Ice House Liscenses

[BIG]

Do the one man, portable ice houses require a liscence (Fish Trap, Otter, et al.)? thanks.

[#Boater#]

Yep. Anything with 3 walls.

[bigminnow]

That is a really lame expense. Moving to the twin Cities from SE wisconsin I can't believe that they charge you a license fee for the use of a portable shanty. All i can say is wow.

[smartguy]

I see your argument, but I'm okay with spending an additional $15 or so if it goes back to conservation efforts. If this fee was erased, I'm sure the lost revenue would be recovered in increased prices for fishing licenses, etc.

[vikingtom]

U use to have a license on all houses. Now u buy a house license, u need only for the house you're in.U can leave houses on the lake with out a license on it. Two years ago, I'd buy 5 licenses 4 the houses left on the lake. I'm sure wisc. has laws u don't like too.

[bturck]

I don't mind the house license for my portable I guess we all need to pay our way. I put the sticker on the front door window, it drives me crazy to have to keep hanging the name, Driver License and the rest on the outside. its not like a portable is probably going to stay on the lake over night or all season. I think most of us take those along when we go. Oh life could be worse. good luck, hang on. Bill

[Guest]

Next thing you know they will want us to buy a license for our permanent and portable deer stands!

[89Bronco]

Roli,
Don't give them any more ideas!

I have a question that might seem silly, but oh, what the heck. I bought my portable last March, got it licensed, and fished on LOW in April. Is that license good until Dec. 31, or is it good until the end of Feb. and THEN I have to get a new one?

[89Bronco]

Roli,
Don't give them any more ideas!

I have a question that might seem silly, but oh, what the heck. I bought my portable last March, got it licensed, and fished on LOW in April. Is that license good until Dec. 31, or is it good until the end of Feb. and THEN I have to get a new one?

[kevfish]

Just another way for the state to tax us. I do not see the point if you take it off the ice when you leave.

[MedicineMan]

I have no problem paying a license fee. The money that the DNR gets from our license fees go to stocking, research, parks, and such. And if you want to pay the license fees. Guess what, you don't have to fish. Fishing isn't essential to survival like food or water. Sorry for that little rant. It just bugs me when people complain about paying for a fishing license and such. Paying 15, 18, or however much money won't kill you.

[vikingtom]

U have to renew you're licenses, House and fishing Feb.28th or 29th end of Feburary away.

[Bob Horn]

I just bought my fishing and shanty license for out of state and it cost me over 70 bucks! It`s was nice thou to be able to buy it online. Instead of a shanty license how about a hardwater stamp and everyone would pay and bring down the price. Fish On

[Northlander]

I would just like the license go from a date before ice fishing and last all threw the season. It sucks having to remember a new license every Late Feb. Could it be a ploy to get more $ out of those who do forget? Lots of people get nailed every year for forgetting and this could easily be solved if the house license went from say Dec to Dec? Any other ideas for this?

[89Bronco]

Thanks Vikingtom.

Bhorn, I can see your view. I'd go with an icefishing stamp instead of a house fee.

(I'll try not to post this twice this time.)

[Ed Carlson]

I know your mostly talking MN and WI on this licensee issue. Yet you may find this interesting too.

ND eliminated the whole ice house license system a year or so back. Because it was more hassle for the state then it was worth. It was more cost effective to not issue structure licenses.

So, in ND you do not need a structure permit of any type, just post your address and fishing license number on the shack is all you need.

If a concerned sportsman's group made a stink in the legislature in MN/WI about if it is in deed cost effective to issue permits, it just may change there too.

The CO's I know would just as soon not see structure permits. Their time could is better spent monitoring other concerns.

Don't underestimate the voice, or the ear of the sportsman, in the state legislature. Beat a loud drum and it just may change there too?

------------------
Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding
"ED on the RED"
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[straydog]

vikingtom, I've never heard about not needing a licence on a shelter if you are not in it. Are you sure? I buy 3 tags for shacks on differant lakes.

[BK19]

i have never heard of that either it says nothing in the reg book about only having 1 house license

[kevfish]

medicine man-the license fee was one of the things that jessie V. wanted to eliminate- as the fees were going to other areas and not where the were intended on going. people got tax rebate checks in the mail but we kept on paying this silly fee.

[BK19]

this is the reason for licenses according to the DNR
Q. What’s the reasoning behind the fish house license?

A. Think of a fish house, even a portable fish house, as a winter “boat.” Like all boats, fish houses need to be licensed because the anglers inside take an extra toll on the fishery and demand additional lake accesses and services from the DNR.

Ice anglers can catch a lot of fish, adding to the cost of fish management. And some ice anglers litter and fish illegally, which requires additional wintertime enforcement by DNR conservation officers.

Because most anglers don’t fish in the winter, it wouldn’t be fair to make them pay the costs of winter angling out of their regular fishing license.

Ice fishing is an additional recreational opportunity that requires extra work from the DNR and a small additional fee from those anglers who take part.

[Surface Tension]

Your drivers license number or name and address must stay on your shack at all times. You shelter license must be displayed while your using your shack.
So yes you can have 3 shacks and only need the shelter license for the shack your using at the time.

I did a search from grafittigregs letter to the DNR with there response.

Graffitigreg

posted 04-26-2002 09:30 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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

[This message has been edited by Surface Tension (edited 12-28-2003).]

[Guest]

Hey Guys,

Don't complain too much. I have friends in England, and they must have a licence sticker on each and every fishing rod that they use. $15.00 each.

[vikingtom]

Thx Surface Tension Thx. Iwas looking 4 that same thing. That clears up shelter licenses

[Northlander]

Vikingtom I do remember! Been fishing for over 30 yrs and never a ticket or warning of any sort. Just seems like about the time the bite really gets going and Im doing a lot of traveling I got to worry about that license. They should just exempt portables from having a license anyway. I live in Wi. and dont need one but fish 99% of the time on a boundry water or in MN. and then have to have one.
Wasnt this hole license, name and adress on the house thing started so the DNR could track down those who had Perm. houses out and left trash, houses etc. on the water and the DNR wanted a way to track them down? Just a ?. So how did portables get clumped into it? Just another ?.

[Stradic]

Absolutely no way should we be licensed for having a portable. Wisconsin, and as far as I know Michigan, ND all don't require it. Why does Minnesota? Dang I hate the laws in this state!