inflatable ice hole savers?

[walldoggie]

My dad is looking for those inflatable ice hole savers they came out with a few years ago, you stick them in you ice hole and blow them up or something like that and the keep the hole open i guess. I have done some searching but cannot find them, probably cause i dont know there real name. So if any one has an info let me know. Also if anybody has tried them let me know good or bad.

Thanks

Rob

[Chris Haley]

They're called "airplugs" They used to have a web site but it's gone now.

[cold one sd]

There was a brand called Hole Savers also and I can't find any info on them now.

[HardH20Lover]

Reeds used to stock the hole savers but i haven't seen them yet this year.

[HarryG]

If you are talking about "Air Plugs" I found them on hsolist a few weeks ago, but not recently. If you are talking about "Hole Savers" the big yellow things, they don't work really well, buy they do work. I usually find them at a bait shop near Mille Lacs, but I cannot recommend them.

[LABS4ME]

I looked into buying the airplugs a couple years ago... then changed my mind. If memory serves me right, it was over $200 for a set of 4. Can't justify that kind of coin for saving a little auger time. Also you needed to carry an air compressor or a tank of air to inflate them... not overly convenient.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Ely Lake Expert]

I have never heard of these products you guys are talking about. I just put a 4 inch pieces of styrofoam over the holes at night and that seems to work pretty well.

[beer batter]

Don't mean to side-track this thread but I was discussing this concept of keeping holes open with a co-worker of mine. What his dad used to do was have some sort of metal cylinders like the circumference of a typical fire extinguisher but with the top cut off. His dad would stick these cylinders down the hole then secure a wooden latch of some sort across the top of the hole so that the bottom of this metal cylinder is below the bottom of the hole.

The ice would freeze in around this cylinder during the time he was away from his fish house.

Upon arrival he'd drop in a bit of some sort of flammable fluid into each cylinder and ignite it. The fluid was not explosive, just flammable. The burning fluid would heat the cylinders and pull free from the hole leaving your fish hole ready to go.

Not the safest thing I've ever heard of. Certainly not recommending this to anyone, but it sounds better than some of the other options I've heard about.

[Dan Thiem]

I also have heard of this method but never used it either. One thing to do is put a chair over the hole because I guess they can come shooting out of the hole with some force. Now I don't know if that's true or not, but it might not be a bad idea.