2/27/2006

Remaining Fish Houses To Be Off Ice By March 5
 

PIERRE, S.D. – State law dictates that anglers who have ice-fishing houses on Deerfield Lake in Pennington County or on lakes in Grant, Roberts, Day and Marshall counties must remove their houses no later than midnight, March 5.

Game, Fish and Parks Regional Law Specialist Bruce Nachtigall of Rapid City said South Dakota law requires anglers with icehouses on these bodies of water to remove their shacks no later than the date specified. He also reminds anglers not to leave their ice-fishing houses on shore or at state parks, recreation areas or lakeside use areas.

"A person may not leave a fish house or any other personal property for more than five days on lands owned or leased by the department (excluding S.D. State Parks lands) without written permission from an authorized representative of the department," Nachtigall said. “This means that even though an ice house has been removed from a lake, the owner must get written permission from a GFP official if the ice house needs to set on GFP property that is not part of a state park for longer than five days.”

Ice conditions most often become unpredictable this time of year, so anglers are reminded to take extra safety precautions when removing fishing shacks.

For those areas of the state that still have sufficient ice to support ice houses after these dates, anglers may still use portable ice shelters if they are occupied and removed daily from the ice when not being used.

-GFP-

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