Anglers drop a line one last time before ice house removal deadline

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. – Most Minnesota anglers will have to remove their ice shelters by Monday night.

It's the deadline set by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the southern two-thirds of the state. Further north, the deadline for removal is March 20.

The fish are biting on White Bear Lake, but the ice is weakening.  

"The shoreline started getting a little soft after that rain a couple weeks ago, so I brought mine home," said angler Jeff Finberg.

He doesn't want to have to fish out his ice house, as he did years ago

"Another 45-degree day in January and the ice just eroded under my house," he said.

If the structures aren't removed by the deadline, the DNR says owners could be cited and the shelters removed, confiscated or destroyed by a conservation officer.  

Andrew Pierce at White Bear Bait and Convenience Store says they're still getting big business from anglers, despite a season that many considered "up and down." He says many people took shelters in early after the rain and warm temperatures.

"Just to be safe, protect the environment, also. You don't want your shack and a bunch of generators with fuel and stuff going into the water," Pierce said.

The DNR reminds people to bring trash with them, too.

"That's a pretty big issue. They've been doing a lot better on White Bear Lake, I've noticed," he said. "I've picked up a few pop cans, beer cans, that kind of thing. But it's not as much as it was in past years. I think the message is kind of getting through."

Anglers like Finberg are excited to get off the lake, and on a boat. 

"It was a long, snowy winter," he said. "Ready for summer."

The DNR says anglers can still bring their fish houses on the lake after the deadline if it's safe. They just can't leave them unattended.