What you need to know about a SnoBear

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Snobear get people talking, we get lots of questions about operating them as well as general questions about the machines.  Let me answer a few here.

What is a SnoBear

A SnoBear is a mobile ice fishing hut. Equipped with wide tracks and skis for easy travel on ice and snow and an enclosed cab to keep the occupants warm. The key to the operation is the four holes in the floor, allowing you to fish from inside the machines without ever having to go outside.

How Many People can fish inside a SnoBear?

The SnoBear is designed to comfortably fish four anglers inside the cab.

Where are SnoBear made?

SnoBear are manufactured in Isanti, MN, USA, right in the middle of the ice belt.

How much does a SnoBear Weigh?

Although it varies by each configuration, SnoBears are approximately 3500lbs (1600kg).

How much ice is needed for a SnoBear?

SnoBear recommends 10″ of ice before driving your SnoBear on your local lake or rivers. 

If the body of water you are travelling on is known to have an inconsistent thickness of ice or at risk of wind breaking it up, it is best to wait for thicker ice.  We wait for 16-18″ before we start taking customers out on Lake Winnipeg.

Does a SnoBear Float?

While they won’t float like a boat, the foam in the walls keeps them buoyant, allowing them to float at the surface; this allows the occupants to escape in an emergency.

How fast does a SnoBear travel?

A Snobear can travel at 20+MPH with some configurations reaching speeds greater than 22MPH on groomed trails.

Do you have any questions about SnoBears? Please contact us.

How to Drive a SnoBear

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How to Drive a SnoBear

It’s easy, don’t worry if you’ve never driven a SnoBear before, we’ll teach you how. We’ll start your day with a tutorial so you can learn how to drive a Snobear, and you can watch our video to learn the basics.

Driving a SnoBear isn’t that much different than driving a car, the controls are similar with a steering wheel, shifter, gas and brake pedal. While on snow it handles as expected, while on bare ice, or gravel you have the ability to brake each track separately to make tighter turns.

When fishing the hydraulic system allows you to lower the machine closer to the ice and drill holes allowing you to fish in comfort inside the SnoBear. 

Early Ice Conditions

by General InformationHow To

Early Ice Conditions

Lake Winnipeg

Ice safety, especially during early ice conditions, is one of those things we all think about whether it is front of mind or back depends on how much experience you have.  There is that old Socrates adage, “the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

With regards to our operations, the safety of our guests is of the upmost importance.  We have put policies in place to ensure to the best of our abilities that they won’t run into life threatening situations on the ice.  The reality is THE ICE IS NEVER ‘SAFE’.  Every year we get reminders of this fact, and this year is no exception.  I have tried to do my small part to help fellow anglers by sharing satellite imagery of Lake Winnipeg daily on our social media channels.

One thing you won’t hear me say is ‘the lake is safe’, that decision is up to each individual, checking the conditions and making that judgment for themselves.  To help you make that judgment for yourself, here are some of the things I look at when determining if it is safe for me to go out.

Weather

This one seems obvious, but the first thing to consider is the weather, what is the forecast, and what impact will it have on the ice.  If you are like me as soon as the temperature drops below freezing, I get excited, and start preparing all my gear for first ice.  There are many apps, and websites that will give you the forecast for the lake or river you’re looking to hit first ice. Here are my favourites, The Weather Network or their app available on IOS or Android.

Long term forecast from The Weather Network app

I’m looking at the long term forecast, and trying to predict, based on my experience, what it will have on water temps, and eventual ice formation.  Another great tool is the ice growth chart.

Daily Ice Growth Chart

It allows you to calculate approximately how many inches of ice are being added each day. There are however many factors that can affect the growth rate, wind, current, snow load, etc. which brings me to my next tool.

Satellite Images

Lake Winnipeg Ice formation | NASA WorldviewOnce I see signs of ice along shore lines and bays, I start checking the satellite images daily.  I’m not expecting to be taking the Snobear out any day now, but I am watching to see how the ice forms, and where trouble spots may lay (these early ice spots can remain trouble spots for the entire season).  My main source is NASA’s EOSDIS Worldview website, which generally passes overhead once per day, as long as the sky is clear you can get a really good picture of the Lake.  Once the lake is locked up on satellite , I’m doing the ice formation calculations in my head to figure out how thick the ice is, and I turn my attention to my next tool.

Wind Forecast

Wind Forecast for Lake Winnipeg | WindfinderThe wind can be our best friend as it blows cold fall air over the lake dropping the water temperature, but in the middle of freeze up it is a nightmare.  With the vast surface area of Lake Winnipeg if the wind gets going it puts a lot of pressure on the ice sheet, and until the lake is locked up with a minimum of twelve inches of ice on it, the wind will pop a ridge on one side of the lake and open up a crack on the other. We saw the results this past weekend with a group of anglers who with 10″ of ice underfoot found themselves blown out towards the middle of the lake as a massive cracked formed.  They were lucky, a helicopter was able get to them, and they made it home safely.  It easily could have been tragic had things gone differently.

