Only ice fishermen who have their own shanty on a favorite lake are enjoying regular outings and consistent action in warmth and comfort so far this season. This is why I wasn’t the least bit surprised when one of my partners from our short- lived, 45-below-zero fishing venture last week called insisting he had to build an ice hut. He was seeking advice, having never tried such a project before, and knew I had constructed several over the years. Most from desire, but a couple from necessity. Owning an ice hut is not all fun and games.

Building one is the easy part. They have to be stored somewhere in the offseason, and hauled to a lake each winter and back every spring. There’s always someone who wants to fish, but when it’s time to set out the shanty or clean up and haul it ashore in March, help is scarce. Some maintenance on the hut and its heating system is required from one year to the next, and cold weather, winds, and rough transport cause wear and tear as well.

If that’s not enough to make you want to rent rather than own, consider this. Over the years I’ve known anglers who had fish shacks burn down, get hit by vehicles on the ice, and get blown over and demolished during a blizzard. Fortunately no one was on hand to be injured during these events. One buddy had his hut blow off the truck on the Interstate on the way to set it up for the winter. It was a long morning of picking up debris, but he had plenty of kindling wood for the stove in the new shanty he had to build while missing two weeks of prime fishing.

My own sad story involves a very unexpected early March warm spell and two days of torrential rain during a year when there was very little snow on the lakes. I wasn’t worried. After all, I had my hut sitting well up off the ice on cinder blocks. Imagine my shock when I arrived to fish on the weekend and the lower quarter of my shanty was totally imbedded in the ice.

We spent hours trying to cut, chip, and pry it loose, doing more and more damage every minute. The shack had to be off the ice by the end of the month, according to law, and it obviously wasn’t going to be in one piece. We ended up chain sawing off the top three-quarters of my beautiful fish hut, salvaging what we could and taking the rest to the dump. In early May we retrieved the floor section with a boat. Owning a fish hut isn’t all sunshine and flowers, but regardless of the stumbling blocks, the benefits are worth the effort.

Big or small

If I haven’t scared you off the idea of building or buying an ice shanty, let me offer some considerations and guidelines from my first-hand experience. Small huts transport easier and are simple to heat, but tend to be confining and have room for few amenities. Large fish cabins accommodate more people, gear, and accessories, but require more effort to move and set up.

Since I’m 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, and considering friends often accompany me and we spend at least six to eight hours per visit, often smelt fishing all evening, big is better. I opted for one 6 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 7 feet tall. An LP stove provides heat, a compact two-burner gas stove allows cooking, and illumination comes from two gas wall lights all piped in from a 100-pound tank outside. The fish hole is 41/2 feet long and 16 inches wide with benches on each side to accommodate four anglers. There are clothes hooks, shelves for dishes, pegs for gear, and even a fold-down table for meals or cribbage during slow fishing periods.

Learning from past experiences, I eased transportation and setup difficulties by building my last shanty in six pieces: floor, roof, and four walls. They pile up nicely on a snowmobile trailer or three pieces in each of two pickups, and slide across the lake smoothly on two toboggans pulled by a snowmobile. Cut the right size fishing hole in the ice with a chain saw, place the floor over the hole supported on cinder blocks, and then put the walls in place. The whole unit was held together by 6-inch bolts, washers, and wing nuts, and could be erected by two men in about an hour.

Each ice fisherman will have to consider what size shanty will satisfy his personal needs. How many people usually fish with you? Once you set up your hut on a lake, will it remain there all winter? I have a couple of friends who always fish together and they set up on one lake for the early part of the season and then move to another lake which offers more species and better action during the last month of the season. Some years they have moved up to three times.

Their hut is a 4-by-8 unit that fits perfectly into the bed of a pickup. It’s light enough to be pushed easily up a two-plank ramp onto the truck by two men, and one man could load it using a come-along winch. This shanty is warm, sturdy, has a few basic necessities, but offers space for only two. Another ardent ice driller I know well has the same size unit, and he hauls it onto and off his neighborhood lake each outing. That way he can fish a different section of the lake each trip just by hooking up his snowmobile to the hitch attached to the runners and heading out.

