Fish house breaks through ice into Prior Lake, refreezes in place

It’s been a tough winter for Minnesotans who typically take to the ice this time of year. Here’s (more) proof: Last week on Prior Lake, a fish house crashed through thin ice that proceeded to refreeze, leaving the fish house partially submerged.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office was first called to the sunken fish house around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Operations Captain Steve Collins. It is off the north shore of Lower Prior Lake, near the sportsman’s access launch.

Collins said he doesn’t know how long it had been there, but he said it fell in after a stretch of rain that weakened the already-thin ice.

“Once we got that rain, it started to sag in the lake; one side started to go through,” he said. “Now the entire structure is in the water.”

The owners informed the Sheriff’s Office that they will remove it, Collins said. He noted that the owners have up to 30 days before fines can be applied for leaving it submerged in the lake.

Collins said the method of removing a submerged fish house varies depending on the distance from shore, depth of the water and whether they can safely get to it.

One part of the house is still sticking out of the ice. Photos circulating on Reddit, X and Facebook appear to show the house floating in water before it refroze.

The abnormally mild winter has been brutal for ice events elsewhere in Minnesota. In Minneapolis, the warm weather forced the Art Shanty Projects to close early — after only one weekend in operation.

“We have not had good ice, and I don’t know that we’re going to this year,” Collins said.

His advice for those holding out hope? “Forget about ice fishing for the rest of this season.”

Scott County has had fish houses fall into lakes before, he noted.

“Generally, we don’t have a fish house go through every year here in Scott County, but it’s not uncommon,” Collins said.