New Fish House

[meadowcreek]

I'm looking into building a new fish house for this season.  I already have an 8X8 day house.  My goal is to have a 4 person day house.  Is 8X12 big enough? 


Thanks

[rchaze60]

should be big enuff

[Spinach]

Sounds a little tight for me if your looking at fitting 4 people. 8x12, 4 people, gear, food, beer, etc, furnace.... If your building from scratch, maybe a little larger would be nice. Say a 8x14 or even a 10x14.

Then again storing and moving an 8x12 would be a lot easier than a 10x14.

[JohnWester]

i think it would be tight.  mine is 8x16 and 4 guys is close.

[Russ-Judy]

Ya i would agree your over packing the chicken--theres no room for the stuffing
me and Beaver stayed in a 14 foot with all our gear, we could stuff 1 more in elbo to foot, but the gear went outside and the beer stayed inside
where you going to put the card table and chairs
we have been in just about everything you can call a fish house, were darn glad to get back to ours, we sent clients over to check out their houses for the money comparison thing--they were glad they choose ours-- give us a look see chance when buying

[Grute Man]

I got a 6X9 and its tight with 4 guys.

[Woody]

It truely is all a matter of comfort, and opinion.  IMO 8 x16 would be as small as I'd go with 4 people.  Keep in mind it all depends on what gear you'll have in it, and how comfortable you'd like to be.  If it's just sitting in a folding chair-then a 8 x 12 would be a good possibility.  But if you plan on having a small table, stove, and the other comforts of ice fishing-then I'd go no smaller than a 8 x 16.  My own personal rule of thumb is each person gets approx. a 4' x 4' area to fish (2 holes) to fish comfortably.  Again to me it's a matter of opinion and level of comfort you wish to achieve. 

I've fished 4 in a 8 x 8 before-and it's plenty cramped.  On the other hand I've fished 2 in a 8 x 12-that was very roomy-almost a waste of space for just 2.  I also figure the closest I'd want my holes is 2' apart (along the outside edge of the house).  Even then there's a good chance of lines tangling-but this will happen regardless when you get a monster Pike or eelpout on the line. 

Here's my idea of comfortable fish house size/person(s)

8 x 8   -2 people
8 x 12  -3 people
8 x 16  -4 people
8 x 20  -5 people


Another thought with these sizes in mind-they can be converted to sleeper fairly easy since the size of the house is already there.  And you can always squeeze more people in if need be-then just set tip ups outside for everyone's second lines. 

I'm sure this will cause some gasps and more-but it's my opinion.  I hope this helps in your decision. 

[holdemtwice]

 SOUNDS like a great rule of thumb to me woody .  thanx buddy  for the post !!!


  ht