Shack or not to shack

As another season winds down on this forum thought i'd share a few thoughts.
Fished the south shore for many years and the North shore for the last twenty.Changed spots when the season was shortened along with size restrictions and the limits of 6-4-2-0. Other than the first two weeks of good fishing the last few seasons have been really poor.North shore is nothing like the South,flat and barron.Lots of shacks migrated to North Bay over the years.
At my age i like the warmth of a shack but really think its not worth the bother
to not catch anything for most of the winter which i'm sure i'm not the only one.
The perch cycle now seems diminished and i don't like to venture too far.
For those that do and don't already know i saw a cool App called i-boat.
I think its 21 bucks and gives you all the topo maps for lakes sync'd with GPS.
Save the map,pick a spot and it will take you right to it.
Going out today and hope the tail end might pick up a bit.If not think this might be my last season with the shack.

"Changed spots when the season was shortened along with size restrictions and the limits of 6-4-2-0."

Not sure I understand why you changed spots?

FishBio>I fished the south shore walleye for years but didn't feel like driving the 5o mile return trip just to catch and release.There was perch out in 35ft but there were also good perch off North Bay which is super handy.Perch seem to go in cycles and i'm guessing more small walleye might = less perch.
Todays catch 2pm -6pm was 2 Perch.

For me, I’d say keep the shack. You sound passionate about catching some walleye.
Maybe break away from the crowds.
That lake has what your looking for... you just gotta find it.
I wish you much luck in your quest.

I second what was said above. The lake has what you're after, it's just no longer where you're at. Plus it seems to be less "catch and release" now then what it was 1-3 seasons ago.

Lakes change, fish move. Seen it on Nip and others. Maybe go mobile for a season... do some recon. Then reconsider the shack? Your problem then might become access.

Did the stay in the cottages and fish the day huts for years but then moved into the on ice bungalows years ago and to me this is what I like the best. If we manage to catch a few fish over the course of Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon to have a fish fry Saturday night we are good with that. The quantity of fish may have dropped off over the years but that chance of catching a quality fish on Nipissing still remains and for me that is what keeps me going back.

Well said Fatrap.

After all, it is called "Fishing" not "Catching". A few drinks, laughs, tunes and good times with a bunch of buddies, I say the fish is a bonus.

Are you still in the same spot kenster? I think I'd give it one more year in a new area but I definitely wouldn't go back to that spot. Is going out a bit further where the operator used to be an option? We always did really well in that 30' area compared to the 16'-18' that they moved in to.

Thanks Chuck, the crack stopped almost everyone this year.I think your right about the 34ft being where the fish may go.I use to shack out there but i'm a one man show and always worry about getting the shack off with atv.I'm considering going the clam route.Home stretch now so i have plenty of time til next year.

As a guy who has always gone the mobile route I've often been envious of those guys with shacks. The one drawback being how hard it is to move if the spot has dried up. I've had a chance to use a shack this year a few times and it is definitely less affected by wind and it's very warm. Plus it's like a little house out there. If you do go mobile get a flip up. I've dabbled in hubs for years and once I got a flip up I won't ever go back. I wouldn't give up the shack just yet.

Definitely more work with a permanent.

I've often thought of having one, but I'm just far enough way that it's just not really feasible. There's storage in the off season, and "maintenance" while it's out on the lake. Definitely have to keep an eye on it, and jack it up etc., when necessary. I likely just wouldn't get out to it enough.

No question, a permanent is more work. But is it worth it ?
Selfishly I’d say yes. Besides hard work, give me a reason why not ???

If I lived within an hour of that lake, I would have my own Condo out there, no question about it.

maintenance. what 1 hour per week

moving it...lots of ways to do that

storage...if I had no room, I would pay for storage, even on ice setup and off ice return if conditions didn't allow me to do it

In terms of maintenance I'm thinking more along the lines of keeping everything jacked up properly. We get lots of snow, and our winters have more freeze/thaw cycles than they used to. Ice tends to eat things up and then form a sort of covalent bond with it. Mother nature is relentless. Last year was bad.. lots of people had trouble. Abandoned huts made the news.

In my case I know it would be more than an hour per week. If I I wasn't planning to fish but had to make a trip it would be the bulk of a day gone.

Sunday fishing, Stopped at shack which was nicely frozen in.
Middle of lake, 7 perch, 7 pic's no keepers, 1ling
Tip #1 ,check shack weekly, Tip #2 bring spare rod combo when going mobile.
incase 7lb Ling and bigfoot destroys your combo.
#3. Bring sunscreen. Pic of Ling on next page.