CAN I FISH?

Hello…
I have a question. I live in Iowa and have a fishing license in Iowa, I bought a Non-resident Wisconsin fishing license…so far so good…Well, the question is, Can I fish in the Mississippi as a border waterway between Wisconsin and Minnesota with the Non-resident wisconsin license? I’d like to know in the event I made the trip up to Pool 4….something about large fish, open water and chance to meet some fellow IDA folks…
My son is doing an internship with Cargill in the cities and I thought per chance I might be able to jump in with a fellow IDA member on a Thursday on my way up to visit him on the weekend. I hope this doesn’t sound “pushy”!
Thanks,
Noel

Yep. You sure can fish the border waters with the non-resident WI fishing license.

You can fish the Mn/Wi border water. But keep in mind you will need a Mn license to posses fish if you decide to stay in a Mn resort or hotel.

J.

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You can fish the Mn/Wi border water. But keep in mind you will need a Mn license to posses fish if you decide to stay in a Mn resort or hotel.

J.

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Is this true. I never understood this from reading the regulation book. For the last 10 years I bought a non res MN license and in the Fall stayed at Alma. I understood this was legal

I decided not to go to MN lakes this year so I will make sure I get a WI License and camp on the WI side.

JIM

What if I bring fish back from canada. Do I have to either have to buy a mn licencs or drive all the way through mn befor stopping for the night. Am I even alowed to drive through mn with fish in the boat on the way back from another state. Just curios because when I fish pool 4 I have a wisconsin non res. and I have to drive through the se corner of mn to get back to IA. Am I legal? The law books realy don’t specify.

SA, I can tell you that you can’t drive through MN with live fish in your boat! Don’t know much about the rest…If you go to the MN DNR home page and click on “contact us” send them an email…they are quick to respond and if you have a problem…you have the email from the DNR to back up your claims.

Make sure you let us know!

Losojos…you have a pm

I would bag them, take a sharpie and write name, date of catch, location of catch, what’s in there, and how many (Don’t forget to leave the skin patch on, you’re required to do that.

For instance, I usually write something like:

Macbride Crappies
4/16/04

on the bag. If I were travelling out-of-state I would add my name so that if I were pulled over, the CO would know that I wasn’t covering an over-limit condition for someone else.

To some extent, I would rely on the fact that no reasonable person would bust you for this, given the care you’ve taken to insure that the facts were known. That’s not to say that all CO’s are reasonable, but most that I’ve met are good folks out looking for ‘real’ violators.

Just so, I sent this to MN DNR this AM:

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To whom it may concern:

Recently a question arose about whether or not one could fish MN/WI boundary waters (Lake Pepin) using a Wisconsin non-resident license. We all assured him that it would be acceptable, but then someone made mention of the fact that if he, afterward, were staying in MN, that he would need a MN license in order to posess the fish.

Is it the case that to posess fish (whether or not from MN waters) within MN territorial boundaries, one needs to have a MN license? I am curious in part because were I to go to Canada or even Devil’s Lake it is likely that I would need to break the drive by staying overnight in Minnesota.

Thank you,

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I’m really interested in knowing the answer to this one! I’ve not been in this situation, but this year I plan on fishing pool 4 a lot more often, and this situation may arise!
Thanks,

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I’m really interested in knowing the answer to this one! I’ve not been in this situation, but this year I plan on fishing pool 4 a lot more often, and this situation may arise!
Thanks,

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I’ve been camping on the WI side and fishing with a MN license for years. Last year and this year I will get a WI license. Most of the time I will camp on WI side, but if I want to fish lower pool 4 I may need to camp on MN side. Non Resident license are not CHEAP, so I hate to get both States to fish the same water. Does anyone have info on the camp grounds at Bay City? I talked to a guy on the water and he said they had a nice one with docks and everything.

Thanks
JIM

From the regulation: “Anglers may launch and fish from either shore and may transport their catch by the most direct route to the state which they are licensed.”

One of the big reasons you need a Minnesota license when you are staying in Minnesota is the limits are different. You can keep more fish with a Wisconsin license. Think about it. You are staying in a Minnesota hotel. A Minnesota DNR officer knocks on your door. “Sir, I’d like to see your ID and license.” You don’t have a Minnesota license for fish in your possession at this point, you are in violation of a few laws!

Similar situation. I have a Minnesota license. I launch from Everts resort in Wisconsin. I keep a legal limit of fish. I must return to Minnesota by the most direct route. That would be the 63 bridge. If I decide to stop at the Bluffs Resturaunt (In Wisconsin) for a burger and get stopped, I am in violation of Wisconsin laws. (Possession of fish without a license.)

