2/26/2007

Feb. 25 Deadline for Moving Some Ice Houses Is Here

PIERRE, S.D.—Feb. 25 will be moving day for many of South Dakota’s anglers. On midnight of that day ice-fishing houses must be removed from most public waters in the state.

The exceptions to the Feb. 25 deadline are Deerfield Lake in Pennington County and public waters in Grant, Roberts, Day and Marshall counties. For those locations the mandatory removal time is midnight on March 5.

Anglers who fail to remove their ice houses by the designated deadline will be in violation of the law, according to Dave Wicks, law enforcement specialist with the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department. “The basis for this rule is that the ice and weather conditions can be unpredictable at this time of year and thinning ice and heavy snow can make it difficult to safely remove ice houses.”

Wicks also reminds anglers that that they are not allowed to leave their ice-fishing houses on shore, at public beaches or at any other public water access facilities. “You need written permission from an authorized representative of GFP to be allowed to leave an ice-fishing house or any other property on department owned or leased land for more than five days,” Wicks said.

In some areas of the state the ice on public waters may remain strong enough to support an ice house after the deadline dates. In those areas, anglers may use portable ice shelters if they are removed from the ice each day.

--GFP--