Best Hub Style Ice Fishing Shelter
A hub-style ice fishing shelter is a great choice to accommodate lots of friends and relatives who want to chase walleyes, crappies, and perch, or when you want to use your shelter as a base camp for a multi-day, hardwater adventure. Large hubs offer abundant fishable space for larger groups, or allow you to use a portion of the shelter as a field kitchen or even as a designated sleeping area equipped with cots and sleeping bags.
The best ice fishing shelters for a large group will offer abundant interior space while still collapsing down to a portable, compact package for transport and storage, like the CLAM X-600 Thermal Hub, an extra-large, pop-up, hub-style shelter that provides plenty of space for a big group. Specifically, 94 square feet of interior fishing space at only 60 pounds.
Key Features
- 94 square feet of fishable space for 4-6 anglers
- Diameter: 11.5 feet
- Six-sided for bigger footprint
- Ceiling height: 90 inches (7 feet, 6 inches) to fully stand up and stretch
- Strong 600 total denier fabric (90 grams of insulation per square meter)
- Full thermal skin to retain heat/reduce condensation
- Flex-tested 11mm poles
- Over-sized skirt for banking with snow
- Six ice anchor straps & strap pockets
- Designed for windy conditions
- Packs down to a manageable 75” x 14” x 14” footprint
- Accepts Clam Lock Plate accessories
- Designed for use with CLAM’s heavy-duty removable floor via a hook and loop strap around the interior shelter base (must be purchased separately) for slush-free floors,
- 3 year warranty
“The CLAM X-600 Thermal Hub is my go-to hub for larger groups. In fact, I’ll use a couple of them,” says Virtual Angler pro staffer and guide, Pat Kalmerton, who works with young anglers through the non-profit Take Them Kids Outdoors (TTKO).
“Heat-pressed seams keep all the insulation in place so it won’t slip or bunch up over time. Secondly, the heavier-duty 11mm poles flex so they’ll last years. You also have Velcro along the entire perimeter for the insulated floor option and the corners are well-stitched. It’s also six-sided which gives anglers more room. You’ve also got cinch-down anchor straps, which are strong in the wind. Plus, you can also add lots of accessories cup-holders, LED lights, fans, cell phone holders, rod holders, rattle reels, coolers, etc. via Clam Lock Plates. I’ve had my three kids, a buddy’s two kids, and three adults in it at once with six holes along the walls and one in the center,” adds Kalmerton. Watch a walkthrough of Kalmerton’s favorite hub accessories here.
Best Deluxe Flip-Over Portable Ice Fishing Shelter
Deluxe & Rugged Two-Person Thermal Flip-Over Portable Fish House: Jason Mitchell XT Thermal
From the Great Lakes, through the Canadian provinces, Alaska, the Dakotas, and Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, upper Northeast, there are a group of hardcore anglers who really put equipment through the paces and demand the most rugged and well-built ice fishing products made.
Along those lines, Jason Mitchell and CLAM engineers designed a very rugged and accessorized two-man flip-over, probably the most rugged on the market.
Key Features
- Super tough & warm 900 denier w/ 90 grams of insulation per meter
- Set-up size: 93” x 72” x 79”
- Collapsed size: 72” x 40” x 26”
- 1 ¼” pole system with Rapid Pole Slide Extreme (RPXS) system
- 4-pole spreader kit
- Super-tough 900 total denier fabric & 90-grams of insulated, thermal skin per meter to retain heat, save propane, and reduce internal condensation
- Two roomy side-doors
- Expansive 26 square feet (L 55” x W 69”) of fishable space for multiple lines/forward-facing sonar
- 79” (6-and-a-half-feet) front ceiling height for hooksets w/ longer rods
- USA-made sled & thick-diameter poles
- Gray co-extruded plastic tub/sled makes locating items easier
- Deep & wide tub/sled makes travel through deep snow & slush easier
- Two comfortable, padded & removable seats that adjust front-to-back & left-to-right
- Hammock-style under-seat & -console gear storage
- 51” x 14” overhead mesh storage area
- Built-in battery bracket for lighting, aerator, & accessories
- Large dimmable light stick entry
- Included bait bucket & bracket
- Two 4-position rod holders
- 3-year warranty
The Jason Mitchell XT Thermal flip-over ice fishing shelter includes two very comfortable, removable seats that adjust both front-to-back and left-to-right, a feature lacking in a lot of portable flip-over shelters. The sled/tub is deep and wide, making pulling through slush or deep snow behind a machine much easier than standard designs.
It’s also packed with common-sense ice fishing accessories like a built-in bait minnow bucket, overhead mesh storage, under-seat hammock-style storage, rod holders, ice fishing battery bracket, and dimmable lighting.
The center height is nearly six-and-a-half-feet for easy entry so anglers can fully stand-up and stretch. The ceiling height also makes hooksets with longer rods easier—and the 26 feet of fishable floor space accommodates holes for jigging and deadsticks, as well as the use of a front-facing sonar unit.
For ice anglers serious about their trips, and run on-ice vehicles on rugged waters like Lake Winnipeg; Devils Lake; the Great Lakes; the Glacial Lakes of South Dakota; Lake of the Woods/Rainy; Fort Peck, Montana; and Canada, this is a two-man flip-over that’s keeps anglers comfortable in the worst conditions and isn’t likely to break down, even in severe winds or transport over jagged, rugged ice.