DO I NEED A FISH HOUSE LICENCE

[Tim L]

My friend just bought a 20ft camper and wants to bring it out on the lake while fishing with tip-ups and jigging outside no holes in camper for fishing out of just aplace to sit play cards relax and watch tip-ups so does he need a Licence?

[Grabs]

Yes you will need one for the camper, since it is providing shelter to you while you are fishing. This is by definition from the regulations.

[Dan97]

So I need one for my truck, if I'm sitting in there watching tip-ups?

Dan

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[email protected]

[Grabs]

Offically yes, and you may run across some COs who will ticket you for this. This subject has come up on here before. Depending upon the mood the CO is in that day will determine whether or not you need one. Offically anything that provides you shelter while you have a line in the water no matter what kind of line, you will need a shelter for and this includes wind breaks.

[Guest]

It does get that technical. technicly, anything, I mean ANYTHING, used as any form of shelter must be lincensed.

[Guest]

I was told that you needed a license if you hauled a big cardboard box onto the ice to sit in while you fished.

Wisconsin and the Dakotas are so much more sensible about ice fishing shelters. Since '98 I've paid more to license my little portable Sno-Boat than it cost me to buy it.

[Lip RIPPER!]

So if I put my back to a big pressure ridge to get shelter from the wind do I need to put a license on that too?

[Uncle Grump]

This might be old info - but years ago I had CO tell me that the distinction of a shelter and the need to have a shelter license was "enclosure" - could you get inside it?

If one side was open - it didn't need a license.

I've emailed the CO for my area this question. I will report back w/ his answer.

UG

[Flash King]

I hope this info doesn't get back east to the New Hampshire Fish&Game,they would love to get more money from our pockets.

[fishnfool]

What is the cost for a shelter license?

[graffitigreg]

Tim L,

Here is a repost of the Upper Red Lake Post Surface Tension mentioned. If you want to read all the stuff leading up to this post go to the URL forum, select posts within the last year, and look for the heading "It's The Law"

Graffitigreg

posted 04-26-2002 09:30 AM
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OK… HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE DNR. I RECEIVED THE DNR'S REPLY ON 4/9.
WHO HAS THE NEXT QUESTION?

I’ve taken my original questions, the original answers, the follow-up questions, and the answers to the follow-up’s and attempted to weave them together. I think the answers are pretty clear. You only need one shelter license, your vehicle is not a shelter, and fifteen is fifteen. It’s a little late to be licensing your shelters now but unless the laws change it’s good stuff for next season. There are several misinterpretations, opinions, rumors, and such floating around out there but, “IT’S THE LAW!” and it seems fair to me.

Graffitigreg

THE DNR SAYS: Your recent inquiries to the Info Center were forwarded to me. I am not sure of the history involved in the inquiry, so some of what I relate to you may be repetition. Please bear in mind that as a rule I will give you the strictest interpretation; officers can and do use discretion based on a totality of circumstances that would be impossible to address here, but hopefully in keeping with the intent or spirit of the law. Another variable in the equation will be the 87 different county attorneys and their respective interpretations of law. They make the ultimate decision about cases that may or may not go to court in their jurisdictions. My comments/answers below.

QUESTION #1: I have two ice fishing houses, a permanent and a portable. Is it legal for me to buy only one shelter license and move it from house to house as long as the shelter license is on the house I am fishing from?

ANSWER #1: You can use the same license for both shelters.

QUESTION #2: Does a vacant fish house, on the lake, require a shelter license if it is not in use?

ANSWER #2: I am unsure of the context of your original question, so will give a bit of background. Fish houses and dark houses need only be licensed (except on some boundary waters) when being used for fishing. You could have a whole handful of houses/shelters, say on different lakes or different bays or reefs on the same lake, but if you only fished from one at a time; you could get by with one license. This must not be confused with marking with your ID. That is required of all houses and shelters placed on the ice, even if not occupied. Now, if a fish house is being used only to observe tip-ups from, the way Minnesota law is constructed, you would still need to have it both marked and licensed. You can have more than one fish house out at a time, so long as all are marked. (you) Only need to license the one being currently used for fishing.

QUESTION #3: Is my vacant, locked, and unlicensed house in violation?

ANSWER #3: No. You are OK as long as it is marked with ID.

QUESTION #4: If I am fishing tip-ups, and I’m on the ice sitting in my vehicle watching the lines, does my vehicle need a shelter license?

ANSWER #4: No, your vehicle does not need to be licensed as a fish house.

QUESTION# 4A: Answer #4 seems to be clear, cut, and dried. It says to me, “A vehicle is never considered a shelter” is that correct? As an example say I took my pick-up and camper ice fishing for the weekend. I ate, slept, and watched my bobbers or tip-ups through the windows - My pick-up and camper is still not a shelter and it doesn’t need a shelter license correct?

