Building a Homemade Ice Fishing Sled

Carrying around your ice fishing gear can be exhausting. When you’ve been out on the ice all day, you need a simple solution that won’t wear you down. An ice fishing sled can help make lugging your rod, reel, traps, bait, and equipment around a lot easier.

How to Make a Homemade Ice Fishing Sled

First, you will need some basic materials:

• A snow sled
• Bolts
• Screws
• Waterproof adhesive/buttons
• Drill
• Waterproof cloth
• Steel pipes

1. Creating the Design

As simple or as complex as it can be, plan your equipment the way you want it. Consider what you will be hauling inside of it. You may want to build your homemade ice fishing sled solely as mobile storage for your equipment. Maybe you want a more complex one which will serve as a shelter during cold winds.

When planning the design, it is also important to know how far you go for ice fishing. What are the temperatures like? How is the snow at your regular fishing spots? Knowing these answers will give you an idea on how you should build your toboggan.

2. Buy the Necessary Equipment

You can get a basic plastic sleigh if you want to use it just for storing your things. However, if you need one that you can sit on or use as shelter, opt for a larger sled.

Whatever type of toboggan you buy or build, you should consider a waterproof cloth to keep your equipment dry. Make sure it can cover all the gear that your sleigh will be carrying. The best way to make sure the cover will work is to measure the base of your sled. You want your waterproof cover to be twice as big as the base.

You will also need a steel pipe that should be at minimum 12-feet in length. These measurements will need to be adjusted to the size of your sled.

3. Assemble the Structure

See to it that the length of the pipe is just enough for your sleigh. Then, bend each end of the pipe using a pipe bender to make a curve on both ends. Attach the sled and the pipe by drilling holes at each end of both, then bolting them together.

4. Add the Cloth on the Sled

You may want to attach your cover by putting on a waterproof adhesive or screw the cloth around your sled as your cover. Leave one end open for you to load and unload your equipment. For a better and more optimal cover, you can have buttons attached to your sled and cloth to cover your sleigh or leave it wide open without a covering cloth.

5. Accessorize

To make it more personal, you may also want to mount a large storage bin or a cooler to your sled. Whatever accessories or mountable equipment you add, make sure you have them placed at the right corners to keep your sled balanced.

Wrap Up:

You don’t need to buy an expensive sleigh in stores. You can make a durable homemade ice fishing sled for yourself at a lower price. When you opt to make your own equipment, personalizing becomes a lot easier.

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