CONTACT: Major David Walsh: (603) 271-3128 Lieutenant Robert Mancini: (603) 271-3127 March 9, 2022

Concord, NH – According to state law, all bobhouses (also known as ice shanties) must be removed from the ice no later than the end of the day on April 1. Please remember to use all precautions, including monitoring ice thickness, to ensure your safety when removing bobhouses from frozen lakes and ponds. Dependent on weather conditions, it may be necessary to remove bobhouses before the April 1 deadline.

Once bobhouses are moved to the shoreline, they must be relocated to your property. Do not leave bobhouses on public or private property other than your own without permission, which is a violation of state law.

“The law is designed to ensure that bobhouses and their contents do not fall through the ice and become a hazard to boaters, or get left behind on shore,” says Lieutenant Robert Mancini of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Law Enforcement Division.

Failure to remove a bobhouse from public waters, public property, or private property by the deadline, or burning a bobhouse on the ice can result in fines and a one-year loss of the owner’s fishing license. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has the authority to seize any bobhouse not removed by the deadline, including its contents.

For more information, contact your local Conservation Officer or Fish and Game’s Law Enforcement Division at (603) 271-3127.