Has anyone used the "Ice Well" ?

[Pharcta2]

I was looking at the Today's Tackle link from here, and noticed something called the Ice Well. It looks like a net with a ring on top, and goes into an extra hole. has anyone used one before? Do they freeze to the ice? How much weight can they hold before sinking?

It looks like a cool idea.

[Editors Note: For those of you wondering, you can see and/or purchase the Ice Well by CLICKING HERE ]

[Ed Carlson]

I definitely like the idea! I hate cleaning frozen fish, just HATE IT!

I tried another make of a containment basket once and it was tough to use. I do like the tapered basket these units have, that may solve the problems I seen with the other unit I tried on the ice. Open water containment systems just do not work well on the ice in my experience.

The Todays Tackle Rod Holder system is a winner.

I used them on the ice and for wading, love them.

I hole hop a lot on the ice and a fast and easy to use solution for my DeadStick was tough to find. I found the Rod Strap was a hit for this application.

While bank fishing on rivers mud and sand finds its way into reels easily. I slipped the Todays Tackle Rod Holder on my belt and that solves it when I am tying up jigs or changing cranks. They save a lot of wear and tear on reels for sure.

[John19]

I haven't seen the ice well, but one thing I've done is simply put your fish on a stringer. Fish go down a hole, the other end to a bucket, auger, or anything else you have laying around on the ice that won't fit down the hole. Fresh fish every time!

John

[dakotaB]

The only "live well" I need on the ice is a bucket. Dip out some lake water, throw the fish in. Seems like the easiest solution to me. Although, now that I think about it, I don't really see a lot of poeple doing this. Is this somehow not the right thing to do?

[packattack]

That all that I do. I usually get my minnows on the way to the lake and they bag the minnows for you with oxygen. Then when I get to the lake I pour the minnows into my bait bucket and use the bag to get a couple of inches of water in a bucket. When I am ready to go home I pour the water back out, put some ice chips in the bucket then I put it in the back seat of my truck. Usually when I get home the fish are still alive and not frozen.

[Dan Thiem]

I like dakotaB's idea. I don't think anything is wrong with that.

[Matt Johnson]

I spent some time checking out the Ice Well last night and I think they are going to work very well. They are very well built and the concept behind them is very well done. They are going to be great for ice fishing tournaments where you want to keep your fish alive, as well as just keeping your fish fresh when you go home to clean them. The Ice Well is a very mobile piece of equipment and takes really no effort to set one up. I plan on using one this winter whenever I decide to bring fish home for a meal.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Duffer]

does any one now where i could get a ice well around the metro what stores carry them and wich one is the best?

[Bruce Mosher]

The new "Ice-Well" is not in very many stores yet. I just finished packaging them up on Wednesday. They will be starting to ship to some stores this week. They probably wont be in the big stores this winter because they were finished up to late for their buying season.

The Ice-Well is going to be Great for keeping fish fresh. I have tested it with 7 fish in it and it didn't sink one bit. It fits in the hole(top stays open) and Floats with fish inside it. I made up a 7" model for the 8 and 9" augers and a 9" model for the 10" augers. they are 33" deep. If you are worried about it sinking you can tie it off to the house. When you are going to quit fishing and go home, you can then place the Ice-Well with fish in a pail of water to keep them very fresh on the ride home. Nothing worse then trying to fillet frozen fish when you get home. You can also put minnows in the Ice-Well to keep them acclimated to the same water temperature when you need to use them. And yes if you leave it to long unattended it will freeze in the hole. Move it around once in a while and it will be OK. The Ice-Wells are available on this site!!

Bruce Mosher

[Matt Breuer]

The new "Ice Well" will be a very very valueable tool this Winter for me. As most of you know, and have probably experienced, when you go to Red Lake the crappies you catch are going to freeze on the way home. I've toyed around with ideas and solutions to this for so long that I had given up last season and started letting the crappies sit in the shack with me, and riding home in the cab with me to clean for my clients who were staying in town. By the time I got the fish home in a bucket they had slimed each other up so badly that it was a hassle while cleaning. Well no longer will they be able to slime each other up or freeze on me.

I plan on putting all of my clients fish in the "Ice Well" while we're on the lake, and wrapping it from bottom to top with the fish inside and putting it in a bucket with a little water so they can't flop around and slime up, nor will they freeze.

Great idea, great product! It will get it's first test with me tomorrow, as long as I can manage to catch a fish or two!

[BDR]

When I first saw that ice well it was one of those slap the forehead moments "why didn't I think of that". I think the idea is great! I will have one.

[buzbunni]

Yeah, I'm with you BDR. I think it will come in handy.

[Surface Tension]

Bruce, It was nice meeting you at the Ice Show.

I must be a little slow. I saw the Ice Well hanging there and thought it was a fish basket for open water, duh. Then again, why not use it for both.

[hanronson]

I just put some slush from cleaning out new holes in a 5 g. bucket. It keeps most of the fish alive by the time I get home and they are all easy to clean. You dont have to put water in the bucket either, the slush will melt a little bit if you are inside a fish house.

[Bruce Mosher]

Three weeks ago I was Casting Crankbaits at an inlet. It was about 10:00 at night and I caught 2 Walleyes and I tossed them inside the Ice-Well and secured it to a tree branch so it wouldn't float down stream. The Ice-Well flaoted verticle. An hour later I dumped the Walleyes out and they swam away. One person bought the Ice-Well at the Ice Show and wanted it strictly for his beer!

Everyone fish hard this winter! Bruce Mosher

[Dennis Steele]

Well that sold me! I don't keep too many fish, but I do keep a few beers around.

[Blaine]

Are there any photos available? How is to get back out of the when it is loaded with fish? CT is cahnging its walleye regs this year from 5 @ 15" to 2 @ 18".... I'm thinking that it might be good to use if we wanted to cull out smaller fish as the night goes on

[Blaine]

Ummmmmm.... Never mind the photos I saw the link at the top of the thread

[LiLBro]

I'm not claming i thought of the idea first, but my version had a foam or plastic lid that sat above the ice around the hole. it had a flip top plastic lid and had a couple feet of mesh netting on the bottom. the top would be a couple of inches larger than the hole so it would lie flat on the ice. well, guess i should have done something with that idea, i prolly could have made some money.

[Bruce Mosher]

You can see a phoo of my Ice-Well at my site - www.todaystackle.com I also made the Ice-Well an inch smaller diameter than the auger hole for less problems with pulling fish(in the bag) out the hole. Thanks guys, Bruce Mosher

[jphersh22]

Hi Bruce. Is there only the 8" and 9" models? I'm a panfisherman and use 6 or 7 inch augers. I'd love to have one of these if it would fit.

[Matt Breuer]

Hey jphersh22, I just got to use my "Ice Well" for the first time last night. We decided to keep 10 fish for a meal and all of them fit in the well great, I have the 7" model and was using my 6" hand auger. The float just sat above the ice, it worked great. When I was finished I just rolled it up and tossed it in a bucket!

[Duffer]

where are u guys getting the ice wells can u get them at any stores yet. or can you buy them off the internet some where if so who makes them?

[Matt Breuer]

You can buy the Ice Well off this site, or click on the link above for Today's Tackle, they are the manufacturer.

http://www.todaystackle.com

[augernaut]

I think this is a very cool looking product. I usually pack my fish in a bucket with some snow - the snow keeps them from freezing, but they stay nice and fresh. But, this would be a better product, lighter and easier to deal with. I have to say, everything I see from Today's Tackle looks good - just good simple ideas to solve problems out on the ice. Nice job!