top of page
Ice fishing Paul Lake BC

WOODS' KINGFISHER III 

ice fishing tent

Keep the chill out when you're ice fishing! With so many out there, what ice fishing tent is right for you?

My wife bought me my first ever ice fishing tent for Father's Day one year. It was a PakShack 3 and I loved that thing. The genius of that tent was in the near-instant set up, which was a big deal on some cold days. But one day, I was packing up to go ice fishing and found that the tent was no longer in my garage. I still don't know if it was somehow stolen from my garage or if I had driven away from my previous fishing trip with the tent left leaned up against a tree, but either way, I was in the market for a new ice fishing tent. Which brings us to the Kingfisher III.

The Kingfisher III has kept me warm many times out on the ice. It is easy to set up. It has five easy-pull handles. Four of the handles make the walls pop out and the fifth pops up the roof. Voila! In under five minutes your tent is upright. The take down is just as fast but I will admit sometimes it is hard to tell which way to fold it up. I will chalk this up to user error, and not a flaw with the tent.

The Pros

  • Easy to set up

  • Easy to carry

  • Vents for heaters

  • Has 4 windows

The Cons

  • Ice anchors are weak

  • Only one zipper entrance

Woods king fisher tent.jpg

The tent comes with eight ice anchors, eight tie downs and a carrying case so the tent is easily backpacked to your destination. The tent also has four windows with velcro flaps, which are handy if you like to keep it dark inside. It also has two vents in the top to allow fumes to escape when using an outdoor heater. It is not an insulated tent but the black material creates a lot of heat on sunny days. Most days I had to take my jacket off. The temperature isn't usually much colder than about -10 C in my area- but any colder and I might want to consider an insulated tent or a heater. 

This tent could probably fit three adults, but I think two is a more comfortable fit. 

​

This tent isn't an expensive tent and it can show. I was using my tent on an extremely windy day and although the anchors stayed in the ice and kept my tent in place, all four anchors I was using were bent by the end of the day. This hasn't impacted the function of the tent and I still use it, but it is something to be aware of. The zipper entrance can also be stiff and hard to zip up sometimes. That being said, this tent has held up well, even though my 80-pound dog has tried her best to knock a dog-sized door in the middle of the tent.

 

I bought this tent at Costco for $159. The low price point and Costco's generous return policy makes this a good tent to try out if you're looking for a bargain. Update, this tent is no longer available. Check out some deals on ice fishing tents here.

For more reviews on fishing gear and accessories check out Chrome Catchers product reviews.

bottom of page