portable modifications

[Duffer]

just baought my first portable and was wondering what you have done to your portable to make it more fishable and useable. pictures would be awsome.

[Matt Johnson]

Here'a an article about modifying your portable. A couple regular FMer's helped out with article and provided pics and commentary. A lot of cool ideas...

Modifying Your Portable

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Duffer]

thanks matt just what i was lookin for ive seen acouple of those posted here but couldnt find them thanks.

[hanson]

Matt-

I'm cooking up something for my new Otter Lodge too. Very similar but different! I spent the weekend building the plywood insert. I have a feeling I might change a few minor things but its looking good. I hopefully will be giving it a good test this weekend on Lake of the Woods.

[Matt Johnson]

Chris,

Send me some pics and description of the new modifications and I'll add them to the article. The more modifications the better...just more things (aka toys) for us ice anglers to play around with

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Captain B.R.K]

WOW, great article Matt!

I'm wondering how I would clamp down an auger in the sled when I'm traveling across the lake? I find that it tends to bounce around in the bottom of the sled when it is pulled behind a 4 wheeler or snowmobile. I don't need to have something rattle on the motor head and then when I go to start, I get no spark!

Any help here guys?

[Paul Waldowski]

B.R.K.

I installed two eyebolts in the side of my sled. I then just use a bungee cord around the head of my auger and attach it to the eyebolts. It never moves and I can still get it out of the sled in just a few seconds

[RogersResort]

Mostly all I have time to do is patch the mouse hole’s…

[berke99]

This year for my Voyager I made a 1/4in. plywood floor with 4 holes and hinged it down the middle to haul it in the sled. I made it about the size of the bottom poles so that with no snow I can tuck the flap edges under the wood floor to keep the draft out. Thought this would also make it warmer inside, since sometimes I will spend the night in my portable.

[folke2000]

Hanson,

Do you have any pic's of your modifications to your Lodge....Looking for ideas to modify mine.

Thanks

[hanson]

folke2000-

Not yet. I just got it built last weekend. I'll take photos of it soon. Its very similar to the mod I did for my Otter Den on Matts HSOforum.

I can say this. I used (1) 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" plywood, (1) box of 1-1/4" screws. (1) piano hinge, wood glue, and a big eyebolt. Very minimal cost but a good day of my time and I have some organization in my house.

Its just a plywood box now but I plan on tweaking it over the next month or so and then putting marine carpet on it to finish it off.

[stick]

I regards to the first options shown on Matt's great HSOforum, does the water from the minnow bucket splash around at all and get everything all wet? I end up putting my same minnow bucket in a 5 gallon bucket, but this looks like a great solution if water doesn't slosh all over.

[hanson]

stick-

What I typically do is buy my minnows and have them bagged and then drop the entire bag in the minnow bucket. If I make a big move after I've been fishing an area, I'll just twist the top of the bag, possibly rubber band it again, and tuck it into the bucket.

My biggest problem I've encountered in the past is busting my minnow bucket or having it tip over, etc. I've alleviated both of those problems with my little solution. I think the splashing water will still be an issue if pulling at any rate of speed behind a 4 wheeler/ sled. If pulling by hand, it works great without bagging the minnows.

Hope that made some sense.

[mjhowe]

Found a little different way to make some rod holders for my small portable. I took some 4" lengths of the foam pipe insulation and mounted them vertically to the sides of my trap, towards the rear. I used zip ties to secure the pieces of foam, and that way you can slightly change the diameter of the foam to hold the rod handles firmly.

Now I can have 2-3-4-5 rods all rigged and ready, and just reach bag, grab the new one and replace the old one. The rods in no way interfere with the opening or closing of the trap and when I move, the foam holds them tight enough to keep em firmly in place.

Light and cheap!!

[Guest]

I built a floor just like Berke99 which folds in half and I trimmed the bottom with 1 by 2s and then lined the bottom with sheet insulation one inch thick. Keeps floor much warmer and if you want to kneel on the floor its not wet and your feet dont slide around. lite enough to fold in half and set inside voyager and still pull by hand pretty easy. Put carpet on top also which ads in keeping heat in and a warm floor.

[Matt Johnson]

outsider,

Thats a good one...modifying is modifying I like the slabs in your avatar too!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[HarryG]

Duffer, The best modification I made was to add a plastic flower holder to the front if my portable. (flip top style) I ran a 1x2 across the width and screwed a lightweight flower holder to the board. The kind you may set in a window ledge. It is perfect for setting my rod down if I was moving a short distance. It was also handy for putting my gloves in a dry spot. I can post a picture if you want. A custom build portable is awesome!!