Light but sturdy

Whatever size shanty is to be constructed, it must be built to last and to sustain the rigors of travel. Walls and roof can be framed with 2-by-2s, but the floor should be of 2-by-4s and well braced. A large fishing hole cutout, attached runners that take a beating during travel, and supporting the weight of several anglers requires the floor to be extra rugged.

Metal or heavyweight plastic siding offer the most lightweight options for walls and roof, but at least two inches of sheet insulation will be required to maintain warmth. Also, metal dents and tears easily under the duress of transport, and plastic cracks and splinters in severe cold. Heavier, but far sturdier and more durable is exterior grade plywood, 1/4- or ?-inch thickness, with an inch of blue-board insulation will do fine.

Door placement should always be on the farthest wall from the fishing hole and seats. A 30-inch door is plenty wide and make sure it opens outward. Even devout smelt fishermen set out traps once in awhile, so windows are required to keep an eye on tip-ups. Place one in each wall so all directions can be viewed. Glass isn’t good insulation so use small windows, 12 by 16 inches for example, and have thick drop-down drapes of cheap, thick cloth. Material covering the windows adds insulation and keeps out the light during the day so smelt jiggers can see down the hole.

Make sure the fish hole has a cover with a handle that sets into place over the opening when it’s not in use, and the cover must be sturdy enough to be walked on with no sagging or tipping. Benches are the most space efficient seats, and placing the hole in the center of the floor at one end of the hut with a bench on each side allows more anglers to fish at once and better access for all. Both benches should be moveable, held in place by quick release hook-and-eye fasteners. That way, if you choose to fish outside on a warm day, a bench can be transferred for open-air seating.

Don’t put shelves, equipment, pegs, or coat hooks over the benches where they might interfere with headroom as anglers take or leave their seats. Hanging or storing items over or near the fishing hole is a bad idea as well. Bench seats with storage space inside are very efficient. For shanties that heat with small wood stoves, kindling and firewood fit very efficiently under bench seats. I have seen some fishing seats that are hinged to the wall and fold back flat, out of the way when not needed.

Slanted or well-pitched “V” roofs are necessary to prevent snow buildup and roof leaks each time the hut is heated. Place the stove in the least-traveled corner and shield the walls nearby with tin sheathing, to prevent fire, and also reflect heat back into the center of the hut. Fire preventive insulation around the stovepipe chimney where it enters the wall or roof is also crucial.

Make runners for sliding the hut fairly wide and line them with metal or Teflon so they will glide smoothly over the snow or ice. Attach a rugged metal bar to the runners that can be easily hooked up to a snowmobile or four-wheeler to pull and position the shanty. Also, make runners high so snow doesn’t build up in front of the building as it’s dragged.

There are dozens of shapes, sizes, and styles of prefab, fold-up, portable ice fishing shelters mounted on their own plastic hauling sleds available from sporting good stores and catalogs. Most are functional but fairly expensive, and none offer the durability and protection of a stick-built hut. I possess few carpenter skills, yet I’ve managed to construct several well-designed and efficient shanties, and I still have all my fingers.

Even if you have to buy all new material, cost is less than most portable huts. However, fishing friends often stockpile all kinds of old items, so old doors, used windows, and miscellaneous wood can be secured for the project from these sporting pack rats. A few tools, a couple of buddies, and a garage with a space heater can yield an ice fishing hut in a weekend.

A well-built shanty will last for years, assure comfort on the worst winter days, allow night fishing, and greatly increase the number of outings you can enjoy each year. Huts reduce the misery portion of winter fishing so much you might even convince the wife and kids to try a trip or two. If you need further incentive, check the current temperature and wind chill factor, and ponder how many more days you can stand being cooped up in the house. Then get started on your blueprint.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com