Leaving your wheelhouse on the lake

[walleye34]

my son has discovered hockey and as he gets older it's getting harder and harder to use my wheelhouse a lot. Does anybody leave their wheelhouse out on metro lakes. I am thinking north metro and it would make it so much easier to sneak out for a few hours each week if I left it out when all you have to do is show up and turn the heat on and drill holes but I am worried about break in's/vandalism. It's a 2012 ice castle so it's not cheap but it is insured. And if I do, do you need to buy a fishhouse license since it has a license plate on it?? somebody told me you do not have to buy the house license if it is a registered camper trailer with plate?? basically things can only be licensed 1 time. I have never left it unattended so never needed to buy one before.

[randerson]

People leave theres on the lake all the time but be prepared for some dumba$$ to do something to it as they hate for others to have something nicer than them. You will need a shelter license on it for sure if its left unattended

[broman]

I wouldn't.

[low277]

It is really a shame that people cant respect others property. I have a few ideas about what the punishment should be for some of these offenders!

[ETH310]

I see a couple every year on white bear that have been broken into. I don't have a wheel house, but if i did, I would be nervous about leaving it unattended in the metro, or anywhere for that matter.

[cavalierowner]

Like others have said, no way I would leave a nice rig like that out on the lake. I gave up leaving even a cheapo home-built permanent house on Metro lakes many years ago and switched to a portable. I was broken into at least once a year, many times twice. It got to the point where I took everything out of the house and attached the padlock hasp with just one screw so the thieves wouldn't destroy the door frame when they broke in.

[MNice]

I live very close to prior.. be happy to watch it for you

seriously, no way would I leave it out on the lake, its sad, but its reality.

[Sonicrunch]

If I left mine on the lake, it would have to be a barebones-cheapo with no lock.

Do not leave an expensive house on the lake.

I hear people complain about how back in the day shacks never got broken into.

Well, that's because it was hardly worth breaking into.

Leaving an expensive house on the lake is like leaving cheese, but no trap. It is TOO tempting for the unscrupulous ones.

[McGurk]

The time you would spend pulling it out and taking it up each time will be MUCH, MUCH less than the time during the week you will spend worrying about it

[eyedr]

If I had more time on my hands I would love to pull a nice house out on the lake and have someone drop me off and sit in the thing with the lights off to catch the punks who mess with the houses. I would just love to see the look on their faces when they opened the door.

[crappie55409]

i left mine on a popular west metro lake all last year. i would fish a few times a week but there were days at a time that it was unattended. Nothing happened. Am i playing it safe? Absolutely not. Would i be suprised if someone broke into it or messed with it? No, but thankfully that didnt happen last year. My permy is an old camper though not a nice new ice castle. I plan on doing the same thing again this year and i'll count my lucky stars i go through the year without incident again but at some point...i wont be so lucky

[broman]

walleye34,

Read this.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1703761/1

[choppermn27]

I agree if your house is a wheel house pull it off.

Mine is a cheapo camper conversion and I leave it on the lake with nothing in it, but looking at it you wouldn't want to steal it because it's not going to be worth much.

I think leaving the house wide open with nothing in it deters would be thieves though also, as my friends never locked thiers and never left anything but a chair or 2 in thiers.

[Mcfin]

I pull my wheels off, take everything of value out and never lock my door. People around me have been broken into and have had things stolen or had their houses stolen. I know that people go in my house but the only thing I lost over the years is a wrench.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Anytime you leave something unattended there is the possibility that it won't be the same when you return. The guys that I fish with have left our wheelhouse (it's not an Ice Castle) on the lake for the past 10 years and haven't had any problems. It is locked and we pull the shades so you can't see inside but I don't think that is much of a deterrent. I don't leave anything of value when I leave the house and I am surprised that someone hasn't pried the door open.

A friend of mine had an Ice Castle that he left on the lake and someone cut the gas lines on his LP bottles. They didn't steal the bottles, just cut the lines.

Mike

[Bureaucrat]

This is a great example of why a person needs multiple fish houses.

*Nice traveling fish house for multi-day trips far away. This is your expensive one.

*Portable. Nuff said.

*Your after-school fish house. One that is simple enough and lacks any flash and flare. Clear out all your gear each night. Leave the door unlocked, and put a sign on the outside that says, "No need to break in. It's open."

At least you'll be spared from the thieves. Vandals could still raise a ruckus though.

[Finlander]

Best answer: get a portable!

[Ice_Ice_Baby]

Not a good idea especially in the metro areas. Everyone I know that has left a house out on a lake is busted into at least once per season.