Team Wild Fish Houses

[iffwalleyes]

Well I just assembled my first Team Wild fish house last night. I have got to say my first impression of the house is WOW this is alot of house for the price. I have been running Otter fish house for 8 years now. I currently have had the Pro Series (my third) and thought they were the only way to go. Well I think Otter with the Wild series has another great one everyone needs to look at. The price is less than the Pro series making it probably a better option for the weekend warrior angler.

First impression was the tent material was heavier than I thoughit would be. Also I was impressed with the weight of the house 76 pounds for the Wild 2 as compared to 95 for the Otter Cabin. They were able to cut the weight without sacrifying durability. As I fish by myself often this is a attractive feature for me to help with my loading and unloading of the house into my pickup. I also expected the tub to be a not as nice as the Otter line but again this was a plesantly suprise and it met and exceeded my expectations. I also like that it come with the bench seat. I have had one in my Pro Series for the last 4 season. I like that it is a standard feature that comes with the house.

Also this was my first model to have the modified square tube aluminum frame with Ultra-Glide system. What an improvement this has been. No binding and as far as I can see not chance of that happening either.

Assmebly was a snap easy to follow instructions. Only issue I had was when installing the been seat I had to do some reaming out of the pin hole in the frame and bracket to get everything to line up not a big deal the drill made that a simple fix. Otherwise everything else was snap.

The winter will tell. The bar is kind of high as I have always been impressed with my Pro Series houses but I think the Wild will keep right up. Now I just need to get some LED wired in and I will be golden. I will keep everyone in the loop as the winter proceeds and I get it out and use it. So everyone take a look a them here definately worth a look:

TEAM WILD FISH HOUSES

[dilleyo]

I have the Wild 3-man and definitely would buy another one. It was the first flip-over shelter I have ever owned and it does exactly what I need it to do and it was in my price range ($399 @ GM just after Christmas 2 yrs ago) The thickness of the canvas isn't an issue for me as I had it out on the St Croix in about -20 with wind chill and was still fishing in just a sweatshirt (although taking it down was a real treat!) I usually fish by myself as well, but often have friends stop by so there is always room for them as well. I have mine modded with LED's and boat seats and storage with doors in the whole bottom of the tub just the way that I like it and works best for me. I highly recommend the 3-man and I am sure that the other 2 are just as nice.

[harvey lee]

Another fine example of the quality product that Otter Outdoors put on the market for the ice fisheman or women.

[Hooves]

I just put my Wild 1 together and can't wait to take it out one the ice. I bought it because it is huge for a one man. My brother in-law and me can both fit inside and we are not small guys. So it will be roomy by myself and a little tight when I take some one with.

[Eric Wetteland]

that wild 1 looks nice. I was thinking about getting one for the times I take my kids out. We will see how much I can get one at the Ice Show.

[marine_man]

I picked one up as well, and have been impressed with the value of this house. It has exceeded my expectations so far, that's for sure. Hopefully I'll have an update in the next couple of weeks after some early ice action!

marine_man

[Saint Mike Guy]

I picked up a Team Wild 2 man last weekend for $299 at FF. I haven't put it together yet, however it seems solid. I chose it over a Fish Trap Guide for the same price at Cabelas. Question for anyone, are there any clever mods or adds to my new portable that make sense?

[marine_man]

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota!

Take some time and look through this forum, you'll find more than enough possible mods that would make sense, depending on your fishing style.

One mod that is pretty popular is installing some form of LED Lights in the house to eliminate the need for a lantern.

Good Luck!

marine_man

[Saint Mike Guy]

I've got those...had em in the Trap Yukon I used to have. I liked the center console in that one and used it quite a bit. The new one has a bench seat.

[JIvers]

I will be getting my new Team Wild one-man out the next time I am back in Minnesota. I got it assembled over Thanksgiving, and like what I see so far.

[bikeoutback]

I bought a 2 man Team Wild house last year at FF for $300 and love it. I did have a problem with the canvas pulling away from the plastic pieces that hold it in the back under the window and one seam tearing slightly. I'm not sure if it was mis-use, I don't believe so but I also don't believe it was poorly constructed, just something that happened. In any case Otter Outdoors fully took care of the issue. It was still in the 6 month warranty so I finished the fishing season and sent it up to them via UPS. They had it sewed all back together and sent back, no charge so I'm happy.

I liked that it came with the cover and seat as I don't mind the bench seat all for $300 and the material seemed thicker than a lot of the others I was looking at in the price range. This will be season 2 and I'm excited to get it out again.

Cheap LED light option:

It's a Rite Lite 12 LED. Cost is under 20 bucks and takes 6 AAA batteries which last along time. Just zip strap or velcro strap it to the middle bar on the house and you can aim them where you want them. Not as fancy as many others but simple and cheap.

[Fred_Bear]

Has anyone modded the team wild 1 man to get rid of the bench seat. I like the idea of it and really wanted to get one of these but after finally looking at one if FF I found it really sucks for storage in the sled. You can't even fit a 5 gallon bucket in there!! Other than that it looked like a great portable, and I want to go with otter because I need a durable sled for long snowmobile day trips up in Ontario. I really like this house but the storage sucks for what I need. Anybody mod one so that you can actually fit a 5 gallon bucket in there?!?!

