Fish house removal deadline looms

The deadline to remove fish house from inland lakes is inching closer.

For structures on lakes in the northern third of the state, the deadline is the end of the day Monday, March 18. The deadline was March 4 for the southern two-thirds of the state.

If shelters are not removed by the deadline, owners may be prosecuted and structures may be confiscated and removed, or destroyed by a conservation officer.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources urges anglers who haven’t yet removed their shelters to make plans now to ensure they meet the deadline.

“Anglers are responsible for removing their shelters by the deadline, so they need to plan ahead and make sure they can do it,” said DNR conservation officer Alexander Birdsall, who patrols the Waconia area. “There’s no way around the fact that it will be challenging for many people to remove their fish houses this year, given the sheer amount of snow that fell in February.”

Fish house owners shouldn’t leave anything on the ice when they pull their shelters to shore.

After the deadline, shelters may be on the ice between midnight and one hour before sunrise only when occupied. They may not be left or stored at public accesses. As they venture out, anglers should always keep in mind that ice conditions may vary widely and that ice is never 100 percent safe.