Gator Giggin' Shack Accessory Advice...............

[KDM]

Well I finished my first permanent ice house today. It's a 4 X 8 X 6.5 spear shack, but it's just a shell right now. It's 2 X 2 construction walls, 4 X 4 runners, 3/4 inch plywood floor with 2 X 4 support on the spear hole edge and the middle of the remaining floor with 5/8 inch plywood walls and roof. The roof is covered with sheet rubber, tarred down, with steel drip mold around the edge. The insulation is 1 inch blue board tacked to the walls with staples. It's functional, but besides the cup holders (Obviously), what are some of the other items you guys have found useful in a spear shack?? I plan on having the heater opposite the spear hole and out of the way, but that's about the extent of the interior. Suggestions are requested and much appreciated. I've added some pics for entertainment, ridicule, and all around fodder for discussion. Thanks and let the games begin........

 

[LBrandt]

A short rope for your cell phone/camera so you don't drop it in the water while taking pictures.

 

[Dad]

Looks good

 

[tman]

Paint the insulation black if you want to use it for spearing I built a box blind for deer hunting and just spray painted the insulation. It worked good

 

[JMF]

Mount a few rattle reels above the spear hole to hang decoys from.

 

[Stan's Dad]

seal/paint the inside and edges of that door. will help deter warping

 

[Tikka280ai]

get a few screw in eyelets and place them somewhere handy for hooking your spear and decoys to

 

[Retired Educator]

Perhaps a shelf so you have someplace to set your sandwich when a fish swims up. For sure you want to paint the inside. Hooks for coats, hats' etc.

 

[Lapper]

I’ll have more suggestions after spearing a few fish out of it!

 

[Captain Ahab]

Busch Light pinup girl poster?

 

[huffranger]

Chunk of sacrificial carpet on floor to quiet movement when the gator arrives. Some dirty mike decoys ??

 

[deleted]

Paint the insulation black if you want to use it for spearing I built a box blind for deer hunting and just spray painted the insulation. It worked good

x2

 

[fj40]

Rope to pull your ass out once you've fallen in the hole.

 

[deleted]

Maybe mount a fan out of an old computer on the ceiling directly over the spear hole.......Runs off a 12v battery

 

[Retired-Guy]

A 15 ton crane to move it. Must really be heavy from all that 5/8" plywood.

 

[scrotcaster]

I would add some of those red reflectors on there.. white exterior might be hard to see for a drunk snowmobiler

 

[Lungdeflator]

Outside reflectors, coat hangers, rattle reels/hooks to hang decoys on, shelf for the small things. One Thing I don't like, especially when spearing, is stuff all over the floor. My last shack I built had 2 shelves and I put eye hooks under the shelves to hang extra decoys from so they were out of the way.
I also found that if you bank a lot of snow around the outside, an uninsulated hole cover works great for keeping the hole from freezing too thick when you are not there.

 

[Duckslayer100]

My grandfather had a shack that looked EXACTLY the same as that (except he covered the outside with spare John Deere green paint). He put the heater behind where he sat and vented out the side. Always had a rope to tie around me when I was a squirt. Just in case I got a bit too fidgety and close to the hole.

On the right wall was where he hung all his decoys (my great grandfather made them), as well as spoons and odd tackle. He had a couple sticks with perch jigs that we'd plop down when schools of jumbos started milling through. The rope to the spear was tied fast to a heavy eye bolt in one of the studs.

 

[deleted]

Carving a few of your own decoys adds a little something to the spearing experience when they actually draw something in. I had one in particular that I painted with glow in the dark yellow and then put red spots on it that was tremendous. I'll have to find which Rubbermaid they're hiding in from the recent move we made.

 

[DirtyMike]

Chunk of sacrificial carpet on floor to quiet movement when the gator arrives. Some dirty mike decoys ??

We've been in talks...