Hello –
I am just looking for honest opinions reviews for those that own or have owned a skid house on Mille Lacs. What did you like or dislike about it? I have been thinking about going this route in the future – saves time setting up, no need to haul a fish house, if needed the resort could start the heater and drill the holes. Thanks!
A friend of mine has a beautiful skid house that he treats as basically his Winter cabin. The place is nice, and rolling in with a few groceries and cracking a beer within 5 minutes and fishing is awesome. Resorts are very helpful. When I’ve went with him I think of it as him having a timeshare on the ice from late January through late February. If you are looking for some solitude on a frozen lake, I can definitely see the appeal.
The cons are growing for him though. He has looked at selling or moving on from it. The biggest con is fishing. Regardless of what people say, the day bite on Mille Lacs is virtually non-existent by the time it’s thick enough to haul out a nice skid house to deeper water. He couldn’t care less about keeping fish, but if you’re maybe getting a few runs on a rattle wheel per weekend at night…there’s a point where just sitting a shack on any lake closer to home makes sense, or even just building a mancave or detached garage to escape to makes more sense. The other noticeable con for him is the length of the season. I don’t know what his house weighs or its dimensions, but he can really only count on it being out there by mid-late January now, giving him essentially only a month. The days of having his house out in December are gone. The early ice season is substantially more inconsistent than it was even 10 years ago. It’s plenty of hassle and cost for what amounts to 6/7 weeks of time that his house is on the ice.
Agree on the ice season getting shorter.
At Mille Lacs in the off season. You have a couple options.
1. Dead storage, no easy access to your shack. Can’t use it during open water trips. This is your cheap off season option. Sometimes included with your winter billing. Sometime restricted to day time access only for repairs and such.
2. Set up in resort area with electric (Some have water) and access to resort bathrooms / facilities. Basically a crash shack/ small cabin with AC and a TV or cable for open water use. Pretty close to the same cost as keeping an RV there year round. (Some of these spots are pretty sweet ! )
See a lot of shacks that never get on hard water any more. Just used as home base both ice and open water these days.
-J.
It really depends what your expectations are with a skid house. This is my 15th season out on the Big Pond in a 10×20 shack.
Pros:
Almost always ready to go. Blocked, Banked & ready. Turn on the heat, drill holes, crack a beer and start fishing.
Getting first dibs on a “spot” over rentals & wheel houses.
Packing light. Change on clothes or 2, Minnows, Auger cooler with beverages and food. Most everything else I keep up there during the season.
Resort keeps the wheel house guys away unless I ask for them to make a spot for a buddy.
Go whenever I want (weekday/weekend) without having to hook up a trailer, ask for spot to be plowed. Once its on the lake, it stays on the lake. I spent 10 days out there last year. I don’t know if I agree the season is getting shorter. I say a very average year is 8 full weekends, which I’ve had the last 2 years, easily. could of had 9 weekends the last 2 years but opted not to due to other plans over New Years. I’ve been out as early as December 14th. BUT, been out as late as January 17th (really bad snowfall year on marginal ice).
Cons:
Not as easy to move, in a way. The resort WILL move you as much as you want, just have to pay for it. $$$
Drifting can be a hassle, but I’m sure it is with any rig. It’s taken me a few years but the plow boys finally know I want a parking lot around my house to keep the snow away and flooding to a minimal.
Blocking & banking. Blocking it back up when there was a big snowfall during the week only is a con because the banking gets Ice hard and can be a pain to shovel out. Nothing that can’t be worked around. Also, banking melting. Usually when I get there on a Friday, I’ll go around the house and stomp in any snow that has melted away from the house from the sun hitting the siding.
Dead storage. We have easy access to it but cannot be used for sleeping/camping in. But this is more or less resort specific.
Fishing. It can be hit or miss but that is any lake. Yes, this year is slow in terms of most year. There’s also 2 GIANT Perch hatches swimming around & lots of little Walleyes. I caught almost 30 walleyes 2 weekends ago. I know, it’s not LOTW or URL numbers. But it’s 38 minutes from my driveway at home, to my driveway in at the Shack.
FWIW, I love every second of having my skid house & will never own a wheel house. Its MY Solitude.
It really depends what your expectations are with a skid house. This is my 15th season out on the Big Pond in a 10×20 shack.
Pros:
Almost always ready to go. Blocked, Banked & ready. Turn on the heat, drill holes, crack a beer and start fishing.
Getting first dibs on a “spot” over rentals & wheel houses.
Packing light. Change on clothes or 2, Minnows, Auger cooler with beverages and food. Most everything else I keep up there during the season.
