BWCA winter camping trip

Northwoods

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I took a short winter camping trip to chase some BWCA lake trout this past weekend. We slept in our portable fish houses. I’ve winter camped a number of different ways; hot tent, cold tent, and no tent. The portable fish house with a cot and buddy heater was the most comfortable I’ve ever been. I just had to take my hand out of my sleeping bag to start the heater and warm the tent up before getting out of my sleeping bag. I think a portable fish house would work great for late fall hunts.

We didn’t catch too many fish but enough for a fish fry and I released one big fish that ended up being my biggest lake trout of the winter. I caught it on a tip-up so I got to hand line it. I love hand lining big trout. It’s getting to be a lost skill with all the fancy new ice fishing equipment.
 

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Looks like a great trip. Did you see any other winter campers? I’d love to go in in the winter and was thinking a pop up ice shack would be the best bet but was concerned with the weight of my insulated one. Did you do anything for floor?
 
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Ice shack and some thermarest ultralite cots is the way to go for small groups. We used the same set up for deer this year and it worked great. It turns out the shacks aren't quite as waterproof when it is raining vs. snowing, so we had to tarp it.
 
Looks like a great trip. Did you see any other winter campers? I’d love to go in in the winter and was thinking a pop up ice shack would be the best bet but was concerned with the weight of my insulated one. Did you do anything for floor?
I put a tarp down in one corner so I had somewhere to put my feet without getting wet socks. I also elevated my heater a couple of inches with a flat rock, that prevented a pool of water in front of my heater from melting ice. I saw winter campers every day I went fishing this year. Lots of people have been getting out.
 

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