Willow Cat Transportation

I have searched and have not found the exact answer I am looking for. So I am a Wi. resident and put in most of the time on the Wi side of the river. I would like to know if I purchase cats on the Mn side of the river can I drive to wi and fish in the Miss with them? I can never find real cats on the Wi side around LaCrosse.

Thanks,

Hunt4dx

Hunt4dx I had the same question a few years back for transporting my bullheads (bait) from my home in MN to my camper at Everts.

I have documentation from the Madison DNR office that says in a nutshell, as long as your bait is >>legally acquired<< in MN it can me transported into WI >>as long as it’s used in the Mississippi River<<.

This does NOT hold true for transporting bait from WI into MN over land though.

Additionally, the email I received was sent to all the WI DNR offices along the Mississippi (in WI).

Good info to know. Was just transporting another batch home last night. Hope to take them swimming on the river tomorrow afternoon.

Would these expensive critters need to be treated the same as minnows once you come off the river? Dump them?
Shawn

Not sure what the regs are on your side of the river. Over here I think we can get by with putting them in clean water.

riverruns wrote:

Would these expensive critters need to be treated the same as minnows once you come off the river? Dump them?
Shawn

You do not need to dump them as long as they will be used on the same body of water if you have added water to them during the outing. Also if you have not contaminated them with water from where you were fishing or added another species to them you are okay. Not sure how they would know but that is how the Wi regs read.

Thanks for the info.

Hunt4dx

Exactly…

You may not transport any live fish or live fish eggs away from any state waters. There is an exception for minnows obtained from a Wisconsin bait dealer. These minnows may be transported away live and used again:

on the same water, or
on any other waters if no lake or river water, or other fish were added to their container.

…and….

You may not possess or use minnows for bait that are obtained outside of Wisconsin. This does not apply if the minnows were imported under a Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) permit, or if they were obtained from Iowa or Minnesota and are being used only “between the tracks” on the Mississippi River.

Source:

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/boat.html

Notice the above is for WI only.

Sure wish MN would get on board with that.

MN Reg. ” if keeping bait, you must exchange water in bait
buckets with tap or bottled water prior to leaving any waterbody to prevent the spread of
aquatic invasive species or fish disease. ”

Does not mater if the minnows are in the water they came in or not.