Your attention is invited to a 28 February St Croix forum post by King 185 subject: ? How many lines are allowed on the Croix? We seem to wrestle with this discussion about this time every year and I figured it was time to chase down the guy who could give us a definitive answer. I navigated the WI DNR website sending an e-mail to the St Croix / Pierce County DNR Point of Contact on fishing regulations. That person forwarded my e-mail to David Hausman, Warden Supervisor for the Lower St Croix Team. I sent a rather lengthy e-mail but the meat and potatoes of it asked these 3 questions.
Could you clarify these questions for us:
#1: How many lines may a licensed resident Wisconsin fisherman use on the designated Wisconsin-Minnesota border waters?
#2: Is there any requirement that restricts a licensed resident Wisconsin fisherman from using 3 lines while fishing on the Minnesota side of the designated Wisconsin-Minnesota border waters?
#3: Is there any way of determining what is the defining line on border waters which would identify the Wisconsin side and the Minnesota side of the waterway?
This is David Hausman’s e-mail response to my questions:
Steve,
I am responding to your question about differing regulations and number of lines. First of all ideally all of the regs would be the same, but unfortunately they are not. WI and MN have a reciprocity agreement for angling licenses which as you know allows anglers to fish anywhere in the border waters with either states license. Residents of MN or WI must use their home states lic. and non-residents may use either states lic. Where regulations differ anglers may only exercise the more liberal regulation within that states portion. So an angler may use 3 lines or baits in Wis. portion and 2 in MN portion. This is what WI law states and what past case law also says. MN DNR fishing pamphlets state that anglers must follow the rules of the state they are licensed in. We have been attempting to get this ironed out with MN so that current case law is followed, which basically says that if a person is on one states territorial waters and is complying with that states regulations the adjoining states more restrictive regulations can not be enforced on that person. In other words if a person is in Wisconsin’s territorial waters and is following WI law MN laws cannot be imposed on that person regardless of where they are from or which state they are licensed in. The center of the navigational channels is the line between the two states, a good USGS map will show the main channels and boundary of the states. We use the same line for enforcing Hunting regulations which are not governed by a reciprocity agreement. Hope this helps. If you are unsure if you are in WI or MN waters use no more than 2 lines/baits.
David A. Hausman
Warden Supervisor-Lower St Croix Team
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
890 Spruce St.
Baldwin WI 54002
phone: (715) 684-2914
fax: (715) 684-5940
e-mail: [email protected]
I would like to thank Dave Hausman for his prompt response to my questions. He got this e-mail late on Tuesday, 4 March and I got his reply while I was sitting at my computer at about 6:50 pm that evening. Dave must have been answering his day’s e-mails in the evening after a long day. Thanks, Dave – your answer clarifies things for a lot of border water anglers.
To my friend, Mark Johnson – I owe you a beer and I stand corrected on my interpretations of the WI fishing regulations. I think I will stop interpreting regulations before I end up with a costly citation.
Let’s face it, we already know a Minnesota licensed residents can’t fish 3 lines anywhere on the St Croix!
. But, I read that one part the same way as Fish4fun did?? Hmmm….
The reality is that it is very hard to fish 3 lines at one time from the boat and two guys with 6 lines is just a mess 
.
I get the feeling you are dying to argue your point to the DNR on the water this year….could be costly my friend .
