Wisconsin/Minnesota Pool 8 Boundary

If I hold a WI license can I fish anywhere between the railroad tracks and follow WI regulations? If not what is considered the boundary between the WI side and the Minn. side?

Yes, I believe you can fish anywhere between the tracks with a WI license, including the backwater lakes like Lawrence, target, etc….

I know I can fish there but my question is can I follow WI regulations any where between the rail road tracks or is there a certain boundary where I have to use Minn. regulations?

It is my understanding that if you enter the water from the Minnesota side you need to follow their rules especially on quantity. I have a friend that was fishing Lawrence Lake (ice) and had more than Minnesotas limit of 10 Crappies and they pinched him. By the way he is a Wisconsin resident with a WI liscense.

According to Minn. regulations you can keep 25 crappies on wisconsin/minnesota Mississippi river boundary waters. It is only 10 gills on the minnesota side. I was thinking the same thing though about where you access but where is that stated? I could not find it in either of the regulations.

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It is my understanding that if you enter the water from the Minnesota side you need to follow their rules especially on quantity.

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Boy am I gonna get in trouble again been scolded before….but here goes…
It’s not where you access…even if you are in a boat launching on the WI side…If you are not following MN laws when on the MN side of the state line,even regarding line and lure restrictions you are in violation. Here is the state line in pool 8 http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/fishing/pool8.pdfre .
Best thing to do is call BOTH state’s DNR and get a quote for yourself…I would take the name of the person giving you the information also…JUST in case.

Here is the boundary waters definition taken directly from Page 54, Wisconsin Dept of Natural Resources, “Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations, 2006 – 2007”:

WISCONSIN – MINNESOTA BOUNDARY WATERS

Applies to the stretch of the Mississippi River shared by Wisconsin and Minnesota lying between the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad tracks on the Wisconsin side of the river and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific railroad tracks on the Minnesota side of the river, including Lake Pepin and Lake St. Croix; the St. Croix River from the Burlington Northern railroad bridge at Prescott north to the point where the river is no longer a boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota; and the St. Louis River, including St. Louis Bay, Superior Bay, Allouez Bay, Kimballs Bay, Little Pokegama Bay, and Pokegama Bay.

FISHING RESTRICTIONS ON WISCONSIN—MINNESOTA BOUNDARY WATERS

• Goldfish and alewife may not be possessed or used for bait. Live crayfish may be used for bait on the Mississippi River ONLY— not on other Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters.

• It is illegal to fish using any method other than hook and line within 200 feet of any fishway, lock or dam on the Mississippi River and within 200 feet of these structures on any other water.

• Motor trolling is permitted on Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters.

• Wisconsin residents need a Wisconsin fishing license and Minnesota residents need a Minnesota license to fish in these boundary waters. Residents of other states need a nonresident license from Wisconsin or Minnesota. Regulations on these waters may differ between states. You must obey the regulations of the state in which you are fishing.

Here is the link to the Wisconsin 2006 – 2007 Fishing Regulations in case you want to see it for yourself: WI 2006 – 2007 Fishing Regs

We all have our own interpretations of this WI regulation and Minnesota’s regulation. I personally feel that based on what I have read defining boundary waters that as long as you stay within the railroad tracks you are legal.

Others interpret this differently. From what I have heard – the Conservation Officers have interpreted these regulations differently also. We don’t seem to have consensus on what is legal. The hang up seems to come from that last sentence: “You must obey the regulations of the state in which you are fishing.” I don’t interpret that the same way the others do. But I could be wrong. I guess you have to read the regs and decide for yourself what is legal. I’m fishing shore to shore on the St Croix and between the tracks on the Mississippi River below Prescott, WI following the Minnesota fishing regulations because that is the state I am licensed in.

Good Luck!

Well Steve, That’s the point that REALLY screws thing up… “You must obey the regulations of the state your fishing in”
Up in the northern part of the mississippi and in the St Croix, the river is fairly narrow and the state line is pretty much in the center of the river(channel).
But down here in pool 8 the river is wider and wanders east and west quite a bit.
The line is harder to figure out but there are spots here where the main channel is completly in MN and spots that are completly in WI!!!
This in itself can cause a bunch of confusion.
That ,and your right,…each CO has the discretion to issue a citation or not….this just makes things even harder to figure out.
Since MN’s law’s are quite a bit more restrictive than the laws here in WI, your smart and safe doing it that way.
But if I just THINK it’s ok to follow WI’s laws it might cost me….
That’s why I play it safe and play by your rules….
That don’t bother me… it just evens things out if I beat ya fish’in

Jeff

I asked a wisconsin warden this question this summer. I have a MN licsense and was told that I can have 25 blugill as long as I stay on the WI side. If I were to go across the buoys to the MN side I can only have 10 regardless if they were caught on the WI side.

Hey Jasonjabe – That information you received from the WI Warden is totally wrong. Go to Page 54, 2007 MN Fishing Regulation. The limit for sunfish, crappie, Rock Bass, perch, and White Bass on the Wisconsin – Minnesota border waters for Minnesota anglers is 25. The MN regulations are clear as day – 25 is the legal limit.

Minnesota has an experimental limit of 10 in 3 pools of the mississippi, 5,5a,and 8- this started in 2001 and ends in 2011.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/fishing/index.html
They really like to keep us on our toes!!

Well, I’ll be darned. – I’ve read that reg book from front to back a hundred times but I never caught that piece of confusing regulation before. I guess I will stay off of those pools. Here is the special reg verbatim:

Mississippi River Pools 5, 5A, and 8 (Wabasha, Houston, and
Winona Counties) MN waters only. sunfish: Possession limit is 10.

The special regulations pages really add a new dimension of confusion to the mix. What is really confusing is that this rule states specifically – ” MN waters only.”

So the WI warden was correct on Pools 5, 5A, and 8 you can take 25 sunnies from the WI side of the channel but not from the MN waters. I don’t suppose it would be a good idea to be taking your boat out of the water on the MN shore and have a cooler with 25 sunnies in it. Kind of hard to prove you caught them from the WI side of the river. Are these special regs prominently posted at the boat launches on those pools?

They certainly are posted prominently at the Alma launch at the upper end of P5.