Gearing Up Your ATV for Ice Fishing
Those of us who live where the winters get nasty and the lakes freeze over don’t let the cold stop us. We gear up our ATV for ice fishing and get outside.
Southerners might think we’re nuts, but those of us fortunate enough to live where the lakes freeze over enough to venture out on for some winter-time hard-water fishing know that ATVs make a great way to carry all of the gear needed for a day on the lake. “You’re not really going to go out on a few inches of ice to fish, are you?” Sure we are! It’s a great time to go, catch some fish and have a good time. Besides, what else are we going to do? If you want to gear up your ATV for ice season, here are some of the best and most useful products you can get to make things a little easier for yourself.
Table of Contents
1. Kolpin Rhino Grips
One of the places you should start is with a set of Kolpin’s excellent Rhino Grips. These simple-to-mount-anywhere grips give you a secure area to hold and carry things like an ice spud, or a hand auger. They’ll also come in handy year round for carrying shovels, axes, firearms and bows.
2. Tow Bar
If you’ve ever pulled a sled or shanty behind your machine out onto the ice, you may have noticed that having a rope anywhere near your spinning wheels is just a bad idea. This Tow Bar from Digger eliminates that problem. It bolts onto an ice sled or ice shanty and connects to your ATV’s hitch to make towing easy and safe.
3. Bucket Holder
Any ice angler knows just how important a good five-gallon bucket is. It can carry your smaller gear, minnows and more. It even doubles as a seat. Having a secure way to carry your buckets onto the ice is important, too. You can find a few different styles of bucket holders - some that can be mounted on your ATV's racks and others that take advantage of your receiver hitch. Find the right one for your needs.
4. Ice Studs
When there’s a layer of snow on the ice, you can usually move right along with no problems. It’s when the lake is a glare of ice that problems can come up. The easy fix it to get some ice studs for the tires and get some instant traction. It doesn’t take much to get things moving in the right direction, just make sure you get studs that aren’t too long for the tread on your tires.
5. Windshield
Your comfort is also an important part of ice fishing. You’re going to get cold, but you don’t need to add anything on top of that. An ATV Windshield, like this one from PowerMadd, can help keep the wind off your hands and face, and make the ride out and back in much more comfortable.
Derrek's love for all things ATV started when he was a mere 11 years old, growing up on his family farm. His mom gave him and his sister a choice - get a horse, or a three-wheeler. The sister wanted the horse, and Derrek wanted the ATV. Luckily he won out, and was soon burning up the trails on a Yamaha Tri-Moto 200. By the time he was 14, he had saved enough of his own money by working on the farm and in his folks restaurant to buy a new 4-wheeler. That happened the day he and his mom were driving past the dealership and saw 1987 Banshee. His mom had no idea what he was buying, and he never looked back. He's been riding ever since, and been writing professionally for many years. He has ridden all over North America and been behind the controls of just about every machine out there. And yes, he still has his 1987 Yamaha Banshee.
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