Ice anglers who take their shelters off the ice at night won’t need fish house tags this season.

The 2007 Legislature approved the change likely in response to anglers who have said that truly portable houses, which are moved often and taken off the ice at night, don’t impact the lake with littler as much as others which stay on the ice for much of the season.

Shelter tags will still be required for fish houses that remain on the ice over night.

Minnesota began requiring fish house licenses in the 1920s or 1930s in an effort to raise money to aid in the clean up of the ice after the fishing season, explained Linda Erickson-Eastwood, Department of Natural Resources fisheries program manager based in St. Paul.

“One way to prosecute people and enforce the litter law was to make people have fish house licenses,” she said. The shelter licenses began as round, metal tags that were to be sewn onto a fish house. The sizes and shapes have changed through the years, she noted. Now, the shelter owners name and address, as well as the shelter endorsement made of paper must be displayed on the house.

The reasons for collecting the money from the shelter licenses have also changed, she noted.

“We moved toward the dollars being more of a management issue,” she said. Management activities, such as conducting creel census and data during the winter is more expensive she said.

She also noted that resource managers wondered whether the ability for portable houses to move in response to the bite had greater impact on the fisheries than the more stationary shelters.

In related news, just in case spearers missed it, the 2006 Legislature made some changes to dark house spearing.

According to state law, a person may not take fish by angling or the use of tip-ups while spearing fish in a dark house, except that a person may take fish by angling if only one angling line is in use and any fish caught by angling is immediately released to the water or placed on the ice.

Frequently asked questions:

• WHILE SPEARING, CAN YOU USE A TIP-UP?

A: Yes. While spearing, a person may use one angling line or one tip-up. The angling line or tip-up may be inside the house or outside the house.

• IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO JIG OR USE A SPOON IN THE SAME HOLE USED FOR SPEARING?

A: Yes. A person may angle and spear at the same time, and may angle and spear in the same hole.

• IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO HAVE A HOOK EMBEDDED IN A SUCKER BEING USED AS BAIT?

A: Yes. A person may angle and spear at the same time, a sucker minnow may be used as bait for angling. If a sucker, being used as spearing decoy, has a hook in it, that sucker/hook will constitute the one angling line which can be used while spearing.

• THE LAW REQUIRES ANY FISH CAUGHT BY ANGLING (WHILE SPEARING) TO BE IMMEDIATELY RELEASED TO THE WATER OR PLACED ON THE ICE. DOES THAT REQUIREMENT APPLY TO FISH THAT ARE SPEARED?

A: No. That specific requirement is limited to fish taken by angling.

• CAN THE FISH BE IN A BUCKET THAT'S ON THE ICE, ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE, OR IN A COOLER?

A: The purpose of this requirement is to prevent leaving game fish on the angling line in the water serving as bait. "On the ice" means not in the water, and can reasonably include being in a bucket, cooler, or on the floor of the house. The fish can be placed either  inside the house or outside of the house.

• IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE SPEAR OR ONE ANGLING LINE IN THE HOUSE AT THE SAME TIME?

A: Each person may use one angling line while spearing. If two people are in a house and only one of them is spearing, the person spearing may use one angling line, and the person not spearing may use two angling lines. It is also permissible to have additional spears and angling equipment in possession in the house provided such equipment is not in use.