Anglers in the northern third of the state have until Monday to remove ice houses from lakes. However, some can still use them after the deadline under specific criteria. Because of warm weather conditions the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources warns people to exercise caution during the removal process. 

DNR communication coordinator Joe Albert reminds anglers not to store their shelters near public accesses once removed.    

“We do get a lot of complaints of people leaving them there,” he said. “Maybe they say, ‘Hey, I just left it overnight because I was going to use it again in the morning.’ But they cannot be left there.”

Albert advises anyone having issues meeting the deadline to reach out to their local conservation officer.  

“Explain the situation. If people are making a good faith effort to remove their houses we’re going to work with them,” he said. “We don’t want people to leave their houses on the ice. We don’t want to issue tickets for that.”

The removal deadline for fish houses on the Canadian-U.S. border is March 31. 

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.