ANSWER #4A. OK, lots of gray area here. I have seen vehicles of one sort or another left on the ice with holes drilled in them and rigged to be used as fish houses, and as such requiring marking and licensing as a fish house. That is generally not going to be the case, though. The normal situation of somebody using a car or truck to warm up in while watching their tip-ups or between turns on the jiggle stick aren't generally going to be considered situations requiring a shelter license. But please remember that CO's base their decisions on the totality of circumstances, so to say a shelter license is never required on a vehicle could be misleading.

A camper trailer may be a whole different ball game, as they are far more likely to be left on the ice for extended periods of time, adapted to use as fish houses, and at the very least sat in while watching tip-ups out the window. The only difference between a normal fish house and a camper trailer is the wheels, so it is how they are used that will make the difference between needing a license or not. Safest assumption is that camper trailers will require both a license and ID markings.

QUESTION #5: New question--I'm fishing crappies. If I want to practice catch and release and take home a limit, do I have to stop after my 14th fish, do catch and release until I want to leave and then keep the 15th fish, OR--can I throw 15 into the bucket right away and practice catch and release until I go?

ANSWER #5: Minnesota law interprets 'taking' as any including any 'attempt to take’. Again, this is the strictest interpretation. So, if you intend to do catch and release, catch your 14 crappies and do catch and release until you get #15. If you continue to fish after that, an officer could, based again on the totality of what he/she observes, cite you for catching beyond your limit.

I hope this has been of some help.

Information and Education Manager
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Enforcement Division
Box 47, 500 Lafayette Rd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-4047

[chart1444]

Anybody read the letter about THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, and the Game Warden in the last Midwest Outdoors.

[Surface Tension]

This was dicussed in depht last winter. Someone from the Red lake forum i think it was graffittigreg finaly got a reply from the dnr. I think that post is now lost in cyber space.
Here are some facts I do know.

If it has 3 or more sides and you use it as a shelter while fishing you need a license

If it is not a shelter used for fishing or watching lines while fishing you dont need a license.

Reguardless of how many shelters you have on the ice you only need 1 license and must have it with you for the shelter your useing at that time. So you could have a shack on lake x and fish in your portable on lake y.

You dont need a license if your sitting in your truck watching tip-ups or bobbers.

All your shelters need the info attached at all times when on the ice.

[This message has been edited by Surface Tension (edited 10-08-2002).]

[Uncle Grump]

Here is the answer I got from my local DNR officer:

fish shelter = structure set on ice of state waters to provide shelter
while taking fish by angling. This is a current definition.
Another policy book says that itis a structure that is enclosed by ar
least 3 sides and a roof.

The first looks to be pretty wide open so far as interpretation. The second is a little more specific - does look like you could do w/o a shelter license if you had a two sided wind break.

UG

[Guest]

And I've been purchasing up to 3 licenses a year for each ice house I own on different lakes? ARGGG! I'm stunned!
Good info, thanks graffitigreg!

I'd like to add an experience to this. About 6 years ago when I was in college I was fishing in my portable on Lake Bemidji. A CO snuck up to my house, unzipped the door and popped his head in. He asked me to step out and he wanted my licenses for the fishhouse and angling. I told him I didn't have the "card" (that they used to give you prior to the electronic stuff) because it had blown off the portable and it was gone. However, I had the paperwork to prove the license was purchased.

He didn't believe that I lost the card. He thought I had the card on another fishhouse somewhere on one of the area lakes....when I did not even own another house! He was about to cite me a ticket for not having the card on the house, but I did have proof of the license and a sign on the outside with my name and address. The license papers were taped to the sign.
From what I read, you only need the license ON the house when you are fishing from inside it? Geez!
What a technical mess....

[Guest]

If you are not fishing from inside you do not need a license, but what the heck buy one anyway the DNR can use the cash.

[Tim L]

hey all just talked with my buddy and with all the gray area I told him just go ahead and buy a licence and put his name and address on it and then he won't have to worry. thanks for all the replys.

[Grabs]

This makes things very interesting,..I have a plate for my Ultra Shack, but it gets covered by the banking. I was also told that I don't need a plate while trailering my house on the roads as long as I have a shelter license,....wow they really should clear these things up!!

[Guest]

Scott, how sure of your last statement are you? It would be great for adam and I to just pay lincensing so we could include "The Taje" on some summer excursions. Speaking of which, I just brought that baby home yesterday, I'm thinking about adding a little paint to her.

Grabs, I think they'll purposely making it confusing. The state always needs a couple more fees that nobody understands.

[This message has been edited by Bigguns3 (edited 10-10-2002).]

[Guest]

I was there when our local CO explained it. A guy in town is the one that orginally raised the question, as he has had his house on the lake for 3 years now without a shelter license.

So, take it for what it is worth. I was thinking of the Taj when I typed that. If you think about it, it makes sense though. You would be licensing the same "unit" twice if you were required to have both. Ask a CO next time, you seem to run into them occasionally Scott Steil

[Guest]

Here is another twist. The CO in our area says that if the "fishhouse" has a road licence from the State of Minnesota (license plate & tabs), that a shelter licence is not necessary. So, if a camper is licensed already a shelter license wouldn't be necessary, this would be true for vehicles also. Scott Steil