I have tried to find the hole savers and have had no luck. Thanks in advance for your help.

[KP]

A guy I just met said he uses large diameter boat bumpers that can inflate and deflate slightly. He carries a small ball pump (football, basketball, etc.) with him to inflate and deflate. I have a smaller version of the same bumper he uses. I'm going to buy one and try it out. However, the ice here in Northern Illinois may only get 12" thick at the most.

[mmillelacs]

try this: buy 3-4 feet of stove pipe the same size as the holes you cut and solder a cover on on end so its water tight. After you are done fishing, push the pipe, cover down, down the hole and use a bungy cord of whatever to hold in place. When you come back they will be frozen in place. Simply light a piece of newspaper and throw down the pipe and they will pop up and u have a perfect ice free hole. WARNING; THE PIPES WILL OFTEN SHOOT UP WITH CONSIDERABLE FORCE AND COULD DAMAGE THINGS ABOVE THE HOLE LIKE LIGHTS ETC. THEY COULD ALSO KNOCK YOU ON YOUR DUFF IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE STANDING ABOVE THEM AND ARE FOOLISHLY LOOKING DOWN. i know this from personal experience, ouch

[Auger Guy]

I uncover the holes........light up my 9 in jiffy..... voila....the holes are open.

[Gilbert]

I tried the stove pipe method and had some problems.......and some questions! The only pipe I could find was the "split" type. And the covers I found had a "lip"on them which I think would interfere with removal after freezing in. Anyway, I tried soldering the "split" on the pipe and the solder wouldn't "stick". What am I doing wrong, and how do I get it to work?

Thanks!

[s.f.]

i am lucky enough to live within walking distance of the fishhouse and rarely leave it vacant for more than two days at a time, so i keep the heat on all winter. i insulate my houses heavily (2 inches of foam all around) and even more importantly, the banking is half way up the side of the house. banking is the key to keeping the holes from freezing fast. i use two 100lb. propane tanks per winter. kinda nice to walk into a nice warm house and not have to inhale auger exhaust and scare every fish away for a mile just to get ready. shovel that snow and then shovel more!
s.f.

[mmillelacs]

sf- you also cut a huge hole don't you- i have done that too-forget about the mud flats and deep water- stay in the rocks all winter and watch the fish come in -fun- cant come up as often as i use to so i cant fish that way-ps i should have said weld not solder on the stove pipe- i had a friend do mine in his shop and he used some kind of special welding on the galvanized metal-sorry