[bikeoutback]

I'll check mine tonight or tomorrow hopefully and see if I can get a 5 gallon bucket into it with the bench seat. I have the bench mounted all the way forward to maximize the room I had behind it. Basically any further forward and it wouldn't be able to flip the bench up cause it would hit the frame poles.

[Fishin=Easy]

The bench in my 2 man was a disappointment as well. I mounted mine towards the front, within an inch of the frame poles and buckets won't fit. You also can't flip the bench up while the house is collapsed. I just pulled the pins and took it out for now. I plan on making it shorter to fit inside the tub instead of on the rails. Then I'll be able to get stuff underneath it with out setting up first.

[Scoot]

I just stumbled into my first Otter house too. I have not put it to the test yet on the ice, but man it sure looks nice! I can't wait to get out and put it through the paces. My old house was a Polar house- although not a huge name, it was a solid house. The new Otter I got looks to blow the doors off my old house in every way!

[team wild]

Fred bear I have team wild 1 man house and didnt put the bench seat in instead bought the otter chair in it and have enough room for my 5 gallon bucket rod bag my buddy heater and 11 pound tank and cooler

[cupcake]

I have a wild 3 and just emailed otter to se if the new seats could be used with the wild an got a NAADAA. I never put in my bench as i like stuff accesiable so i sit on a 5 gl bucket. if anyone has modeded or found a seating system that works i'd like to hear.

darrin

[bikeoutback]

I have to angle the bucket down but I can get it in the 2 man wild ice house. You do have to set up the house to get the bench to go up but hasn't ever bothered me at all. For my first house it has served me well so far.

[Fred_Bear]

I could do the same thing with a bucket as in the picture above, but that would not work for me. I keep my vex in a 4 gallon bucket and that's always the first thing to come out of the sled so that I can check holes after drilling. I'd have to set the house up every single time I move whether I plan on using it or not.

[slammer]

Bikeout, where did you find that LED light?

[bikeoutback]

slammer, the LED light I pictured above? I keep getting them at Menards cause it's close to me in Apple Valley. Have also seen them on the Wally World HSOforum (haven't found it in the store) and we have picked them up at Fleet Farm. My buddy uses one in his 2 person suitcase style house and I used one in my team wild 2 person flip over. It works for light but I need a head lamp to tie lines. I have it simply velcro strapped to the middle crossbar. I'm getting a second for the bar above the door for more light this year. I'd like the wired setups but I can't beat this set up for ease of use and cost (just under $20 a light). You can also angle and swivel each of the 4 lights individually to aim them where you want them.

Fred, Last year the bucket/vex stayed in the backseat and the auger was in the sled cause it was the only way to fit everything in my car. As I recall I could still get the auger out from that same location without setting up the entire shack, guess we'll see this weekend again.

p.s. In my picture of the bucket it's the camera flash lighting it up not the LED light.

[Fred_Bear]

Fred, Last year the bucket/vex stayed in the backseat and the auger was in the sled cause it was the only way to fit everything in my car. As I recall I could still get the auger out from that same location without setting up the entire shack, guess we'll see this weekend again.

Yeah that's how I roll when the ice is driveable too; vex's are always in their padded bucket in the back seat of the truck.

I was looking at the team wild mainly for 20+ mile snowmobile/portable trips though. Auger would be on the snowmobile and vex bucket would be in the sled, but it doesn't look like that's going to work with the team wild setup. The bench seat would definitely have to go!

[cstortz]

Has anybody looked at the possibility of modding the bench seat to allow it to flip up. Would you be able to use a piano hinge along the supports? Or maybe modding the supports where they clamp to the sled to have easy releases?

I am looking at the 1 man wild as my top choice but am worried about the room also.

[bikeoutback]

I was looking at it only slightly last night and I think If I cut the front support bars and then welded them or another bar on the ends in an L shape towards the side of the sled instead of having them sit on the front and back of the sled then it could flip up and down.

My second thought is at that point I'd probably look at a different house possibly if I didn't already have this one or look at the complete modded fish house with wood compartments and boat seats.

[JIvers]

Having now tried my Team Wild one-man shelter a few times, here are the things I like about it:

Plenty of room underneath the flip top to fish, and plenty of air vents and windows on all sides of the shelter. I also like the bench, as it saves me from dragging out a chair to sit on, and leaves more room to store gear in the sled. The Otter sled also pulls very well on snow and in ice, sets up quickly, and I don't have to mount the shack on another sled like I do with my old shelter. The Team Wild shelter also fits well in the bakc of my truck, and the travel cover makes it easy to stash gear in it on the road. The fabric on the shelter is tough, and seems to hold up well.

On that note, I had to use zip ties to completely attach the fabric cover to the sled, as the molded plastic pieces on the fabric did not hold in several places. It was a minor problem, and one I fixed easily enough by drilling holes through the molding and sled edges, and running zip ties through them. I also wish I had a bigger place to store my Team Otter shelter, but that is not a problem with the unit itself.