New ice gear for the 2023-24 season: Latest innovations emphasize mobility and staying warm

The keys to success during any ice fishing outing include the ability to stay mobile and warm. New innovations for the upcoming hardwater season allow anglers to easily accomplish both tasks.

The ability to move at a moment’s notice once again highlights some of the new options. Here’s a look at the latest and greatest tools to take onto the ice this winter.

Outdoor News Ice Fishing Preview Video from Bast Durbin Advertising on Vimeo.

Eskimo’s New E40 Auger Line

The new Eskimo lineup features more than 30 new products for this season, including ice augers. Weighing less than 14 pounds, the E40 line of electric ice augers is the lightest ice auger ever built – without sacrificing any power.

They’re available with steel and composite auger bits, and come with many features that anglers have grown to expect out of an electric ice auger in 8- and 10-inch bit diameters.

The E40 comes with a four-amp hour lithium-ion battery, includes a variable speed trigger, and automatically engaging LED drilling light.

The bottom of the auger is complete with Turbo blades, each with multiple cutting edges for increased performance.

Eight-inch models cut an average of 3.2 inches per second, balancing speed with a smooth-drilling experience that cuts up to 1,300 inches of ice per battery charge.

geteskimo.com

Eskimo Shelters

Eskimo is offering three new shelters this season, including two hub-style ice shelters and one flipover style.

The Eskape 2000 expands the Eskape series of side door flip-over shelters, and is the most compact option in the lineup. Weighing just 82 pounds with 20 square feet of fishable area, the Eskape 2000 also is the most “pulling-friendly” offering in the Eskape series, but also can be towed via hitch.

It’s designed to fish one to two anglers on a bench seat, which folds up for storage or down for transport. Eskimo’s true side-door design allows for easy entry and exit of the shelter, without any separate moving pieces.

Eskimo’s new Outbreak series of hub shelters also is expanding, with the 650XD Limited and 450XD Blackout.

The Outbreak 650XD Limited brings Eskimo’s buffalo plaid and retro design to the popular 650XD, and will only be available for a limited time. The Outbreak 450XD Blackout is purposely designed for sight fishing, with some notable differences from the original 450XD.

It features a new colorway of black on the exterior, an all-black interior, and zippered windows to seal out any potential light from penetrating the shelter.

geteskimo.com

Clam Nordic Sled

Modern ice anglers don’t just head out on the ice with a bucket of tools and hope. They have plans and need the proper gear to execute those plans. This is where the Clam lineup of sleds come into play.

They’ve turned their industry-renowned Fish Trap bases into durable tubs. These workhorses are constructed for rugged use, but are light enough to make them easy to use, with plenty of room to haul all of your ice fishing gear.

clamoutdoors.com

Delta Float Suit by Clam

The Delta Float Suit from IceArmor, by Clam, packs all the features an ice angler is looking for into one suit.

Along with MotionFloat Technology that will provide buoyancy assistance in the event of an ice breakthrough, this suit has a soft touch, yet is extremely durable, featuring a waterproof shell and a super soft long nap fleece inner lining for comfort and warmth on the ice.

Built with anglers in mind, this suit is waterproof, breathable, warm, and extremely comfortable for the coldest winter days. It’s available in sizes small through 5XL, and three color options.

clamoutdoors.com

IceSpike Traction System

Staying warm and mobile is nice, but you still have to move around. That’s where installing IceSpikes on your new or gently worn favorite rubber-soled footwear creates non-slip shoes and non-slip boots.

IceSpike is a traction system of 32 spikes and an installation tool which is used to apply the spikes directly to the sole of a shoe or boot. The ice spikes are specifically engineered of cold-rolled, tool quality steel to maintain hardness and integrity of grip 10 times longer than any other system of ice or snow cleats.

The unique patented design of the spikes provides unsurpassed surface penetration and stability, and the spikes are self-cleaning. The locking design of the screw keeps them firmly in place, yet the fine thread allows removal with no visible trace.

icespike.com

New from Strikemaster

This ice fishing season, spend more time fishing and less time drilling holes with StrikeMaster’s new Lazer Lite 10-inch drill unit.

