MN/WI Border Water Rules Revisited.

This deserves a thread of it’s own.

Here’s the email from Tyler Quant CO on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River.

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.

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.

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.

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

On a side note, I’ve just signed up for Border Water Rules 101 Class.

6266.0100 GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR TAKING FISH ON BOUNDARY WATERS WITH ADJACENT STATES.
Subpart 1.
License requirements on boundary waters.

Residents may fish adjacent states’ boundary waters listed in parts 6266.0200, subpart 1; 6266.0300, subpart 1; 6266.0400, subpart 1; and 6266.0500, subpart 1, only if in possession of a valid resident angling license or otherwise authorized to angle in this state. Residents of an adjacent state may fish the boundary waters only if in possession of a valid resident angling license of that state or otherwise lawfully authorized to angle in that state. Residents of nonadjacent states and foreign countries may fish the boundary waters only if in possession of a valid nonresident angling license issued by this state or the adjacent state or otherwise authorized to angle in this state or the adjacent state.
Subp. 2.
Possession limits on boundary waters.
A.

Licensed anglers, or those exempt from licensing, may possess only one limit of fish while on the adjacent state’s boundary waters listed in parts 6266.0200, subpart 1; 6266.0300, subpart 1; 6266.0400, subpart 1; and 6266.0500, subpart 1, regardless of the number of licenses held.
B.

Where regulations differ between this state and an adjacent state on such boundary waters, the exercise of the more liberal regulations is limited to persons licensed by the more liberal state and confined to the territorial waters of the more liberal state.
C.

Fish that are taken by angling on Minnesota boundary waters with South Dakota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota and not released freely into the water immediately after capture are considered to be in possession and part of the bag limit.
D.

Licensed anglers, or those exempt from licensing, must follow the general restrictions on transport, possession, and packing of fish while on a boundary water unless otherwise specified in this chapter or part 6262.0300.
Subp. 3.
Species of fish not specified.

Species of fish not specified in parts 6266.0200 to 6266.0600 may be taken and possessed in adjacent state boundary waters only as authorized for the inland waters of the state in which taken.
Subp. 4.
Designated water bodies.

To the extent that chapter 6264 is inconsistent with parts 6266.0200 to 6266.0600, the provisions of chapter 6264 apply.
Statutory Authority:

MS s 97A.045; 97C.045
History:

18 SR 83; 19 SR 2222; 20 SR 2287; 22 SR 292; 28 SR 629; 32 SR 1039
Posted:

June 11, 2008

Link to Rules<<

Disclaimer for the above: These are MN laws. There may be other laws that cover these questions, but are intertwined in other parts of the laws, statutes and rules.

Where regulations differ between this state and an adjacent state on such boundary waters, the exercise of the more liberal regulations is limited to persons licensed by the more liberal state and confined to the territorial waters of the more liberal state.

C.

Well that adds a turd to the pot

I wonder if I had a WI nonresident license if I would meet this requirement? I would be licensed by the more liberal state.

Steve do you feel we are chasing our tails?

I have a call in to CO Alex on the St Croix to see how he handles this….and I think it needs to be responded to via email.

Looks like we are back to square one

Why the he!! is it up to us to find these loopholes and contradictions? The people writing these things have no concept of what kind of mess it creates down the road.

Its hard to belive that 2 parties just can’t agree on something and work together! Oh wait, we have the same issue with the MN govt right now !

I really feel sorry for the CO’s that are supposed to make some sense of this.

Again Brian?

To clarify a few things, if you are a resident of WI or MN then you need to be licensed as a resident in your home state. If you have both licenses then your resident license binds you to the laws of that state(on that side of the river).

I was told by a Wisconsin CO that WI DNR enforces the laws of their state, not the MN regulations. Have you or anybody you know had a problem with this on the Wisconsin side of the river by a WI CO? If not refer to the following:

According to WI statue ‘2011WTFRUDOING’ if a non-resident continuously challenges a regulation then that rule may be adjusted to suit the complainer thus ruining it for both states.

