To some this is old news. To many many others this post is to help stop the confusion.
Below are emails received directly from the MN and WI Enforcement.
To keep this clean, this post is locked and discussions can be found Here<<<
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Here’s the email from Tyler Quandt, Minnesota Conservation Officer on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River near Red Wing MN.
As a MN CO do you ticket WI Residents or Non Resident license holders for using bluegills or fishing with 3 lines on the MN side of P-4.
<font color=”red”> Brian, in regards to your first question. It is ILLEGAL for WI residents and people licensed as non-residents from WI to use Bluegills or fish with 3 lines on the MN side of the river. So yes they could get a ticket if they do it.<!–color–></font>
Am I wrong in saying that we need to follow the rules of the state we are licensed in from train track to train track. Of course a MN resident must be licensed in MN and WI from WI. Any other state can be licensed from whichever state they chose.
<font color=”red”> In regards to question number 2. Any person who can legally fish on the border waters would be able to use 3 lines on the WI side and be able to use Bluegills. If you refer to page 48 of the 2011 fishing synopsis it tells you that you can exercise more liberal fishing regulations as long as you are in the waters of the bordering state.
Your other statements about needing to be licensed by the state you live in are correct. Hope this helps, thanks.
Tyler Quandt (Edit: Pool 4 Area CO)
Conservation Officer
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Alex Gutierrez is the Minnesota CO for the St Croix River in the Washington County area.
“The law reads, to exercise the more liberal regulations you must be confined to the territorial waters of the more liberal state. Both WI and MN residents need residents licenses from their respective states, any other non-residents (aside from MN and WI) with a non-resident license from either WI or MN will allow them to fish the border waters. So broken down to simpler terms for WI / MN borders, if an angler wants to fish with three lines or any method allowed by WI they have to be in WI territorial waters. Unlike the Mississippi which is defined by a channel and channel markers, the St Croix’s border meanders and is unclear, when in doubt better stick to the east side of the river if you want to exercise WI regulations (more liberal = east side). Unlike Walleye opener on the St Croix, Sturgeon season begins Sept 1st for WI, MN opens Sept 4th. So, if someone wants to fish Sturgeon starting Sept 1st, they must be on the WI side of the river, if they would like to harvest one during that time they need WI Sturgeon tag. Sept 4th through Sept 30th, MN side will be open for Sturgeon fishing and harvesting with a tag. Then “catch and release” from Oct 1st through the 15th.
I hope this suffices your questions, please feel free to contact me with any future questions or concerns.
Thank you
Alex Gutierrez
Conservation Officer
WI Department of Natural Resources
Division of Enforcement”
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From: Peterson, Jason.R R (DNR)
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 4:05 PM
To: Stiras, Joel K (DNR)
Cc: Salo, Gregory (DNR)
Subject: RE: MN/WI border regulations
Good afternoon sir!
>>It looks like a MN angler could legally fish with bluegill that the angler caught if fishing on the WI side of
the river(s) as it is legal for WI anglers to use bluegill as bait in WI. Some people think that a MN angler could fish three lines on the WI side of the river(s). My interpretation is no, they cannot as page 48 states “Unless otherwise noted, all general regulations related to angling methods, licensing, seasons, limits, possession and transportation of fish, apply to border waters (see pages 9-13).” On page 57, it states only two lines may be used, so I treat that as “otherwise noted” and therefore MN anglers can only use two lines. Does a WI non-resident license get a MN angler that privilege?
<font color=”red”>Answer to your first question: A MN resident with a valid MN angling license can use the more liberal regulation (in this case 3 lines) while angling on the WI side only.<!–color–></font>
>> Anglers are bound by the seasons set forth by their home state (even if a MN angler has a WI non-resident license). Is that correct? So on the St Croix, MN anglers must wait for the September 4 opener for lake sturgeon even though the WI opener is September 1, regardless of what side the angler may be fishing. Or does a WI non-resident license get a MN angler that privilege?
<font color=”red”>Answer to your second question: A MN resident with a valid MN angling license may fish for any open season (including WI) on the bordering water even if it differs from MN.<!–color–></font>
>> WI only allows use of live crayfish as bait in the Mississippi River. MN allows use of crayfish on the St
Croix River downstream of the Boom Site (i.e. Lake St Croix). Can a MN angler use live crayfish on the
WI side of Lake St Croix?
<font color=”red”>Answer to your third question: I would need to look at WI regulations as it pertains to your crayfish question.
Applying the same logic, my first thought would be that if WI does not permit the use of crayfish as bait on the St. Croix, just because MN does would not make it lawful to do so on the WI side.<!–color–></font>
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
1LT Jason Peterson
District 14 Supervisor
MN DNR Division of Enforcement
651-460-8141
[email protected]
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This space reserved for the WI Enforcement response.