They changed the rules on me!

By Bill Bartusek

Remember last week when I said fish houses needed to be off the lakes by March 1?

Well, that wasn't exactly right. I guess someone tweaked the law a bit and I missed it. This year, fish houses were to be off the ice by March 3. However, if you wanted to spend the night in your fish house it could stay on the ice overnight. If the house is unattended it must come off the lake ice. If you want to fish a lake for the weekend and plan on staying in your fish house, then it may stay on the lake over night.

I'm sorry if my first interpretation of the law created a problem for you. Sometimes I wish the legislature would leave the rules alone and not complicate them so much. That is why it is so important to read the Fishing Synopsis Book to clarify the rules.

For now we turn our attention to panfishing in the area. Despite last week's snow, fish are biting in deeper water and have yet to move into shallow water. Some nice sunfish are coming off Lake Tetonka in Waterville. You can also catch crappies mixed with them. Another Lake to check for sunfish would be Cordova, near Kilkenny. Some huge crappies have been biting on French Lake in very deep water. These are big fish. Roberds Lake near Faribault is also a good spot to get a nice meal of sunfish. Cedar Lake near New Prague is also giving up sunfish, but they are small.

The weather is supposed to warm up and that should make for some great fun on the ice.