You could call it a “vintage fish house camper.” It looked very shabby – and not the shabby chic kind of shabby. A matte grey painted exterior with dents, broken windows, and plenty of water damage.
When I first saw the Lil Hotdish, it was far from love at first sight. I found it while scrolling through my Craigslist this past fall. I was actually looking for a fish house for ice fishing on our Minnesota lakes in the winter. This one happened to be a vintage camper that was converted to a fish house so it would work for all four seasons. You could call it a “vintage fish house camper.” It looked very shabby – and not the shabby chic kind of shabby. A matte grey painted exterior with dents, broken windows, and plenty of water damage. But I saw the potential and so did my husband Nick. It would also make a great little sidekick to my Instagram and blog Girl of 10,000 Lakes which is dedicated to inspiring folks, especially women, to get outdoors. We had to have it.
We got the camper for $1500 from the boonies of Buffalo, MN. It looked like something out of Breaking Bad. I was embarrassed to have it in our driveway. But with a ton of TLC, this ugly duckling would soon become my Lil Hotdish.
It took around two months to get the Lil Hotdish into shape and bring back its vintage flare. The make is Monitor from Wakarusa, Indiana, 1960s era. The original owner of the camper converted it to a fish house. The trailer bed is a crank down mechanism, which means we can lower the entire camper close to the ice for fishing. There were five holes with covers on the floor for ice fishing (now there are four — I’ll explain why in a bit). There’s a propane gas heater that vents outside to keep us warm in the winter. It sleeps up to four people, quite snuggly.
We did a $1000 DIY renovation to get it back into shape. Some updates include new luan boards, a copper foot pump sink which now covers one of the fish holes, wainscoting and faux tin walls, new floorboards and laminate flooring, fresh coat of exterior and interior paint, and a cooktop area for our Primus Tupike camping stove. There were definitely issues we had to fix, like the carpenter ants and wood rot. I still have goosebumps thinking about that. We patched up holes on the outside, fixed the brake lights, heater and windows, etc. We kept the original ceiling, cupboards, seating, table, and gas lamps. In the end, Nick and I decided the camper needed a super Minnesotan name. It was between the Minisota and the Lil Hotdish. Nick and I both agreed the Lil Hotdish was the clear winner, especially since I planned to cook up some hotdishes (some people call them casseroles) in the camper.
This is the first winter Kiwi (our yorkie), Nick, and I took the Lil Hotdish out onto the ice. With the camper hitched on our SUV, we’ve rolled onto the ice roads of Mille Lacs Lake nearly every wintry weekend now. Mille Lacs is known for premium walleye and bass fishing. The ice is around 27″ thick, which is more than enough for driving an SUV and towing a camper. Once the camper is unhitched, it’s a process that I now know like the back of my hand: lower the crank down mechanism, hook up the propane to get the heater going, grab the auger and drill holes in the camper, setup the rattle reels with bait and put the line in the water, and transform the Lil Hotdish from travel-mode to hygge-mode. In case you haven’t heard of a rattle reel, it’s a fishing reel that’s attached to the wall of the camper right above the ice fishing holes. Place a minnow on the hook and lower the line down into the water until it’s hovering a foot or two from the bottom (that’s where the walleyes are). It allows us to fish while we are sleeping since the reel starts rattling when a fish is hooked. It’s the best kind of alarm clock to wake up to.
Most people have heard of farm-to-table, but lake-to-table is on a whole other level. The freshest Friday Fish Fry anyone can ask for. Shore Lunch or homemade beer batter combined with fresh walleye make for excellent fish tacos. Crack open a cold one and you have yourself a memorable meal.
Our friends always ask, “how do you stay warm when it’s -10 degrees outside?!” It’s called a heater, folks. Thankfully, ours works really well and it gets toasty in no time. One propane tank can last us three days. My favorite part of the Lil Hotdish, besides being able to ice fish, is the camaraderie it provides. It’s a comfortable little space for sharing a meal together, drinking wine, playing card games, listening to tunes, and simply catching up on life while surrounded by a beautiful winter wonderland. It’s efficient to be able to sleep on the ice in the camper instead of going back to a hotel, which is what we used to do. Before the Lil Hotdish, our fish house was a pop-up shanty or basically a tent. Now, we wake up in the luxury of the camper, make french press coffee in the morning, and cook up some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.
We get a lot of looks from other anglers who drive past the Lil Hotdish on the lake. We’ve even had people knock on the door randomly out of curiosity. There are fish houses scattered all across the lake, called “shanty towns.” But most fish houses are either home built or super modern. Our Lil Hotdish is definitely unique. It has vintage charm with the comforts of home.
