By Thomas Smith
Dave “The Slayer” Perry first began his lifelong love of ice fishing on Gull Lake 30 years ago.
The idea to start an ice hut rental business began after talking to local game warden Craig Smith. Noticing a demand for huts, Perry saw a prime opportunity to start a rental business on Gull Lake.
For the past 18 years, Perry has been providing ice fishing huts to rent on Gull Lake. The business was first started with four ice huts and has grown to 20 huts and 10 bungalows. All of the rentals were built by Perry.
“Last year’s season was horrible,” said Perry. For the past two years, Perry has been unable to operate his ice hut rental business out of Gull Lake. In addition, Perry says that he has not seen any ice huts put on Gull Lake for the past two years either. He has noticed a concerning upwards trend in the winter’s temperature over the past several years.
Remaining optimistic, Perry has invested around $100,000 into his ice hut rental business. Expanding from simple ice huts to bungalow accommodations, Perry is hopeful that this year’s ice fishing season will be provide thick ice and cold weather that lasts well into February. With a large majority of his customers coming from urban centre such as Toronto, Perry invested in building bungalows to cater to those wanting to escape the ‘concrete jungle’.
“I built them over the past three years and I haven’t been able to put them out,” said Perry.
Last year, Perry had a hut collapse through the ice. Luckily, it was still connected to the trailer at the time and could be pulled out. After collapsing a second time, the hut was promptly removed from the ice. Afterwards, Perry could see that there were two layers of ice sandwiched between a layer of water, causing the instability.
After this event, Perry had his staff pull his remaining huts off of the ice. No rentals were made last year and with having to pay his staff, lost money last year.
Perry’s ice huts are situated near the bay on Gull Lake in Miners’ Bay, off of Miners Bay Road. Perry was able to set up his ice huts and bungalows on Jan. 8. On Jan. 16, Perry is excited to tell me that the bay in which his huts are set up is showing to have around 10 inches of ice on the lake, perfect for ice fishing.
In the early years, whitefish and herring were the most common species to catch in the ice hut on Gull Lake. Nowadays, walleye and pike have exploded in numbers. The population of whitefish and lake herring have been greatly reduced in Gull Lake. Perry says that whenever a lake herring (or cisco, as it is commonly referred to) is caught now, they are very large. Likely, the biggest size of their species are the only ones to survive the predation of the pike and walleye.
Gull Lake Hut Rental offers 2, 3, 4, and 6 person sized ice bungalows. These ice fishing bungalows provide all the modern amenities any ice fishing enthusiast could ask for including mattresses, a vented furnace, burner stove, lights, and an outhouse. Bungalow rentals also come with a minnow bucket, net, and landing net.
Gull Lake Hut Rental also offers 2, 4, and 6 person ice hut rentals. Ice hut rentals include minnow bucket, minnow net, and landing net.
A valid fishing license and personal rods, hooks, line, and sinkers are required.
Perry says that the most common fish species that are caught from Gull Lake are lake trout, walleye, lake herring, whitefish, and burbot.
“I love to feel the fight of the fish,” said Perry. His preferred method is ‘hand bombing’ for fish, a fishing method holding a line in your hand, without a rod and reel.
“When I have a fish, I can tell you what species I have on,” said Perry. “I can even tell if I caught the fish by the tail or the fin by the way that it fights.”
Perry’s reliable setup includes a small minnow, a small hook, and a light jig. His technique and wisdom can only truly be learned in-person.
While he can assure that his huts are on safe ice, Perry advises everyone to consider that no ice is safe ice. Ice thickness can vary across a lake. Often, the centre of a lake will have thinner surface ice than near the edges.
“Know where you are going,” said Perry. “Spud your way and make sure you are checking the ice as you go.”
Throughout the interview, I can hear Perry’s phone ringing off the hook from interested customers. This is highly fortuitous for Perry and his business, as some years the ice fishing season can start as late as February.
For those interested in booking an ice hut or bungalow for their next adventure, you can contact Perry through his website gulllakehutrentals.ca.