House off the lake by midnight or off completly till next year?

[LaZyDayZ]

Ok, my question is.

Can I still take my wheelhouse on the lake as long as it is after sunrise and off before midnight or does this only apply to collapsable portables?

I would like to spend a day evening on the lake in my brand new wheelhouse I got from Lakeside in Shieldsville but uncertain on the law.

Thanks,

[Team Otter]

You can still use your wheel house on a daily basis.

[Flash]

From what I understand is you cannot have a house on the lake from midnight til 1 hour before sunrise. Also saying that you can have the portable house on the lake from 1 hour before sunrise til midnight.

Flash

"Set the Hook"

[harvey lee]

All rules are on pace 51 of regulations of DNR page.

[Rocco]

I asked a warden last year about this. He said his interpretation was that only collapsable houses were legal-but I don't find the law he is reading. If this were the case, I know a lot ot people would be on the forum sharing their view...

[Guest]

The way the rule is written is really vague. It states that after the date of removal of permenant houses that portable shelters are the only thing allowed during the hour before sunrise until midnight. What is considered a portable????

[hawkeye43]

I can pick up my permenant house faster than it takes me to fold up my otter and put it in the truck. If I take it with me, it portable.

[ddsbyday]

2 sides and a roof. You can use the pull over as a windbreak . Just keep the top beam at the 12:00 o'clock position and you can't go wrong. Once you can not be completely seen from at least one direction you are no longer portable.

[eyepatrol]

I looked this up in the regs. This is what it says:

"Note: After the date when ice or fish houses or shelters must be removed, portable shelters may be placed on the ice and used from one hour before sunrise to midnight, but only if there is an open fishing season on the lake."

"Storing or leaving fish houses or dark houses on a public access is prohibited."

If houses or shelters are not removed, owners will be prosecuted, structures may be confiscated, etc. etc.

Personally, I'm not clear as to why this rule applies to portables not being set up between midnight and 1hr before sunrise. What difference is there from what the rule is compared to 1hr after sunset and 1hr before sunrise? It's still not light out in either case? I think I'll e-mail my area DNR and ask what the rationale is on this.

[LuckyNorm07]

So that means that my clam is not portable...It's got 4 sides and your enclosed.. I think anything that you drag out or has a sled to pull that is portable..

[Team Otter]

Let us know what you find out. Thanks.

I have to believe there is some "fluff" built into this regulation.

[eyepatrol]

I hope there is. I've sent an e-mail to the DNR about this. My question to them is if it is an unconditional rule, or if it depends on whether the house or shelter is being occupied. I'll post what their reply is when I get it.

[LaZyDayZ]

I just called the DNR @

DNR Information Center

500 Lafayette Road

St. Paul, MN 55155-4040

Telephone: (651) 296-6157 or (888) 646-6367

There response was it does not matter what type of house, wheels, skids, sled it can be on the ice as long as it is off at midnight till one hour before sunrise.

[Guest]

Lazydayz,

Thanks for clearing the portable issue up. That is what everybody was wanting to know about. The regulation was clear about no portable after midnight but the question everyone was wondering about was what was considered portable and you have now answered that. Thanks again for the information.

[bitz]

I just reread the DNR rules and it says that portables may be used until Midnight. It also says a portable if it has a door, must be able to be opened at any time from outside. So, I interpret that to mean my CLAM 6800 meets the portable definition, even though someone said you had to have an open end. No where does the regs define a portable any more than that. I have never been told that I am breaking the law using my portable after the last day of permenants and have been checked a couple of times in March.

The intent from my understanding is to keep a house from going thru the ice when no one is fishing in it and so if you are using it, not likely to let it go under.

Just my 2 cents

Bitz

[troutman72]

ive been out fishing after midnight alot in a portable after march 1st and never had a problem. sounds like a very out of date rule. if you have a lic you should be able to fish any hours you like.

why a ban on 12 am to 5 am. is there somthing between these hours im missing.

or dose this rule apply to empty fish houses. witch are not sappose to be left on the lake anyways.

all this talk has me confussed. am i breaking the law by being out after midnight or what?

[Rocco]

The law is trying to protect fisherman. I know that if you know the lake well, can follow your tracks, or have a GPS route off you are nearly safe. The problem comes when people are walking or worse driving into the dark. Bad ice and open holes are easy to take as solid ice. I guess it infringes on personal freedom, but are 10 crappies really worth walking around at 2 am in march?

[troutman72]

if i only caught 10 crappies no it wouldent be worth it but 50 to 60 a night is. i very seldom keep the fish anyways. thats not the point. the only free time i get is in the middle of the night. i dont know what the law is intended to do. but i know the ice conditions when i get to the lake. if it is not safe i dont go. right now there is 18 inches of good ice. i still feel safe fishing on the ice.

i dont see the need for this law if a fishhouse is occupied

[eyepatrol]

troutman

I contacted the DNR yesterday about this very thing, whether or not we can set up our ice house, whether permanent or portable, and occupy it from midnight to 1hr before sunrise. The DNR's response was that north of Highway 10 a house or portable can be placed on the ice between midnight and 1hr before sunrise, but must be occupied. South of Highway 10, for whatever reason, we cannot do this. We cannot set up a house or portable between midnight and 1hr before sunrise. I don't have a CLUE on what the heck the difference is, but that's what I got for a response. So, according to the DNR's response I got yesterday, yes, you would be illegal to set up your portable and fish from it between midnight and 1hr before sunrise. This rule/law sure doesn't seem to make sense, does it (at least for the highway separation part)?

[Guest]

Rocco,

How is the ice any safer from sunset until midnight as opposed to midnight to 1 hour before sunrise?

[katoguy]

I think the midnight - 1 hr before sunrise was more aimed at the idea of "portability".

It keeps the big houses off 24/7 after the "safe ice" closing date. Otherwise there is always a guy trying to look for loopholes.

[Dotch]

Exactly, and how is sitting in a reflectorized, portable shelter any different than sitting on the ice after midnite on bucket which appears to be legal? Driving on the ice after midnite also appears to be legal...just doesn't make a lot of sense.

[eyepatrol]

I just got off the phone with Rod Smith of this region's DNR. He even said that he doesn't have a good reason for this law, except to say that there are concerns about the changing ice conditions this time of year. He sort of gave me the impression while talking to him that the law didn't make complete sense to him either.

This is a bummer to some degree as I agree with you guys. What's the difference if you walk or drive out, put a bucket on the ice to sit on with your portable either next to you or in your truck as compared to just setting it up and fishing from it instead of on the bucket.

Maybe a petition should be developed to try and get this law revised???

[Guest]

I also wrote the information supervisor at the Minnesota DNR site ([email protected]). I asked if the law was for some safety issue. Suellen's repsonse was "Yes, it is a safety issue. Yes, you can fish during those hours as long as you don't have a shelter out on the ice." I replied asking her to elaborate about the safety issue. I haven't got a response yet. I can't believe being out on the ice after midnight without a shelter with heat is safer than being out there sitting on a bucket.

[Rocco]

I hear that point. Darkness is all the same.

[troutman72]

this is one law i will not abide by seems completly out of date or just plain not right why not sunset to sunrise.

i have yet to be talked to about it and I have been doing it for years. maybe a petition needs to be put out. or a much better explaination given for the law. right now i see no sence in this law.

just my 2 cents.