Today's Tackle ice well vs. snapping turtle - who wins?

[DEADhead]

The story starts like this....

I was on my annual vacation to the BWCAW. I was fishing several trout lakes in the Superior National Forest just outside the BWCAW. I had fished those lakes the previous summer; one of the lakes had a healthy population of crawfish, the other lake had snapping turtles. On the one lake, the crawfish would attack my catch as it would lay near shore, they were so thick that dozens would pile up on the fish and fight each other for the catch. On the other lake, a snapping turtle came and ate my fish right off the stringer last year. What a surprise! I was bound and determined to not let this happen again. I bought an ice well from Today's Tackle, and was going to use it for shore fishing, but was it turtle proof?

My wife and I made it out to the crawfish lake and began fishing at sunrise. Before long, my wife had managed to land a nice rainbow trout. Since we were staying in the BWCAW, we had planned on having a fish dinner, so the trout went into the ice well. I secured the ice well to my old stringer by looping the stringer through the ice well's handles and through the ice well off shore, trying to keep the crawfish off. After a few minutes of fishing, it was evident that the crawfish were bound and determined for that trout. They managed to pile on there, trying to get at the trout. However, due to the strong rubberized mesh construction the crawfishes' attempts to get to the fish were foiled! After a week of fishing, countless numbers of crawfish tried to find their way into the ice well, and not one even came close to making it in. The mesh was unharmed. That was great, but how was this thing gonna hold up against a snapping turtle? This ice well looks tough, but tough enough for a snapper? I had my doubts.

So, later in the morning, my wife and I hiked out to the lake with the resident snapping turtles. I set up my ice well in the lake to keep the earlier catch of rainbows fresh. I placed the ice well within plain view of both of us, reminding my wife to be on the look out for snappers. Fishing was slow, but as the sun broke through the tops of the trees, the fish began biting. My wife caught a beautiful brook trout. It was on the small side so I carefully released the fish back into the water. WE continued fishing. A while later I heard a splash. No, it was not a brook trout rising to the surface sipping a mayfly. I looked down where the ice well was and to both of our surprise there was a snapping turtle with one end of the ice well in his mouth. How did he sneak up on us? I grabbed the ice well and began a game of tug of war with this wild unruly reptile. The turtle had a good firm grip on the ice well and was bound and determined not to let go. I pulled with all my might and began to lift the turtle's head out of the water, fearing those 4 inch long claws and jaws of death. After awhile the turtle began to tire and finally let go of the ice well. Crisis averted. I feared the worst for the ice well. No way could that have survived turtle tug of war. I looked at the fish in the live well, not a scratch. Cool. I looked at the bottom and sides of the ice well where the turtle had it in its mouth. Remarkable! Not one scratch. Not one mesh bar was broken! This ice well is tough, and turtle proof!

Picture of my intact ice well after the turtle attack.

I was hoping to not have to take the turtle test this trip, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it passed with flying colors. The ice well from Today's Tackle has been field tested and approved.

Thanks Bruce for the quality product!

[Borch]

They sure are well constructed and just plain tough. I haven't tried them under conditions that you have with the turtles and all. But after a year of use mine still looks brand new. Although it does have a bit of a fishy smell to it.

[SomethingFishy*]

I bought one of these from the Strikemaster office, what a handy little tool. Mine as well has a fishy smell to it, but it is a lot nicer than trying to clean frozen/ half frozen fish.

[Matt Johnson]

A great year-round product in my opinion. I use the Ice Well often while out on the ice for guide trips or when keeping a meal for the family. It's also come in handy when a trophy fish is landed you want to keep it healthy while you run back to the truck and grab the camera

A lot of waders really like the Ice Well, because they can tie it off to their waders/belt and put their fish in it while they wade the river.

You can also use it as a fish basket off the boat or dock too.

I also know of few people who use them as live-wells.

A tough and durable piece of equipment. Now it's withstand the snapper test

[Phred52]

That does say ALOT for the product! A buddy picked up a 16" or so snapper from the roadside a few years ago, threw it in the trunk of his car and headed home (about 25 miles south). By the time he got home, that turtle had the tail light wiring shredded, carpeting torn up and CHUNKS bitten out of the edges of the spare tire! The force in those jaws must be tremendous. Any product that can handle that kind of abuse has quality written all over it.

[DEADhead]

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Any product that can handle that kind of abuse has quality written all over it.

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I definitely agree! Bruce makes some great products and I'm a big fan of them. They speak for themselves....

[LaZyDayZ]

Im sold! I will have to be ordering one up.

Thanks for the reviews.

[harvey lee]

They are very nice.I use mine at times when im ice fishing.I just make sure everytime I use it to wash it and let it dry.Its sure nice for panfish when hard water fishing.

[Bruce Mosher]

That was a Great Story to read!!! My ICe-Well also gets alittle Smelly. I just bring it into the Car Wash and soap it up and Spray it down with the power hand wand. I used the 9" Ice-Well in a Canadian Fly-In trip a month ago and it really was quick - simple - and easy to use. We put alot of Walleyes into the Floating Bag. It definelty was alot easier and quicker to use than a stringer. Bruce Mosher

[CNY Tim]

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We put alot of Walleyes into the Floating Bag. It definelty was alot easier and quicker to use than a stringer. Bruce Mosher

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That's exactly why I ordered mine, can't wait to enjoy it this fall wading for eyes...

[Wiskers]

I love my Ice well too.. A little tip incase you are trolling and want to keep fish or bait in them. I took an ingot of lead, maybe 8-10 Oz. put it in the bag then over the boat it goes. this will keep the bag from just dragging on the top not keeping the fish down in the water. Works great for bait or kept fish. The long design gives the fish area to move about even when trolling. That Bruce fella never stops thinking.... As a matter of fact.. when I found that Bison skull on the Red, Bruce was with me. He was even trying to think of a way to use it for fishing LOL LOL LOL...