Posted at: 03/04/2013 11:57 AM

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Ice Fishing House Deadline Tonight

(ABC 6 News) - Even though the winter weather is still here, the Minnesota DNR is getting ready for Spring. It's making sure people have their ice fishing houses off area lake by the midnight deadline on Monday.  

     "There we go. Nice perch."

It's safe to say Seth Larson has been fishing all his life.

     "Everyday, every chance my wife lets me."

Larson is an avid fisherman... in fact his love for the sport can be measured in shelters.

     "I've got three. I have this one, this one and then one over there around the channel."

Like many anglers, Larson is taking advantage of the last weekend in his permanent ice shack

     "I'm just going to give her a couple hours here before we got to pull them off and say goodbye to the year I guess."

     "How's it going?"

Conservation Officer Robert Geving was out on Albert Lea Lake Sunday afternoon reminding anglers about the upcoming deadline.

     "With the warmer temperatures the ice melts rapidly and these shelters can be stuck out there sinking."

Right now there's no game warden stationed in the Albert Lea area, so the lakes get less patrol. But the DNR says it still has ways of keeping an eye on the area.

     "One way we can do it which we use this week will be aircraft. We can cover a large area and take a look at the shelters, see what lakes still have them on there and then the officers can focus on those lakes."

And it's not just the ice shelters that the DNR is urging people to clean up.

     "One of the other issues with these fish shelters though is the amount of trash that some of the anglers leave out there. So when the ice melts and that trash goes somewhere and it's usually onto a shoreline where people's cabins or houses are and it can be very annoying."

Larson has been set up on the ice since December and complying with the deadline wasn't an easy task

     "It's a sad day for me... and then till next year."

You can still ice fish as long as the ice is thick enough, but when you are done fishing you have to pack the shelter back up. The DNR could fine you more than $100 otherwise.