Paul Horn

Dan Horn with nice walleye

Hit Mille Lacs with my Dad for a few hours.  The wind was pretty strong for my little 16 foot deep-v with gusts around 15 mph, but we rode out the roller waves and caught a few nice walleyes.

We ended the day with a nice fresh Mille Lacs walleye dinner.  Hard to beat it!

Ice Shack Outsied

Here’s a shot of how the shack is coming along from the outside.  The diamond plate is installed to protect it on the road.  The trim is up on the roof and I’ve sealed it with some good caulk.  I put aluminum trim on the corners too.

On the inside I’ve installed a 20,000 BTU heater that has a thermostat control.  I’ve created a bench with storage in the front that holds the propane tank.  I’ll put a deep cycle 12v battery in there as well.  It’s all wired up for 12 volt lights on the ceiling and near the holes.  There’s a 12 volt line over the heater too that I may wire in a small fan to help circulate the heat.  I’ve cut four holes and installed catch covers.

I’ll be finishing up another coat of spar urethane on the inside and building the bunk beds in the back next.

Ice Shack Knotty Pine

I’ve used tongue and groove knotty pine on the inside of the ice shack rather than paneling.  This is the very thin and light stuff so it’s not adding much for weight.  It sure looks beautiful.  I’m using spar urethane to protect it from the water and other moisture it will be exposed to.  It’s a nice touch and gives it a much better look than paneling would have.  Still making progress.

Ice Shack Spray Foam

I made my first attempt at installing spray foam and it worked great.  I ordered a Tiger Foam kit that covers 200 board feet.  As I was spraying the foam in, I had a small propane heater running during the spray job, and as I covered the wall spaces, it got hotter and hotter with the insulating effects of the foam.  The entire job only took about an hour and worked great!  This will be one efficient shack to heat.

Ice Shack with Siding On

The new fish house (wheel house) has the siding on now.  I was able to get the sheet aluminum at a great price from Discount Steel in Minneapolis.  They custom cut it and packaged it on  skid for easy trailer transport.

More pictures will be coming once the trim is all installed on the corners and the roof drip edge.  A diamond plate will be installed on the front to protect it from road debris as well.

Right now I’m considering ordering a tiger foam kit to do the foam insulation.  I’ll likely install foam sheet insulation in the ceiling but I want the walls to be spray foam for structural reasons and to better insulate the shack.  Things are coming together nicely!

Thinking back on the year 2009 and fishing with friends.  This was about the best of it and will bring memories for a lifetime!  Thanks to Ed for letting us experience a few days in his paradise in Ontario!  Rainy Lake north arm is hard to beat for low pressure big fish action.

2009 Ice Shack Walls and Roof

The walls are up and the roof is on the new fish house.  I glued down a rubber membrane roof.  It looks like it will work great.  It’s strong enough even with only 2×2 walls to hold me up working on the roof.

Next step is to order up the aluminum sheets for the siding.  It’s progressing along well!

2009 has been a very dry summer.  All the lakes in Central East Minnesota are down and so is the St. Croix river.  This has made many of the boat landings barely usable or not usable at all depending on your boat.  The fish are full of surprises and not where you’d expect them to be.  It seems that the walleyes have stayed shallow and are hanging tight in the thick weeds.  Maybe the cool weather has had an impact as well.  Now that it’s September we’re finally getting some warm weather but it will be short lived.  I’m hoping as October approaches I’ll start to be able to figure out where the walleyes are.  If not, the crappies and the pike are a little easier to find at least on early mornings.

I’ve got three of the 4 walls glued, screwed, and bolted.  Need to pick up some more screws to get the last wall done then it’s on to the roof.  This will be my first experience installing a rubber roof.

2009 Wheel House

Working on the new wheel house ice shack.  Can’t wait for hard water!