Resort keeps the wheel house guys away unless I ask for them to make a spot for a buddy.
Go whenever I want (weekday/weekend) without having to hook up a trailer, ask for spot to be plowed. Once its on the lake, it stays on the lake. I spent 10 days out there last year. I don’t know if I agree the season is getting shorter. I say a very average year is 8 full weekends, which I’ve had the last 2 years, easily. could of had 9 weekends the last 2 years but opted not to due to other plans over New Years. I’ve been out as early as December 14th. BUT, been out as late as January 17th (really bad snowfall year on marginal ice).
Cons:
Not as easy to move, in a way. The resort WILL move you as much as you want, just have to pay for it. $$$
Drifting can be a hassle, but I’m sure it is with any rig. It’s taken me a few years but the plow boys finally know I want a parking lot around my house to keep the snow away and flooding to a minimal.
Blocking & banking. Blocking it back up when there was a big snowfall during the week only is a con because the banking gets Ice hard and can be a pain to shovel out. Nothing that can’t be worked around. Also, banking melting. Usually when I get there on a Friday, I’ll go around the house and stomp in any snow that has melted away from the house from the sun hitting the siding.
Dead storage. We have easy access to it but cannot be used for sleeping/camping in. But this is more or less resort specific.
Fishing. It can be hit or miss but that is any lake. Yes, this year is slow in terms of most year. There’s also 2 GIANT Perch hatches swimming around & lots of little Walleyes. I caught almost 30 walleyes 2 weekends ago. I know, it’s not LOTW or URL numbers. But it’s 38 minutes from my driveway at home, to my driveway in at the Shack.
FWIW, I love every second of having my skid house & will never own a wheel house. Its MY Solitude.
Thanks. PM Sent.
I had a 12X22 skid house on ML for 10 years. The total cost was worth it for me because of the Summer usage. I wouldn’t own one for just Winter use because I can’t be up there every weekend or more.
Keep in mind if you need your house blocked, banked, heat turned on, and holes drilled, you will be paying for those services so factor that into your decision.
A good resort and good people at the resort goes a long way as well.
Everything Chad said.
I have had a skid house on Mille lacs since the 76/77 season. I even built a new 10 x 20 skid house 2 years ago. I use it in the winter only since I have a truck camper and like to fish lots of other places. I only went with a 10 x 20 so I could get out earlier than a bigger house. The biggest thing is not to let the runners freeze in the ice. Keep ahead of the flooding in thinner ice.
Season packages usually cover off-on, summer storage and season passes. I let the resort move, block and bank the house now. With my 1st house I could move it myself.
I can start using it as a base camp before the ice is thick enough to pull the house out. That’s when I do most of my portable fishing. My work goes on a two week shutdown over the holidays. I stay at the house and just run home for Xmas then I return. Mille Lacs is a very good first ice lake. Once the big house gets out I mainly sit on my ass and relax. Truth is I’m not the biggest fan of ice fishing. And I have all the stuff. But I would rather be in my boat. But having the FH does make the winter go by faster. Before you know it I’m loading the camper and waiting on Green bay or the Rainy.
My skid house can get out before they let people drive on the lake. They use a stripped down truck to do the first pulls. I use my ATV to access my FH until small vehicles are allowed. They do move me to my offshore spot before the wheel houses get out there.
Based on my experience by the time you can drive out with your vehicle/wheel house the best fishing is over. We used to move the house to a perch spot to finish out the season but that isn’t worth the effort anymore.
I’m retiring this year. I thought about getting a wheel house. But building this was less expensive than a wheel house. Plus I don’t have anywhere to store one. And my kid just bought a big RV toy hauler Yetti. So I can still fish a few other places with him.
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I went from a skid house to a wheel house. Pros and cons to both. Biggest pro to a skid house is after the initial set up…. walking in the door, turn on the heat and drill your holes. Maybe a little re-banking. Biggest cons to a wheel house is pulling it down the road in crummy weather. Also the heaters are much more sensitive. I’m still torn between which one I like more.
I’d rather be in a boat but my family loves being in the fish house.
Gizmoguy, I want to know if the house on the left can pick up any TV channels? LOL
And any pics of the inside of the new house? Looks nice
gizmo, those are some pretty awesome houses! have any pics of the insides to share?
Gizmoguy, I want to know if the house on the left can pick up any TV channels? LOL
And any pics of the inside of the new house? Looks nice
Yes, I could get TV reception. You need to use a deep fringe antenna. I had that one set up so I could raise and lower it for moving. I could also rotate it from inside the house to fine tune the reception. The antennas would only last 3 – 5 years. Moving the house was hard on them.
