Ice shanty removal rules

In the last few days, much of the U.P. has seen temperatures near or even above the 40-degree mark.

That means ice shanties need to be removed from lakes and ponds soon.

The Michigan DNR says that for boundary waters between the U.P. and Wisconsin, shanties need to be removed by midnight on Friday, March 15th.

The deadline is March 31st for the remainder of the U.P., but shanties must be removed from the ice daily once the ice is too thin to support them overnight.

DNR communications representative Debbie Munson Badini says that can be much earlier than the deadlines, as seen at Wells State Park about a half-hour south of Escanaba.

She says a shanty fell through ice there over the weekend.

Anglers can be held responsible for the expense of removing their shanty from a lake or pond if it falls through ice, and there are possible state fines as well.