I’ll admit it would be rare to be cited for this situation. But it is the law.

I’d also be interested in their reply, Giani.

The other situation > Traveling through Minnesota. If you are traveling through, all you need is a receipt from the resort you stayed at and the license from that state or country.

-J.

Every year my friends and I stay at Great River Harbor Camp grounds. I’ve had a Minnesota license and most of my friends have Wisconsin license. The way we read the regulations they could keep a double daily limit, but as I was under the Minnesota laws I couldn’t keep as many. I could keep 25 white bass and they had a possession of 50. I read the regulations that you followed the rules of the State you are licensed in. So maybe someone should check with the Wisconsin DNR too.

We (Zamer) and I ran into this last year. We were told by DNR that if you stay in Minn. and have fish you have to have Minn license. If you have a Wi.license and stay in Minn. and have fish you are breaking the law. If the Fine is over $500.00 they just take your boat. This is what we were told by them. If you have both Minn.and Wi. and (stay) in Minn.you can have 6 for Minn. and on the morning before you leave to go home you can have 6 for Wi. but you better not stay anywhere in the state over nite.We were legal anyway. No fish is worth that much . It did clear up a gray area as far as we were concerned. Hope this helps and if I’m wrong please let me know. I’m going by what they said. It is just (((not worth it))). Remember leave some for seed.

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If the Fine is over $500.00 they just take your boat. This is what we were told by them.

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This is just another good reason for us Iowa people to stay out of Minnesota and give our money to Wisconsin while traveling, using accommodations, and buying tackle. It is 19 miles further to go to Everts resort without going into Minnesota, but much better view.

I fully believe in limits and not over harvesting, but I can’t see buying two license just to stay or travel in Minnesota. Once they start talking of taking my boat, fishing equipment and/or my motor home I feel the only safe thing is staying out of the state.

Just my point of view
JIM

Ya know Jim….I live here and sometimes I feel the same way.

(when it comes to fishing laws)

Jim what way do you take to go to redwing to stay out of minn. That might be the way to go to not worry about it. Alot of people from Iowa feel the same way. Minn. wants us to stand at the border and toss our money to them but we don’t want you here. I myself had a minn game warden tell me that my wisc. license was no good because It was 2 days befor you had to buy a new one. He said I had to keep the previose years license until it expired and that the knew one didn’t go into afect until april 1st. As I was trying to explain to him that I had just bought my new licinse from Everts resort the day befor and Steve thew my old one away his partner spoke and and cleared up the situation. I was perfecly legal as allways. This also happend to be a day when ther were a lot of boats up to the pool 4 damm and they only checked me and one other boat wich also happened to be from Iowa. Maybe they had had complaints about people poaching that were from Iowa and they were just checking it out, but I felt kind od harassed. I am always legal and only keep a few smaller fish to eat almost always saugers for the pan because I feel saugers can handle a little more harvest than walleyes.

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Jim what way do you take to go to redwing to stay out of minn. That might be the way to go to not worry about it.

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My wife and I took 35 from Alma down. It is not near as nice a road especially with a 30 foot motor home, but is much more scenic. I’ve fished Minnesota lakes 3 or 4 times a year for the last 35 years and never have been stopped going home. My sister got stopped about 10 years ago, in a random check. They just had sunfish, but they where frozen in water so they was not identifiable. They had the fish in the freezer of there camper and let the DNR right in, so they let them off with a warning. Most people stopped in Minnesota have been turned in as poachers by someone at the resort. These people deserve whatever they get. What burns me is saying they will take my equipment for traveling through Minnesota with legal Wisconsin license and legal limit according to Wisconsin law. Every September I fish the Alma area with a bunch of the Quad Cities Infisherman club. They have spoken out about being singled out and harassed by the Minnesota DNR because they had a Iowa or Illinois boat registration. I refuse to get two nonresident license just to travel through Minnesota. If we get it in writing that we can travel the state without being fined and/or having our equipment taken we will still use 61 to get to our Wisconsin destination. If we find that it is illegal to camp on the Minnesota side with a Wisconsin license we will just stay at resorts on the Wisconsin side.

JIM

I know it’s too late now, but for reference, here is what the MN DNR responded with:

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As long as he has the proper possession limits and is able to show where
he was fishing when he caught the fish, he can stay in MN and not be in
violation. The border waters can be fished with resident license of
either state, you just have to make sure you possess your home states
limits when fishing the waters and have no more fish than what your home
state allows. Kevin

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I’m not sure how you ‘prove’ where you were fishing.

