Ice shanty

Ice shanties, Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, US
The Vista, an unusual shanty with a view
Sainte-Anne-River, Quebec, Canada 1964

An ice shanty (also called an ice shack, ice house, fishing shanty, fish house, fish coop, bobhouse, ice hut, or darkhouse; French: cabane à pêche) is a portable shed placed on a frozen lake to provide shelter during ice fishing. They can be as small and cheap as a plastic tarpaulin draped over a simple wooden frame, or as expensive as a small cabin with heating, bunks, electricity, and cooking facilities.

More durable ice houses are generally left on a lake for the duration of the ice fishing season, although this can cause problems, such as thaws and re-freezing causing houses to be immoveably frozen onto the lake.[1] Lighter, cheaper versions can collapse into a package to be moved from lake to lake during the season.

Many northern communities have developed bodies of laws about the operation of ice shanties - frequently including dates by which they must be removed, even if the ice can still hold them.[2] [3] [4]

  1. ^ "USE OF ICE FISHING SHELTERS" (PDF). New Brunswick Canada. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Ice Thickness Guideline" (PDF). Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Official Pennsylvania Government Website. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Ice Shelters - what you need to know" (PDF). Minnesota fishing regulations. Pennsylvania Government Website. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ^ ""Remove Bobhouses from Ice by April 1" New Hampshire Fish and Game, 1 April 2016.