Built tough with StrikeMaster’s proprietary synthetic resin molded flighting, the Lazer Lite Drill gives hard-water anglers the lightest 10-inch hole diameter drill on the market.

This new drill has been designed to be used exclusively with StrikeMaster’s Lithium 40V powerhead, which provides ice fishermen maximum torque needed to drill big holes through thick ice fast.

This drill features twin serrated stainless-steel Lazer Blades that slice through ice like a hot knife through butter. It offers full-length segmented flighting, and a carriage that is formed from exclusively engineered compounds.

It also features a reinforced “T” connection to carriage with the heavy-duty steel hex shaft, while its super sharp Power Point keeps the drill in place while drilling. The Lazer Lite 10-inch drill weighs less than 7 pounds.

Also new from StrikeMaster is the Lithium 40V Power Station, which provides hard-water anglers all of the on-the-ice power and features to stay plugged in that they’ll need.

This portable package is designed to keep everything today’s ice anglers need powered – fish finders, cell phones, laptops, tablets, POV digital cameras, portable or hub style shelter lighting, and much more.

The Power Station gives you all these options, and more, by using the same lithium 40v battery as StrikeMaster’s lithium 40v augers. The Power Station offers multiple features to keep all of your favorite electronics charged up and ready for action, including: internal 40v battery charger, LED charging status indicator, universal Bluetooth speaker, multiple USB ports for a variety of electronic devices, including cell phones, POV digital cameras, laptops, tablets, two USB-A ports (output) 5v at 1A maximum, two USB-C ports (output) 5v at 1A maximum, and a 110v charging cord.

The StrikeMaster Power Station is built tough for hours on the ice. It also features an extra-wide handle that allows anglers to easily move it with thick gloves on. The Power Station can easily be plugged into a 110v outlet to be recharged.

rapala.com/strikemaster-augers

Clam X-600 Thermal Hub

Always a leader in winter comfort and fishability, the new Clam X-600 Thermal Hub is the perfect portable ice shelter for a group of buddies or a day on the ice with friends and family.

With unmatched durability, strength, and ease of use, it’s the perfect pop-up ice fishing shelter for those who want to spend their time ice fishing in comfort.

Features include the max entry door system, ample space for multiple ice anglers, and top components ice anglers demand. This shelter also is perfect for ice camping anglers, who are looking for a warm shelter to use as a basecamp or even stay overnight out on the ice.

The new X-600 Thermal Hub also features Clam’s Aurora Lighting System for built-in lights, which provide ample light inside the shelter.

clamoutdoors.com

IceRunner Stalker

IceRunner has developed a new type of two-man shelter, which could well be the perfect sight-fishing and spearing set-up. It’s touted as the darkest portable shelter on the market.

The IceRunner Stalker portable shelter opens an entirely new dimension. When sight-fishing you need a totally black cover over the hole. The walls, ceiling, and floor must be black to increase visibility of fish below the ice and to disguise the movements of the angler, and the Stalker accomplishes that.

The IceRunner Stalker is constructed with black, 600 denier insulated double-wall fabric and a full floor to create a 100% “dark house.” The bottom edge has a wide skirt for banking with snow to block out light and seal in heat.

This is a unique design – not a sled house and not a hub shelter. Instead, the Stalker uses a new, exterior framework for quick set-up and even quicker take down. The four, long extension poles provide 72 inches house height. All the poles are outside the shelter and not in your way when you are fishing.

The poles are attached to the tent fabric so nothing can get lost in the snow or dropped down the hole. It only weighs 30-pounds and stores in a compact carrying bag, which is included.

The Stalker has a 50-inch by 60-inch floor (20.8 square feet). But Ice Runner also designed the Stalker to be a versatile ice shelter. Included are two covered windows so you can get double duty from your shelter for ice fishing. The super-light Stalker is ideal for anyone on the move – spearing, sight-fishing, and traditional ice fishing.

icerunnerhouses.com