Keeping holes open in permanant fish houses

[brknrn]

I know this has been posted before but for some reason I can't find it. Where can I buy the bags to keep your holes open?

[Ely Lake Expert]

I don't know about these bags you speak of, but I can tell ya what works for me. I just take 1 inch thick piece of styrofoam (sp) and put it over the hole. That seems to keep them open pretty well.

Ryan

[msm1018]

I think they are called air plugs, they are sponser of FM if I'm not mistaken.

[efgh]

There is a thread on this subject, you can do a search for it. good luck, because I can never find anything I;m looking for/////

[cold one sd]

I think they are called hole savers. I don't know who makes them but one of the local bait shops has them. They are yellow and about three feet long. Don't know anyone who uses them.

[Northlander]

www.airplugs.com I looked at them at the Ice Show in St.Paul and they look like they would work great. If I had a permanent house I would have some.

[Gadgetman]

I have used "hole savers" for a number of years now and have had very good luck with them. You can actually afford to buy enough to keep 4 holes open unlike some of the other "plugs" on the market. I got mine at Reeds in Walker and they run about $10 per unit. I am sure they arent nearly as heavy duty as the airplugs, but you dont need a bus load of cash to buy them either. You can also clip a minnow bucket to the bottom of them and leave your bait in the house and not have to hassle with water changing etc.

[Dan Thiem]

Go Go Gadget minnow bucket!

That is a great idea Gadgetman. A simple "D" ring on the bottom and clip on a 7" or 8" minnow bucket on the bottom. That way it will pull the sleeve or tube down the hole and hold it there. I was thinking that if you filled a tube with air it would want to pop up and out of the hole. Also, all them minnows would be chummin down there while you're gone.

[woodman]

I have the air plugs in my permanent shack and man are they nice. I just deflate them when I enter the house and drop the lines. It is nice not to have to drill over and over! Check ou airplugs.com like Northlander said!

[LuckBites]

Both sound great but how do they hold up when your away from your shack for a couple weeks and several more inches of ice have formed?

Looks like airplug needs to accessorize there plug to allow for a minnow bucket, great idea! My neighbor, on the ice, leaves his shiners down for weeks on end and hardly any die. The only problem is finding a minnow bucket that fits down. He uses a 3 foot section of 6" pvc filled with small holes and a cap on each end.

[Gadgetman]

The hole saver will keep your hole open for weeks on end as long as the ice isnt any deeper than your saver is long. I put a stick across the hole, under the floor of the house to keep the tube down. Also somebody makes a yellow bullet shaped plastic bait bucket that fits very nicely in an 8" hole, tho I like the pvc idea. Just make sure you get all the air out of it or it will float up to the bottom of the ice and in a day or two it will be frozen there . I put a baseball size rock in the bottom of mine to eliminate this problem. Also I have noticed that the 7-8" hole saver stands up better than the 9-10" does.

[Nutty Fisherman]

I saw some at reeds for 20.00 they were yellow. Are they the hole savers you are talking about? I didn't see any for around $10.00

[PikeTipper]

Thanks for the tips Gadgetman. Does anyone have a picture of a hole saver?

[fishingguy]

I am very interested in the hole savers. Anyone have anymore info on them? I did a search on the net, and the only thing that came up was Reed's sales page, but no pic or discription. Any more info, locations in south central minn selling where I could look at them, ect... is appreciated!