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Frozen Water


MuddyBottomBluz

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As we all know ice can be an expensive considering it is simply frozen water. I was paying $3.00 for a 10# bag at the local gas station & 7-11. One day when our ice maker took a crap my wife came home with a bag of ice from McDonalds! An 8# bag of ice packaged with the golden arches and all. She tells me that they sell them for $1.00 a bag and you can get them through the drive thru! That's 24#'s of ice for what I was paying for 10#'s. She told me to pass it along to "the guy's", so there you have it, your tip of the day compliments of my ol'e lady. Don't know if they all do it but it is worth checking out!

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I've started making ice in my storage freezer with cheap ice trays that I empty into a plastic storage container every day or two.  I've noticed that this ice seems to last longer and most of it can be reused for the next trip out.  Just keep those ice bags you've been buying and start refilling them for easy storage too.

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McD's for drinking ice is a no brainer! But block ice lasts much longer. I use a 3gallon bucket to make a block in my garage freezer. I break it up into chunks with a flat head screwdriver & hammer. That broken up block lasts 4 days in my old delaminated 80qt Yeti and we always ending up throwing out some chunks at the end of our trip.

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It goes without saying that if you have the way and the means to make block ice it is a much better option. But if you don't have a deep freezer or a freezer big enough to accomadate it then cheap bagged ice is the next viable option. We still fill empty 2 liter bottles and milk jugs and freeze them and just cut them open and dump the blocks in the cooler or chip them up as described.

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The secret is having a small freezer available to store the ice. Those 5 to 6 cu ft freezers you can buy at Costco, Sams, etc. for less than $200 work well for that....I always had one rule storing ice......ice only in the freezer NO frozen bait, ever!! Nothing like a freezer that goes belly up with frozen chum and bait in it. It's a smell even your neighbors will notice! I sold my ice machine with my condo and it's a must have if you fish a lot, again not just the money it's having ice at all times ready to go!! Now I use the spare refrigerator in the garage to make ice, I've taken one of the rectangle chlorine buckets and cut it to just fit under the ice maker, takes three days to fill up and pour into a Publix plastic grocery bag then into the small chest freezer. It's not just the cost, as I said it's the convenience having it ready at all times. 

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1 hour ago, smilemaker said:

In SC there are ice vending machines all over the place. 20lb dumped into your cooler for $1.75 0r 2.00 depending on location.

If making our own ice blocks use warm/hot water and it will be clearer/solid due to lower air density in the water and thus last longer

Same here, hard to beat the price and the convenience.

 

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19 hours ago, smilemaker said:

In SC there are ice vending machines all over the place. 20lb dumped into your cooler for $1.75 0r 2.00 depending on location.

If making our own ice blocks use warm/hot water and it will be clearer/solid due to lower air density in the water and thus last longer

Yeah they are all over the place around here also for $1.50 to $2.00, however you won't see one in the Keys for less than $2.50 per drop. Was at the Circle K at US1 and Slodowski Blvd. in Marathon early one morning back in June and they have one of those vending machines right next door. I counted 17 ice chests in line to get ice, plus a couple of trucks also in line with ice chests in the back. Why didn't I think of that $$$$ making idea????

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