Gianni,
Thanks for checking! Was the reply an e-mail or a paper copy? The reason I ask is, if you post the reply so I can make a copy of it from my computer I would be able to have it to show if and when I may be in that situation…
Thanks!
Tight lines,
Noel

The quote from the DNR reads:

The border waters can be fished with resident license of
either state, you just have to make sure you possess your home states

This is where I find the problem. We all buy a non resident license and they are trying to get us to get a non resident from the state we are camping in. Most of the time I camp in WI, but occasionaly would like to camp in Minnesota if I wanted to fish a part of the river that has better camping on the MN side. We can’t get a resident license from either state.

JIM

Many times I drive to Redwing and fish for the day and come home that same night. Do I have to have Steve Vick write me a note saying I fished out of everts to prove where I fished at. Maybe we need boat launch receipts.

Dear Mr. Minnesota Game and Fish Protection Occifer,
Please be aware that on this day,(today’s date), (your name), was fishing out of Evertt’s Resort, on the Mississippi River, and the fish in (your name’s) possesion were caught on said waters.
Thank you,
Steve Vick Official signature of approval, recognized by all.

Sounds like a note to teacher. Funny in a way, but also sad that it may actually come to something like this.

The note was just a reply email. If anyone wants me to forward it to them, shoot me a PM with thier email address and I’ll send it to those I collect tomorrow night.

If you have Steve write you a hall pass, you should include the # and type of fish you’ve got. That way they can’t accuse you of getting the note and then hitting MN inland waters. In my screwed-up mind, it seems they would have to catch you in the act of wrongdoing, but it’s a brave new world.

I don’t know who “Kevin” is, but he is mistaken.

I am 100% certain that if you are Staying in Minnesota with a Wisconsin limit of 12 walleyes, and no Minnesota fishing license, you will be in violation of several laws!

If you are considering putting youself in this situation, You should investgate this question further.

-J.

Any CO’s on here care to clarify. It’s a question I get over and over and have personally been told conflicting answers by people who should be “in the know”. I would think a receipt from a WI business (resort, gas station, grocery store etc etc) would “prove” you were in Wi at the time you harvested fish. Somebody started to point this out, but was dropped………If i’m from South Dakota and fish in Eastern Wisconsin and keep a 12 fish posession limit, can I not stay overnight in MN without buying a MN license (6 fish posession limit) while on my way home. Even though I never even fished in MN waters? This scenario could be anybody traveling through MN going to any other state. If you’re taking the “most direct route home”, I can’t imagine it would matter what you had for fish…..or deer…or pheasants, IF you’re legal in posession of the game you harvested in the state you’re traveling from. It’s a very confusing law that doesn’t need to be, but “border waters” make it more difficult.

[email protected]

Please, he was nice enough to answer a question I mailed from the DNR main site, so don’t pound him with too many mails.

I, for one, agree with Steve. This seems unnecessarily complicated.

Let’s not get the two different situations mixed up here….. 1 > Staying in Minnesota and 2 > Traveling through Minnesota.

I’ve never heard of anyone needing a license to travel through Minnesota. People do it all the time returning from Canada, ND, SD. As long as you are returning to your home state, no problem.

The question is this though Jon…..I’m traveling through MN on my way home to “South Dakota”, coming from WI,…..I get tired and want to sleep in MN…..you’re saying that’s not legal? Not picking on ya Jon, just trying to clarify my earlier point.

The thing about all these “confusing” laws is this: There has to be a “defined boundary” for the CO’s to use as a guideline when enforcing the laws. The laws are expected to be followed and the majority of people obey them. They buy their fishing license, boat registration, follow slots, daily limits, and on and on. If a guy is cleaning fish at a resort, or public landing and keeps the one square inch of skin on 11 of his 12 fillets (MN Law to leave one square inch of skin on walleye and some other fish), but the 12th fillet he cut the skin off by accident, I doubt he would get a ticket for illegal transportation. He is technically illegel, but I would like to think the CO’s would overlook that. Speed limit is 55 mph and if you’re going 56, you’re probably not gonna get a ticket. Same scenario could be played out for numerous “confusing laws” related to game and fish laws. The common scenario we’re talking about for pool 4 is this: Iowa resident, buys WI license due to the 12 fish posession limit and stays in MN due to lack of lodging on the WI side. Can they stay in MN once they have more than 6 fish (per person), more than one night? I don’t answer that question anymore because I don’t know! Keep it simple….Catch and Release