Visit our Popular Forums

vroom · 04-20-2011, 11:40 PM

Has anybody seen an Airstream converted to a Fish House? Or am I the only one who has done this? My neighbor who rehabs vintage Airstreams had the misfortune of having a tree falling on his '63 Tradewinds crushing the front end. He told me to take it and make it into an ice fishing house. I spent a good part of the summer of 2010 doing this, and it was ready for the ice fishing season of 2010-2011. I started off with it on Red Lake in northern Minnesota and finished the season on Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. By the time I took it off in early March we had 42" of ice under her. It has 4 bunks, 4 fishing holes, propane cook top in the bathroom, dry toilet, and a 40,000 btu furnace vented to the outside. We fish thru 8" PVC tubes between the floor and the ice. Worked out better than I expected and we overnited several times with temps. down to -25. Improvements for next year include insulating the floor and adding a DVR player for music and movies. I have more photos if anyone is interested.

tkasten · 04-21-2011, 04:25 AM

Very inventive - I love it! How was the fishing?

HCR · 04-21-2011, 04:41 AM

Very cool! Love it!

flyfisher · 04-21-2011, 04:45 AM

Now that's pretty cool.

Janie Q · 04-21-2011, 05:57 AM

I love your ice house! My brother lives and fishes at Lake of the Woods all the time. I sure hope he does't get on idea like this, we'll have to guard our airstream when we visit him this summer. ha

Jane
Enjoy your wonderful summers.. ours sticks down here. Yesterday has 88° and full humidity.. and it's only April. ish..

funkill · 04-21-2011, 06:32 AM

Very, very cool. I'd love to see more pics!

Laura

vroom · 04-21-2011, 08:02 AM

I've had better seasons, but not bad. We always had enough for suppers and a few to bring home. I need to revise my skirting so I can move easier to new spots when one spot fishes out.

Ultradog · 04-21-2011, 08:30 AM

Very cool vroom!
You'll have to bring it down to Aitkin MN and put it in the "The World Famous Fish House Parade" = every year on the day after Thanksgiving.
It would definately be a hit.

vroom · 04-21-2011, 07:41 PM

I'm attached some shots of what I started with. The crunched corner came out fairly easy with some timbers, bracing and a jack inside. The fiberglass end cap popped right back out without any damage inside. I removed the water tank, refrigerator, heater, kitchen cabinet and sinks and, lastly the air conditioner. The later was nice to have on hot days while working and I could hardly believe it worked when I turned it on. Not a very essential item on a fish house! All the 120v AC and 12v DC circuitry and lights worked as well as the electric tongue jack. It scaled 3080 lbs with the furnace when I was done. Probably the hardest part was scraping and grinding off the adhesive used for the parquet flooring

Michigander · 04-21-2011, 07:44 PM

Very cool! How do you get it on and off the ice? Is is on sleds/runners or what?

vroom · 04-21-2011, 08:03 PM

Rear bathroom doubles as the kitchen now with a propane cooktop which is removable to use the sink. You can see a 15 watt south facing solar panel which keeps the 2 RV batteries topped off between visits. The 4th bunk can be seen stowed against the wall. The drop leaf table with folding chairs is pulled out at dinnertime. All of the windows have been sealed and double paned. The large front window was damaged, so I sealed that up. Plenty of light from other windows and fixed pane in air-conditioner hatch. Rear vent operates and is handy when cooking. Sealed screen door shut and insulated. Outside of all windows are covered with mesh for security. I probably could have worked some more on outside dents, but skin was intack and I thought it best to leave well enough alone. Painted inside with a roller. Despite the 40,000 btu propane furnace, the floor was cold when temps. dropped. I plan to remove all bunks, cover the floor with 1" Tuff R, with 1/4" OSB on top of that and finally 3/8" interlocking foam tiles. Probably will also cover entire insides with 1/2" styrofoam except endcaps, and paint.

Splitrock · 04-21-2011, 08:25 PM

Nice job!

My uncles had a ice house in Minnesota. They used spears. The spears were all setting outside the door. They used the icehouse to play cards, smoke cigarettes, and drink beer. I think they got some fish but I'm positive fishing wasn't the top thing to do on their list.

dkottum · 04-21-2011, 10:05 PM

We did it with the Scamp trailer after retired it from camping. Sure not as much room as the Airstream though.

Doug K

vroom · 04-21-2011, 10:44 PM

Haul it out with my Suburban on it's wheels, have resort plow me a spot and then skirt it.

Mr & Mrs S · 04-22-2011, 03:48 AM

Great idea! I love to fish and love our Airstream but never thought of combinding the two! I live in Texas so we dont have the ice to drive it over. Hmmm.... wonder if I could take a pontoon boat and the AS and combine the two.........(SMACK) thats were the Misses smacks me back to reailty.
Great job thought thanks for sharing. Its amazing how creative people are.

Flying Gypsies · 04-22-2011, 05:00 AM

My husband is from Maine and when I showed it to him, he thought it was very neat- He ice-fished as a kid but not in anything so cool as an airstream! Thanks for sharing.