Isn't it I R O N I C ? !

[wall eyell be]

The State of Minnesota, in all their wisdom, tells us that as of midnight last night "it's too late in the season to keep icehouses out on the lake". And this morning we wake up to the COLDEST temp we've seen IN SIX WEEKS.

[mntraveler]

I thought the same thing this morning. Couldn't it have just as easily lbeen 50 degrees though? After all, this is MN.

[metrojoe]

We also had houses falling through the ice in January. Your right though, it's still makin' ice.

[riverrat56]

I am personally against a date that at which you must have your house removed, its your house, if you want to risk it going through they should let you, a year like this we might have ice till the middle of march or later around here that is still drivable or will support a house but we cant have one out there. I just dont agree that they can limit when we must remove our permenants by.

[castindad]

ONLY IN MINNESOTA HEARD ANY THING ABOUT AMEETING IN SPICER ON THE 18 ABOUT WALLEYE AND BASS SITUATIONS

[Nutty Fisherman]

It may be a gray line, but isn't a hard side fish house with wheels a portable? If you can drive on the ice why can't a hard side be used if you take it off by midnight?

[fishyguy]

Quote:

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I am personally against a date that at which you must have your house removed, its your house, if you want to risk it going through they should let you, a year like this we might have ice till the middle of march or later around here that is still drivable or will support a house but we cant have one out there. I just dont agree that they can limit when we must remove our permenants by.

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I agree that the house is yours and the risk of it going through is yours but once its through, your house, its contents, propane, garbage, etc... becomes a problem for all. Is the timing a little conservative? Yes, but the rule is not to save your house for you it is to save the lake for all of us from what goes with it.

[Captain B.R.K]

Look at it as a pre-caution to you and the environment in case of years of warm weather.

You know that if the DNR didn't issue deadlines, everybody would leave it until the very last minute to pick the house off the ice. BY that time we'd be looking at 12" or less of ice.

Then when the ice isn't safe enough to drive on, then what happens the house sinks to the bottom of the lake and costs the fisherman extra $$$ and then we'll hear about how the DNR made them pay extra money.

I don't think we have anything to complain about with the dates.

[riverrat56]

I understand the reasoning behind it ( protectiong the lakes and fish) and how they dont want to deal with houses sinking to the bottom but if someone is going to leave there house out till it goes through thats there problem, fine them and then make them pay to get it out.

I think that in years such as this one they should extend the length for awhile.

[Captain B.R.K]

They do it one time and everyone thinks they have to do it all the time. Being consistence is key! I think ice house removal dates is the least thing they or us should be worried about these days.

[wall_guy_101]

The irony is you take your house out at your own risk so why not take it off at your own risk. It would sure be nice to be in the comforts of my second home right about now....

[Ice-9]

I for one like the date, because I don't own a house. It makes me feel like I have the lake to myself after the deadline. I know that having the lake to myself is an overrated feeling, but there it is.

It does seem like it would be simple to gauge the weather and the ice depth and make the call every year according to the conditions rather than simply setting an arbitrary date. Of course, given all the warm weather we've had this year, a cautious DNR might have pulled the plug sooner this year than in previous years. There is plenty of ice in my neighborhood, I'll say that.

ice

[Walterwontfalter]

I've got a true story that might change some of your minds, or maybe not.

Several years ago a buddy and I put our permanent out on a lake near our homes. The fish bite was excellent early in the year but when they quit biting, they totally quit biting. After moving our permanent around to several different spots on the same lake we started fishing out of portables on other lakes. One Sunday, after fishing all weekend on a lake 4 hours away we noticed that the weather was getting unusually warm and discussed the need to take the permanent off the lake. Long story short, we ended up not being able to get off work all week and by the following weekend there was several inches of slush and several inches more of water on the ice when we finally got out to bring the house off. Now, our house never fell through the ice but pulling it a mile or so across the lake through that water and slush was no easy task. In fact, as we pulled the house a huge berm of slush would build up in front of the house and consequently bogged the truck down. (the house is on skids/runners 4" thick) We ended up spending 11 hours getting the house off the lake. We would pull it a couple yards and get out and shovel the slush away from the front of the house and pull some more. A plow would have been nice but we didn't have one, we do now. Anyway, my point being that if there was no date to get them off the lake by and the weather changes drastically all of a sudden like it so often does. We would have far more people like us doing the "Keystone Cops" routine to get our house off the lakes if not giving ourselves heart attacks or abandoning their houses on the lake. Believe me, we discussed just burning it in place and giving up.

[walleyehawk]

Good point. I remember a few years ago it warmed before the houses were all off. Accesses were dangerous and all these ice houses were still out on the lake. Was a mess.

The point about it being your house is a good one. But remember if something happens and you go through the ice, others have to put their lives in peril to save you. You can still use a portable or even go up north where the date is later.

[Captain B.R.K]

The story mentioned above is what I was getting at for those fisherman that can't get to it or leave it until last minute.

Better safe than sorry!