I was told by a WI Park Ranger to fish with three lines.

But that doesn’t have anything to do with how a MN CO enforces the law. Please reread the first post.

I’m not as big a fan of “don’t ask don’t tell” as you are Mark.

Quote:

---

According to WI statue ‘2011WTFRUDOING’ if a non-resident continuously challenges a regulation then that rule may be adjusted to suit the complainer thus ruining it for both states.

---

Now I understand.

Talking about the issue that a MN resident can or can’t use three lines on the WI side might change the WI law to end the controversy by changing the WI law to only allow 2 lines.

That could be a popular thought of all WI anglers I ‘spose.

Quote:

---

Where regulations differ between this state and an adjacent state on such boundary waters, the exercise of the more liberal regulations is limited to persons licensed by the more liberal state and confined to the territorial waters of the more liberal state.
C.
Well that adds a turd to the pot
I wonder if I had a WI nonresident license if I would meet this requirement? I would be licensed by the more liberal state.

---

I think this reg was talking about possesion limits……

I ‘m not home right now otherwise I would post what our local CO’s told me when I asked the same question years ago……..

Ya i’m all for that–NOT

“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
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Enforcement”

Alex is the CO for the St Croix River in the Washington County area.

I don’t know what else to say but…time to buy a couple more rods and where’s the sunfish biting!?!!

I would much rather have uniform regs for the entire river (no matter your residency) than trying to learn on the internet what I can or can’t do. You shouldn’t have to carry around a sworn statement from a random CO in your boat to make you legal.

Seems like a different CO will give you get a different answer each year. Sure seems like following your state laws you reside in is much easier to grasp.

Here’s where things get dicey (as far as Sturgeon on the Croix). What happens after Sept 30th and the WI season closes, and you are on the WI side fishing? Or better yet, fishing on the WI side with 3 lines?

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it

I think I should run for congress now that my legal observations have proven out. I actually lost a bet to Mudshark on this one a few years back. Which is embarrasing to say the least. If see a flotilla of MN boats fishing my side of the river, watch out for the mines… You could just get away from it all and come fish here. I never use live bait.

Yeah, I would have bet the CO’s wouldn’t have answered this way since I’ve had a number of conversations with St Paul and Madison about this over the years.

If it was worth spending the time on I would be interested to know when this changed.

Move over Mark J…you’re in my spot!

This is like getting the best ever Christmas present in July

Most of my favorite drifting and trolling runs are all in WI waters. Now I can add another rod and put a nice fat bluegill on a few rods too. This is GREAT!

Quote:

---

This is like getting the best ever Christmas present in July

Most of my favorite drifting and trolling runs are all in WI waters. Now I can add another rod and put a nice fat bluegill on a few rods too. This is GREAT!

---

I’ve read all the posts while suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion. So my question is to do that do you need a WI non-resident lic. or can you do it with a MN lic. My apologies in advance, I am sure it was clearly defined in a previous post.

From CO Quant’s emailed reply:

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.

That’s whack!

Bump~

Quote:

---

Bump~

---

Hit something?

Thats a bad sound going wot on the river.

Quote:

---

Here’s where things get dicey (as far as Sturgeon on the Croix). What happens after Sept 30th and the WI season closes,

---

To keep confusion down to an annoying level…

WI has a two week catch and release season as does MN that closes on Oct 15th.

Although I think both CO’s clearly remarked on the 3 lines (on the WI side), I’m not going to stick my neck out and interpret it. Might want to give your friendly CO a call.

Enough calls and it’s going to be clarified in the rule booklet next year…I hope.

God bless anyone fishing with more than one person in the boat that can man 3 lines. It’d be kind of fun to find someone like that just to see if they could avoid tangling and the anchor rope.