I use the windfinder app, to look out for either high winds, or sustained winds in the forecast.  It seems like every year there examples of individual getting stranded, or breaking through due to conditions that were entirely predictable by checking the satellite images, wind, and weather conditions.

Check Conditions Yourself

The most important advise I can give you is to check the conditions for yourself.  Whether you are using a spud bar while traveling by foot on smaller bodies of water, or by drilling holes with your auger as you make your way out.

When I check conditions, I’m not just looking for the minimum thicknesses (see chart). I am comparing what I expect to see with what is actually under my feet, and if there are any surprises, I’m asking myself why before I venture any further.

Before you leave home, use these tools they get an overall view view of the area you plan to fish and what to expect when you get out there, check for yourself and Get Icebound.

 

For current conditions visit our Lake Winnipeg Ice Reports page

Humminbird LakeMaster Manitoba Card Announced

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Humminbird Announces the Release of the First LakeMaster Manitoba Card

Humminbird just announced the New LakeMaster Manitoba card, which builds on their already impressive High Definition ChartSelect library  in Manitoba. Now with over 100 HD surveyed waters in incredible 1′ contour detail in Manitoba and other lakes available in standard definition. The card also includes the Ontario portion of the Winnipeg River in standard definition to Kenora and High Definition charts of Lake of the Woods and Rainy River. 

Features:

  • Shallow Water Highlight: Set the shallow water offset to target areas to fish or places to avoid as you travel around the lake.
  • Depth Highlight: Once you’ve figured out the fish’s depth, set the depth highlight to zone in on the structure around the lake.
  • Water Level Offset: Adjust to changing water levels or ice thickness to calibrate the water level on the day you are fishing.
  • Follow the contour: paired with your Minn Kota equipped with iPilot Link, keep yourself in the target zone.
  • Depth Colours: Adjust the colour shading to your body of water, and your preferences. Shallow (white) to deep (dark blue).
  • Contour Interval: Available on Humminbird Solix 
  • units, you can adjust the contour intervals to clean up the lines on steeper breaks while maintaining the details.
  The card has HD surveyed lakes from all over the province; the eastern region is well represented, but much attention has been paid to popular lakes in Riding Mountain, Duck Mountain and Turtle Mountain, and with 50 HD surveyed lakes west of Winnipeg alone, it seems like a steal at $174.99, and I haven’t even mentioned Lake Winnipeg (South Basin In HD) 
The card is expected in stores at the end of November, be sure to pre-order yours from Lake of the Woods Sports Headquarters today.

Manitoba Ice Fishing Map | Please Contribute

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Thank you for visiting Icebound Excursions, we are working on compiling a map of ice fishing ‘points of interest’ in Manitoba. Please check back often as we update the map.

*The following map is for reference purposes only, Icebound Excursions and its contributors make no guarantees of ice conditions.  It is up to the users to verify conditions before using any of the information found on this page.

If you would like us to add a point of interest to this map, please complete the form below.

Icebound Excursions | An Origin Story

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When my wife and I started dating one of our favourite times of the year was our annual canoe trip into the backcountry of Nopiming Provincial Park with her dog.

We would spend the day fishing from the canoe while paddling around the lake; enjoying the peace and quiet afforded to us by the remote location.  Fast forward 5 years, and the two of us, our 2 dogs and our son don’t quite fit in the canoe anymore.

After cramming us all into our tent at campsites for a couple of years we picked up a 1976 boler trailer and made the trek to as many of Manitoba’s provincial park campsites that we could get to. Our son loved collecting stamps in his ‘Passport to Adventure’

These trips served to indulge our need to get outdoors, but it also introduced our son to the outdoors and fishing. In 2016, at the age of 3, he caught his first fish and by the end of the season he had caught 7 different species, 2 Master Anglers and even a few personal bests, that top his parents.

 

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Elie's Personal Best Northern Pike | Icebound Excursions
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Koselig

With winter approaching and the arrival of our daughter, we packed the trailer away in storage, but we didn’t want to let that be the end of our outdoor adventures.  In the spirit of ‘koselig we picked up some snow shoes and bundled up the little one and headed to the urban oasis that is Fort Whyte Alive.  This was our son’s first introduction to ice fishing and he loved it. My son and I would head out with our flip-up and go ice-fishing once a week.

Snobear

We did manage to get all four of us in there on a few of the milder days, but it wasn’t ideal.  After reading about the Snobear in Hooked Magazine, my wife and I made a trip to Manitoba’s Outdoor Showto check it out.  While we couldn’t justify the cost for ourselves, it was obvious that this was the ultimate way to get out on the ice as a family.  Our first question to the sales rep was where can we rent one in Manitoba.  Her answer was “nowhere, yet”.  When we got home my wife turned to me and said “why can’t it be us?”.

Not one to turn down the opportunity at getting my hands on a new toy, we quickly came up with a business plan and Icebound Excursions was born.  With the goal of making ice fishing more accessible for families and excursions easier for avid anglers we set everything in motion to start rentals late in 2017.

Our first ride in a SnoBear