permanent or portable?

[mrpike1973]

i have had a few permanents in the past. i mostly like them because you can just go in and fish however i usually have to move the house some. so i can drill holes. i have a 1 man portable thats nice except for wind and a pop up fish house. there nice but it seems like you spend more time hauling gear in and out. so i only have a truck no trailer so it would need to be 4x6 and light. a drop down fish house is way out of my budget. would you just stick with portables or make a small house or any suggestions. pluses or minuses

[TruthWalleyes]

I put all my gear in an otter sled and plop my hub house over the sled... Everything in the house that fast.

[ClownColor]

I have more "fun" in my perm but catch more fish in my portable. My perm cost no more then $400, portable was $100. You can make either or both affordable or expensive as you please. I opted for both and love it...but i suggest 8 man hub which is really affordable if your in limbo.

[Net_Man]

You need to figure out what is important to you and make your decision.

The permanent is normally more comfortable.

If priority 1 is catching fish then you need a portable. Cut back on your amount of gear and become a lean, mean fighting machine. You need to be mobile and not afraid to move to a different lake if the one your are on is not producing. You may get lucky and plunk down in one spot and catch fish or you may have to move 5 or 20 times till you find the spot that produces and makes you smile.

Any gear that is not essential and hinders you from moving your house 10 feet to fish another spot should be left at home. Obviously the depth finder is needed but a underwater camera will slow you down. I won't even fish 2 holes unless I am just plunking down.

I do not even like to fish with other people in the same house unless catching fish is priority 2, 3 or I am taking my wife or kids out......

Not every one is interested in putting forth the effort of running and gunning but on most lakes day in and day out it just produces more fish. You just need to figure out what is important to you.

[dan z]

With today's technology (thermal) there is no reason to own a permanent house unless your sleeping over night, even then nowadays guys are even sleeping in there big hub shelters. In my opinion if you cant move you loose out on fish catching. If I'm not burning through grubs I'm on the move. If my auger has gas in it I'm drilling for more fish.

[WalleyeChaser]

It all depends on your style! There is the sit and talk and have some beers method (permy), lets try this spot for a bit (portable), and the ADHD (hole hopping) methods. Pick the category you fit into the most. A permy can be as simple as a $75-100 plywood base with a fold up plywood wall on each end with a tarp between, all the way up to a $20,000+ wheel house. Its all in how comfortable you want to be. I will throw up the portable with a couple holes as a warming shack and drill holes untill I can't lift the auger out of the whole anymore. I'm a die hard hole hopper. You would be surprised how a simple 5-8ft move can get you catching fish again after a hole goes empty. A hole hopper is a fish catching machine! Some people would rather let the fish come to them as they tell stories. On the really cold days I convert to that guy. Hence having a decent portable is a must. Good luck in your decision!

[cavalierowner]

I gave up on permanents years ago. I just plain got tired of having them broken into at least once a year. It got to the point where I took everything out of the house and the padlock hasp was attached with one tiny screw so the house wouldn't be damaged when someone broke in. I have tried a couple different portables, but have settled on a Canvas Craft suitcase-style (with the Thinsulate canvas) so that I have a floor and no condensation. I heat it with a Buddy heater and can still fish in shirtsleeves in below zero weather with a wind. Personally, I would never go back to owning a permanent.

The portable I have is 4x8 and it folds down to 4x4 and about 8" thick. I don't have a pickup truck, so I haul it with a small utility trailer. It weighs about 80# and is right at the edge of what I can handle by myself. The trailer makes it a little easier handling because it's lower to the ground than a truck bed.

I should add that I also have a tiny home made 3x4 portable (shown in my avatar and also a suitcase-style) that I use for scouting. It's especially good for using before I can drive on the lake because it's only about 30# and fits in the trunk of my car.

[Rikkus]

I agree with the statement one Gent said, "...had fun in the Hard-Wall, caught more fish in the portable."

My fishing buddy and I are going back to portables. In fact, we are excited about what we uncovered this year, and never knew existed. We bought 2-Clam 6800's, and one 5600. And, we're considering another 6800. These link to together which is awesome for our group.

But here is what is really cool.

- The 6800 is 6x8, plenty of room for 2 people.

- But for one person, there is so much room.

- Even with 2, I had a card table & two chairs setup.

- These have floors, a very nice feature, (I have rugs)

- Plenty of tie-downs for the canvas for wind issues

- They fit easily on the back of the pickup, with the augers & gear

- We have cots for sleeping overnight

***We bought ours used online for $150 each!

One gent we chatted with hauls two 6800's around on the ice using an Otter Sled.

For our 3-Man group this next season, the 2-6800's & 5600's linked together gives us an 8x19' shelter. Not bad for $450. Adding another 6800 and wow,... The Trap-Links are hard to come by. But, I found a canvas shop that replicated my Trap-links with better material, and a bit longer.

We have all the comforts of a Sleeper & Hard-Walls; and, we are so portable.

[ice_medic]

As stated before that both have their pro's and con's. For me personally i use portables. They are nice and for the most part light weight. I have an Eskimo fatfish 747 and a clam bigfoot 4000. The clam is insulated and the eskimo is not. You will get some condesation with both but not as much with the insulated. The clam is a bit heavier and can be a little bit of a pain in the buns to set up and move around when you are alone but it does offer alot of room for what ever you want to do and is very warm. The eskimo is nice and fits nice in the back seat of my hole hopping honda along with all of my gear. I have built and do enjoy the plywood portables that fold down with the canvas tops. Again yo will get condensation but they are warm and have never had any problems with them collapsing in the wind. Just make sure to anchor them to the ice. I have been dragged across the ice enough with them and it is no fun. As for the permanent side of things they are nice too. Not to moveable but they do have their good points. I love to be barefoot i can do that in a portable but it is not so comfortable but in a nice carpeted permanent it is very possible to do that. When we go out on our big trips where we stay out on the ice my buddies either bring their permanent and we use that as a base camp and for sleeping at night or we rent one and do the same and the good majority of our fishing is then done out of the portables. Me perosnally i do about 95% of my fishing out of a portable and have no problems or regrets doing that and am very happy doing that. Plus i can get out on the ice alot sooner that way and still be able to get out of the elements. My sled and gear i drag behind me when i go out is about 95 pounds with the portable in it so it can be done for pretty light and pretty cheap. As for the whole debate it is 6 of one and a half a dozen of the other any way you look at. I hope this helps and if you have any questions feel free to ask