Minnesota DNR: Clear Ice Houses Off Northern Lakes By March 21st

If you have any trouble, officials say to just contact your local DNR officer for help.

DULUTH, Minn.- The deadline is nearing for Minnesota anglers on frozen lakes north of Highway 2 and 10 to bring their ice houses back to shore.

Midnight on March 21st is the cutoff for the Northern part of the state — a couple of weeks later than the March 7th deadline for Southern Minnesota, as the ice stays thicker longer up here.

According to Lt. Brent Speldrich with the DNR, those who fail to comply face a financial penalty.

“There’s some discretion there if the owner is actively trying to dig through 2ft of ice to get their fish house out, that’s one thing and I give them a lot of credit,” Lt. Speldrich said. “If they’re just avoiding the situation that could be a different decision.”

It’s not just to keep people safe from melting ice — but to make sure none of their equipment falls into the water and contaminates the habitat.

“That’s the bigger issue is we want compliance so that it doesn’t affect our environment, it doesn’t affect our lakes you don’t know what’s in that fish house everything, if it does sink everything goes into the lake,” said Lt. Speldrich.

If you have any trouble, or it’s just taking longer to dig your ice house out, Speldrich said to just contact your local DNR officer for help.