Leaving a fish house on the lake?

Ok, so what’s everyone’s thoughts about leaving a large wheelhouse on Red, LOW, or one of the other larger lakes for the next 7 weeks or so?
Should a guy pay the $500+ resort fee for keeping a plowed out spot, or do you just leave it and pray that you don’t get buried with a bunch of snow down the line?? Most resorts dont like anyone driving out with a plow thru their private accesses.

I would like to leave the house on the lake instead of dragging it 1000+ miles back and forth so I’m just weighing out some options… should a guy just pay the access fee somewhere and just leave the house there and then pay per time going forward? Currently there isn’t much of any plowed roads anywhere so nothing is very organized as to where you can drop a house.
Any feedback is appreciated.

Some places will let you leave it on/near shore for a minimal fee. I’d do that before leaving it in the middle of the lake 500+ miles away.

7 weeks? I’d pull it.

Most places have an area where you can leave them on shore. Never leave a house out on the lake. I’ve seen people get screwed so many times. If it snows, who knows where they might plow or the roads can and always seem to move. That year it was really bad on LOW people were giving their houses away to whoever could get it off the lake.

I would never leave a shack for that long. Like others say, put it on shore and pay the storage fee. Weather can screw a guy.

How many times are you going up in the next seven weeks?

I’ve got a buddy that leaves his house off shore at JR’s on Red. I can’t tell you the current fee but it was a no brainer leaving it there rather than towing it back and forth to Minneapolis. He would have spent more on gas money one way than what JR’s charges for off ice parking.

B-man wrote:

How many times are you going up in the next seven weeks?

It’s TBD of course but hopefully it would be used every weekend between family members and friends.
I will make some calls to verify my options to leave it near or on shore.
I don’t want to haul it back and forth because I also want to be able to haul up my sxs or snowmobile on the weekends that I’m there for mobility purposes. I can only pull 1 trailer at a time…

AK Guy wrote:

I’ve got a buddy that leaves his house off shore at JR’s on Red. I can’t tell you the current fee but it was a no brainer leaving it there rather than towing it back and forth to Minneapolis. He would have spent more on gas money one way than what JR’s charges for off ice parking.

When I’ve left mine up there before it was only $1 day, no brainer like you said if you’re going up multiple times and aren’t using it at home.

That was a few years ago, not sure what they charge currently.

The stress of having a nice fish house would eat me alive . Props to you guys. Id try to find a place by shore to store it as well .

If you leave it on the lake I would commit to a resort on a resort road. They will keep the road plowed, inlet to the house plowed, and may be an occasional eye on the unit itself … especially if you ask them too.

Why go cheap ?

Adrian’s and Cyrus’ road always had a bunch parked right by shore on the ice, that’d be the route I’d go. Not sure what (if anything) that costs now, but has to be a much better option than towing back and forth.

Not much experience with permanent houses but was out on a lake about a week ago and a permanent house had all kinds of water coming up around it, luckily the guys were there and pulled it out. Would have been a complete mess if they wouldn’t have gotten there til a couple days later I’d think. I imagine most guys block up their houses if they leave them on ice?

slough wrote:

I imagine most guys block up their houses if they leave them on ice?

Yeah if your leaving it for any length of time you should block it, just like a skid house.

If I fished the same lake each weekend I would consider leaving it near shore. Even though it would still scare me a little.

Are your family and friends capable of moving and or setting up the house themselves if they go up to use it? Then leave it on shore.
If not, I think I’d pay the resort money to keep it plowed out and make sure there is someone using it every single week(end). They can each drop you a $50 for using the house and you’ll be covered.

At a minimum – move onto fresh ice with no holes under it. I’ve had the joy of chiseling a house out with 8″ of water on the ice.

Just when you think you can get to it to manage it – you cant…

Best bet to move it to shore if an option