Big Fish Encounters

10/17/2026

We are blessed to be able to rig boats for some of the best in the industry!

10/16/2026

It's really never about the fish, it's about spending the time in outdoors with someone who ages everytime you blink. Whether that's your first born who grew too fast, or one more fishing trip with Dad or Grandpa we are here to make it happen!

Maybe life has gotten busy between work or sports, just remember the short spur of the moment trips with those who matter, matter most! We provide an experience that you have to try atleast once before ya go, reach out if you have any special requests this season.

10/13/2026

One of our fan favorite Yetti Fish House Rentals is Yetti 5+ and there are so many things to love about this shack its almost impossible to list em all and keep your attention!

✔️ Peaceful-Solar minimizes generator noise
✔️ Soft touch walls for comfort
✔️ Livescope friendly layout
✔️ Lift bed w/ Memory foam mattress
✔️Dinette jacknife that can convert to queen bed

You can ✔️ out price and availabilty of all seven of our rentals at bigfishencounters.com but with 4 adults staying a Sunday til Tuesday in this shack will only set each person back about $135 a night, a deal if ya ask me!

10/09/2026

Are you taking the Red Pill or the Blue Pill this winter? Red gives you the range but Blue offers the most detail up close. We are of course talking about the two new Livescope transducers, the LVS42HD and the LVS44. Without the black box there is over 3 lbs of weight savings now but the transducer size has grown a bit taller!

When comparing to transducers of the past the LVS34 and LVS44 are the same width but the 44 sits higher, the LVS32 compared to the LVS42 are also the same width with the 42 sitting higher also. If using the 42HD in Down Vu only it will fit in a 6" hole! For fishing thick weedbeds or timber there may be nothing better with incredible seperation and resolution.

If you want to find fish at a distance that is the LVS44 but its going to take an 8" auger to use Forward Vu and I would move often on the coldest days! It is 6.25" wide in Down Vu but closer to 7.25" when in Forward.

Having personally used both the 44 is a replacement to Livescope Plus and the 42 is the go to if you already know where the fish are and want the best once you get there!

10/09/2026

Big crappie or Big walleye, what's your preference? Depending on the time of the year you might even get both in one of our Yetti Fish Houses. Smash that Like button for the Crappie and the Heart button for those golden Walleyes let's see who wins!

10/06/2026

10/01/2026

The walleyes up here are a thing of beauty in the winter! They are not always easy to catch, they are however quite chunky and have been known to top 29" in the Hayward region.

If they are your target species January is the month to be here! As February arrives they often transition to deep rock and we do not set our shacks in deep water to best preserve the fisheries.

If you would like a shot at finding gold in northern Wisconsin check out our Yetti sleeper rental page!
https://bigfishencounters.com/pages/ice-shack-rentals

09/29/2026

An office with a view thats what we strive for the bow of your boat to be! We want it to work reliably, be comfortable to view and functional without wiggling this or tapping that for it to work.

If you are ready for a remodel reach on out!

09/28/2026

The new Beatdown Outdoors Commander is a serious unit if you are thinking of getting the new Garmin 9217 graph for scoping. You can even add a second unit such as this Xplore 12 above it for mapping and trolling motor control.

If you are thinking of revamping your bow give us a call or stop into the shop soon as we only rig boats until Halloween! We spent several hours ensuring everything fit and functioned nicely. The Ultrex can even be stowed or deployed without the cable catching on the graphs!

09/26/2026

We can't wait for more messages like this! While some of our rentals are chasing trophies others are creating memories in our Yetti Fish House fleet.

You do not need a bunch of experience to get the kids out for a weekend, a bit of patience is all it really takes. We supply the shack, the fishing location and ensure you stay comfortable!

You pack food, beverage, sleeping bag with pillow, boots, cold weather clothing, bait and fishing gear! We also have gear rentals for those who do not have everything (or anything) at a very reasonable rate.

There are 7 shacks to choose from with each a little bigger than the previous, we operate them within a 30 minute radius of Hayward wisconsin and fish for a multitude of species. Find out more at https://bigfishencounters.com/pages/ice-shack-rentals. I do recommend switching to the desktop version of site when booking for best results!

Welcome to Big Fish Encounters Sleeper Shacks serving Sawyer County Wisconsin Offering an assortment of incredibly comfortable shacks, quality fishing and even a bit of knowledge to go with it. Our guests arrive via shuttle in a tracked Ranger UTV's to a warm shanty with holes ready to fish on one o...