So with all of this, I made a tentative sturgeon opener schedule…

1. Head to the croix after work on Friday and fish the cheesy side. Maybe use three lines

2. Get up bright and early on Saturday and fish the cheesy side again. Maybe use 3 lines.

3. Get up bright and early on Sunday and fish the better side of the river. Use 2 lines.

I think the reg books are clear enough to do this.

Quote:

---

Where regulations differ between this state and an adjacent state on such boundary waters, the exercise of the more liberal regulations is limited to persons licensed by the more liberal state and confined to the territorial waters of the more liberal state.

C.

Well that adds a turd to the pot

I wonder if I had a WI nonresident license if I would meet this requirement? I would be licensed by the more liberal state.

---

This protects you in terms of harvesting, as the law is stated as rules for taking fish. Angling methods are not included in this law, so it would do nothing in regards to line count/use of game fish as bait.

Edit: I’d be very careful still and I would push for clarification from enforcement. I believe even Alex has misinterpreted the law in this case.

Angling methods and fish harvesting/keeping are covered under separate statutes and the one he is summarizing only applies to Harvesting/Keeping.

Quote:

---

This protects you in terms of harvesting, as the law is stated as rules for taking fish. Angling methods are not included in this law, so it would do nothing in regards to line count/use of game fish as bait.

---

Josh, I actually think you have it backwards according to the MN reg book. This is from the notorious page 48:

Quote:

---

Other Borders: Minnesota has a reciprocal agreement with each of its bordering states: Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Residents of Minnesota or a bordering state may fish throughout the waters bordering the two states only if they possess a valid resident license from their resident state. Nonresident anglers who have a nonresident license from either Minnesota or the bordering state may also fish throughout the border waters between the two states. Anglers may launch and fish from either shore and may transport their catch by the most direct route to the state in which they are licensed. This includes children who are not required to have a license. Lake Superior is not covered under this agreement and is not considered a border water. (See pages 21-24 for Lake Superior regulations.)
When Minnesota’s fishing regulations differ from a bordering state’s regulations, Minnesota residents and persons fishing under a Minnesota nonresident license must comply with the Minnesota regulations and may only exercise the other state’s more liberal fishing privileges in the waters of the bordering state. Please check other state regulation booklets and the Experimental and Special Regulations section of this booklet (pages 25-47) for different regulations that might apply. Unless otherwise noted, all general regulations relating to angling methods, licensing, seasons, limits, possession and transportation of
fish, apply to border waters (see pages 9-13). While on or fishing these waters, all fish must be within the specified length limits regardless of where caught.

---

This here pertains to what you said:

Quote:

---

While on or fishing these waters, all fish must be within the specified length limits regardless of where caught.

---

So basically your size and qty limits may not cross the border if they differ. Think about it this way, a MN CO is only going to enforce the laws within the borders of his state much like a police officer within their jursitiction. The angling and harvesting methods pertain only within that state’s boundries.

Another point to be made is that if a MN licensed angler is NOT allowed to use 3 lines on the WI side, than a WI licensed angler WILL be allowed to use 3 lines on the MN side. This is obviously not true.

I believe that the MN reg book did a good job of explaining a very complicated situation. After reading the WI reg book, it says the same thing only not nearly as detailed.

Here’s a simpler question that I don’t see covered.

If MN rules apply on the MN side of the river, and WI rules apply on the WI side, am I fishing without a license on the MN side?
Currently I do not own a MN non-resident license?

To me this is all c-r-a-p! If there was a MN side and WI side in the regs then the boundary would be defined. It’s pretty tough to determine the boundary on Lake St. Croix but even more difficult in a skinny channel such as the ones in Hudson, Afton, and the Kinni where many people from both states fish often. GPS chips can help but do all anglers have them?

As it says above, you may fish throughout the waters with your res or non-res license from either state. As far as the border goes, gps or no gps, ignorance is no excuse. Basically the same as the rainy river.

Someone correct me if I’m off base.

The way I read it is similar to a drivers license.

I can drive in WI with my MN license, but I have to follow the posted speed limit in each state.