Angler receives citation
By BOB LAMB / Tribune Outdoors Editor
Did you hear about the 25-inch brown trout that was caught from the Mississippi River below the Dresbach Dam last week?
It’s rare to catch a trout, albeit a large one, from the Mississippi River. More important, it was illegal in this case.
The incident was reported to the DNR Hotline (1-800-847-9367) on Tuesday, Nov. 27, by another angler who watched a man keep the fish.
Russ Wilson, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation warden in La Crosse, eventually issued the angler a citation for $234.65.
Wilson said the illegal activity occurred in Minnesota, but because Wisconsin and Minnesota trout fishing seasons are both closed and that a Minnesota warden was unavailable to respond to the call, Wisconsin wardens made the arrest.
“It happened below the Dresbach Dam near the short wall,” Wilson said. “The guy was fishing from a boat, jigging for walleyes and sauger.”
Wilson said the angler showed the trout to several fishermen at the dam.
“Initially, he didn’t know what it was. Someone said it was a brown trout, told the guy to keep it and he did,” Wilson said.
Another fisherman in a different boat called the DNR Hotline.
“The guy reported the boat registration number. We ran a check on the number and went to the residence,” Wilson said. “The person who caught the fish was actually a neighbor of the guy who owned the boat.”
Wilson said the guilty angler, fined for possessing a trout during a closed season, was cooperative and somewhat embarrassed by the incident. However, he still received a ticket. Wilson added that it wasn’t necessary to reveal the person’s identity in this situation. What’s more important is to make others aware of the consequences.
“The point is that first, it’s unusual to catch a trout up there,” Wilson said. “Second, and most important, is that if you catch a fish and don’t know what it is, or you don’t know the regulations, it’s better to release the fish.”
Wilson said that Lake Michigan brown trout grow much larger than the 25-inch male that the angler caught below the Dresbach Dam.
“A stream brown trout in excess of 25 inches is large. Females get bigger, but for a male, this is large,” Wilson said. “I’ve only seen trout caught a couple of other times from the Mississippi River. Once was at Dresbach, an 18- or 19-incher. The other one was from the tubes at Goose Island in the spring. I imagine the fish was flushed out of a creek in the high water.”
Wilson said the huge trout is being held at the La Crosse DNR office and may be mounted for educational purposes.
“It had a big, hooked jaw,” Wilson said. “Actually, it was kind of ugly
