To shovel or not?

[mncamperguy]

Just curious if people generally shovel out the area they will put a hub style portable on or not. I guess it comes down to if you want to have snow under your feet. If running a heater is it better to have snow or bare ice?

I will be out in mine for the first time this weekend and it just dawned on me if i need a suitable shovel for that or not. I have spent most of my fishing in other peoples permenants and never had to deal with it.

[gogophers]

Depends on the thickness of the snow/ice for me. I'll usually only shovel off the spot if the auger wont reach through both. Don't really care if the porty is on ice vs snow.

[LunkerCity]

It all really does depend. If there is very little snow, the heater usually turns my floor into a skating rink. When I spear out of my hub I try to remember a chunk of carpet, that way I don't end up swimming:) When I'm done I bring it in the house try dry out and it doesn't take up much room (rolled up). The piece I use is only about 3'X5'. If you are just angling it is still nice so you don't fall on something like the heater or rods. Be safe!

[LightningBG]

If its powdery I shovel so I'm not kicking it around. If its crusty I leave it to give some traction.

[schweady]

If it's heavy snow putting some considerable weight on the ice and drilling a hole brings up some flooding water, shoveling off an area for the house will create a swimming pool. Speaking from experience.

[KrabbyPatties]

Yeah, I scrape away the easy, powdery stuff and leave anything that requires effort alone.

[smeese]

Keep the ice dry by not splashing your auger everywhere

[shizzy]

only if its loose powdery stuff.

I carry a chunk of old I/O carpet and toss that down.

[FrontenacPike]

I usually do just because I don't like my line catching it on a jig. Last year on URL I found a reason not to. There was about 20 inches of snow and we cleared a nice 8x8 section for the hub. I proceed to pop the holes and found out real fast that clearing the snow was not a good idea. I was standing in 6 inches of water real fast. From all the weight of the snow the ice hole looked like a volcano geyser. Shortly after that everything within about 30 feet from the hole was a slushy mess. Needless to say we put the shovel back in the truck for the trip.

On a side note.... the owner of the ice road that we were using was fit to be tied at some guy who drilled a hole in the road. The road flooded and was unsafe for travel. They spent the next hour re-routing the road.

[harvey lee]

If the snow is soft and fluffy and really deep, then I will clean off some.

I do not clean it all off as I want some on the ice so my tub does not show through the ice espically on shallow water.

I always try to set my house on any spot with some snow and not glare ice for this reason.

I do not clean all the snow if it is deep as I do not want a swimming pool around my holes.