
Tired of spending money on ice for your fishing trips? You can reduce the frosty expenditures by making your own ice like I do. I save up half-gallon milk and juice cartons, rinse them out and fill them with water, then put them in the chest freezer at home — the same one I use to store frozen bait. Just about any container will work, but the cardboard cartons protect the ice from the stinky bait. The cartons also can be easily removed (I just tear off the cardboard) from the now-frozen water when it’s time to go fishing. This little trick results in blocks of ice that fit nicely in coolers and kill bags. It might not eliminate the need to buy ice, but this is a good way to augment the store-bought supply.