Some views from inside the old house.
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2. Set up in resort area with electric (Some have water) and access to resort bathrooms / facilities. Basically a crash shack/ small cabin with AC and a TV or cable for open water use. Pretty close to the same cost as keeping an RV there year round. (Some of these spots are pretty sweet ! )
I was an intern for the DNR in the summer of 2005 and I rented out one of those enormous skid houses at Hunter’s point for 4 months. It was a flat rate that included access to the shower/wash house and electricity hook up. I put a TV/antennae in there, mini refrigerator, toaster oven, and a recliner. When I wasn’t working, I lived in there or was at the bar/restaurant. It turned out to be a really good experience and I got to know George Nitti and his primary head worker, Nate, pretty well.
That being said, they are very HOT in the summer lol. I tried to go the first warm weekend without any kind of air conditioning and that was a massive mistake. I roasted. The next day I had off I drove all the way to Elk River and bought a portable air conditioner and turned that skid house into a meat locker the rest of the season.
This was back in 2006. The resort was very popular for people to use their winter shacks as a weekend cabin there, along with RVs. I have to imagine it still is too, but there’s probably more wheel house style ones now.
gizmo, those are some pretty awesome houses! have any pics of the insides to share?
Inside of new house.
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A few more
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I d a skid house on mille lacs for 2 seasons. I enjoyed the simplicity of having the resort do most of the work. The only major downside to me was that the fishing was awful. We went multiple weekends in a row without ever even getting a bite. Eventually that gets pretty boring.
I d a skid house on mille lacs for 2 seasons. I enjoyed the simplicity of having the resort do most of the work. The only major downside to me was that the fishing was awful. We went multiple weekends in a row without ever even getting a bite. Eventually that gets pretty boring.
Ice fishing on Mille Lacs after there’s about 12” of ice is a tough go. I honestly don’t know if I’d drive 15 minutes to fish it after early ice.
Funny enough i just spent the weekend out there. My wifes cousin invited me to stay in his wheelhouse… i thought what the heck.
48 hours on the ice and we caught one eelpout at midnight and a 5 inch perch. We had cameras down the whole weekend and never even saw a fish. Spent all day saturday running around in a portable and only even marked 2 fish on the graph. We tried a dozen spots anywhere between 12 and 35 ft of water. Rocks, mud, sand. Probably drilled 75 holes.
At this point i really have no desire to go back. So ultimately, going back to the original question… THAT is the downside to a skid house on Mille Lacs, in my opinion.
48 hours on the ice and we caught one eelpout at midnight and a 5 inch perch. We had cameras down the whole weekend and never even saw a fish. Spent all day saturday running around in a portable and only even marked 2 fish on the graph. We tried a dozen spots anywhere between 12 and 35 ft of water. Rocks, mud, sand. Probably drilled 75 holes.
That’s too bad that you guys didn’t catch much. I drilled 6 holes in the shack and tallied eight this weekend plus three 5-7″ perch. Didn’t have to go anywhere. lol. No, 8 is not a good number but its been a very tough year with the giant perch hatches & the clearest water I’ve seen in a very long time. Eight fish at the end of February ain’t too shabby either though on a spot I’ve been sitting on since January 7th. Fishing 24 FOW rock to muddy gravel transition.
Chad, I would start renting a house a few days a winter and see how you like it. A lot cheaper then buying and storing a house to come to find out its not for you. That’s my thinking
Ive often thought about this too. a skid house sounds like a lot of fun. If i did it i would want to be able to use it all year round. Can PM me if you prefer but does anyone have ballpark ideas of what reports charge to pull it out in the winter and maintain it and have the skid house accessible all year? just wondering ball park. if i had to guess i would imagine its between 2-4k a year but i really have no idea
10 x 20 at Mac’s Twin Bay: Winter package $800. On – Off, two season road passes and summer storage. I don’t get the summer package but it’s about $1200. The county requires bathroom facilities within 500 feet of the “cabins”.
10 x 20 at Mac’s Twin Bay: Winter package $800. On – Off, two season road passes and summer storage. I don’t get the summer package but it’s about $1200. The county requires bathroom facilities within 500 feet of the “cabins”.
thanks gizmo. so 2k to use it all year round? doesnt sound too bad to me.
I have a place at Red Door on the North end in one of the parks. It includes Summer use, electrical and bath/shower houses. The rates just went up a bit: $1,495 for year round plus $150 for on/off pulling. I love my skid shack and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I had a cabin in Wisconsin for many years but sold it due to the amount of time it took to maintain.
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