We were due here in the Lake Region for a doozy of a winter with heavy snow. As the dusting clears and we are able to get out and survey the damage that Blizzard Europa and the most recent storm did to our ice sheet, the topic of travel options comes up.
The lake is now packed with rolling drifts of 6 inches to 2 feet of wind driven hard snow making full size Vehicle travel hazardous if not impossible. There is still the heart of our ice fishing season to come and that leaves us with a dilemma on our hands, where to invest our resources in order to continue searching for Perch and Crappies.
Current conditions, if we don’t get anymore snow, require at the minimum putting chains on the rear truck tires. But, what other options are there, let’s list them and discuss.
As far as we can ascertain, there are options:
- Foot Travel
- Snowmobile
- ATV/UTV with Conventional Tires
- Sno Bear
- ATV/UTV with Tracks
Foot Travel
We do it every year, walk out on first ice, predetermine a destination and trek out to it in the dark, set up shop and work a likely walleye or perch area. We have had many good days this way and with ice conditions I the 3-5 inch range it is the only way to get out ice fishing. Once we accumulate over 6-7 inches of ice, we need to attack different and larger areas. Foot travel right now is painstaking. Trudging through feet of snow to get to a destination that may or may not have fish just isn’t beneficial.
Snowmobile
Sleds are golden right now, they will bring us just about anywhere on the lake, and for just solely ICE FISHING, they are the answer. The only thing wrong with this option is it is too seasonally specific. Come March/April, when we lose our ice and the White Devils start to dot the sky, we are out of luck. A sled is not going to work in mud and I am pretty sure it is not going to haul our entire spread to a mudded up destination. If you are JUST an ice fisherman, here ya go, but very few of us are ONLY ice fishermen, cause in the Lake Region, there is NO OFF-SEASON!
ATV/UTV with Conventional Tires
After venturing out today with my truck on a bay I knew had sufficient ice, any 4-wheeler or side-by-side is, for all intents’ and purposes, useless out there. The snow is hard, but not that hard and the big drifts are 2+ feet deep, taking a wheeler with tires out there is just going to give you a backache.
Sno Bear
I got a lot of flack for my demonizing of the Sno-Bear, and we really didn’t intend to demonize them at all or to offend anyone. Again, if you are solely an ice fisherman, here ya go, that is if you have $60,000-$80,000 laying around to be invested in a recreational vehicle, that, again come March/April you will not be using.
ATV/UTV with Tracks
That brings us to the solution we present to you. Turn that ATV/UTV into your ALL-SEASON, multi-purpose recreational tank. Track systems have been around for a while now. The first ones were kind of gimmicky and broke down a lot and could be a little more headache than worth. However, with innovation and human ingenuity, the newer systems are golden.
An ATV with tracks is our A-1 recommendation. There is nowhere on the lake right now you wouldn’t be able to get to. Come April, you have your Snow Goose off-road vehicle ready to go, Summer, the tracked workhorse can be a farmer’s dream, an off the beaten path fisherman’s friend, and come fall, when we get those September rains, they will have us hauling our decoys out when others are still in bed because it’s too muddy for the truck.
The boys over at Woodland Marine are running a huge promotion right now with savings of up to $500 off ATV and UTV track systems! Check them out, or give Brad or Dylan a call at 701.662.5996 extension 4.
Cost-wise, they are becoming quite reasonable, especially if you already possess the 4-wheeler. Turn your ATV/UTV into your ‘NO OFF-SEASON’ workhorse.
