Surprising Trout Encounter on WI Walleye Opener

I had a very surprising experience last weekend on the St. Croix River on the WI walleye opener… fishing with my dad and he caught 2 large brown trout. About 10 years ago I also caught a nice brown trout on the St. Croix while going for walleyes so was quite shocked to get 2 in the same morning.

We didn’t want to kill the fish anyway but were curious – do you guys know if you’re allowed to keep a trout on the St. Croix without a trout stamp?

My dad had never caught a trout before (and I’ve only caught 3 or 4 lake trout in Canada) so now we’ve got trout on the brain. We’re going to Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge in Manitoba this summer with my 5-year and it’s predominantly walleye but they do have trophy lake trout we might target for a day.

Also saw this video on Kenanow Lodge and it looked pretty awesome for lakers, plus a cool twist getting on the fall bite since May/June we’re pretty busy chasing walleyes and pike. If nothing else, a fun video to watch and get excited about!

Cheers,
Tony

I also caught a nice brown on the St. Croix on Saturday. I assume you would need a stamp to keep one. Like you it’s triggered my interest.

They are not stocked in there are they? Naturally reproducing population of Brown’s in there do you guys think?

There was a lot of high water on area trout streams this spring…probably resulted in a lot of trout ending up in the Croix. I have a caught a couple while walleye fishing over the years

Likely from the Kinnickinnick River, it has a self sustaining population of Browns that probably got pushed out during high water and will return once the water starts receding.

They’ll go back into the little tribs when the water warms up.

How many inches were they?

I’m not sure if it makes any difference but what side of the river were you fishing?

no pictures didn’t happen… lol

Worth looking into but I thought the MN regs were: A trout stamp is required to fish designated trout waters or to HARVEST a trout whether it was caught in designated waters or not. Not sure if I’ve interpreted that correctly. I generally buy a WI inland trout stamp so I’ve never looked into the WI regs.

It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the browns winter in the St. Croix during the cold water period.

Thanks for the comments, guys! Brian, I was on the WI side.

@Suzuki: One trout was 20 inches and the other was a little bigger but we didn’t measure it. They were both super fat.

We were SO surprised. We’ve decided once every 8 years we’ll buy a trout stamp because it seems once every 8 years we catch one on the St. Croix randomly:) But we were shocked to catch another even bigger trout an hour after catching the first one.

Cheers,
Tony

Tony Capecchi wrote:

Thanks for the comments, guys! Brian, I was on the WI side.

@suzuki: One trout was 20 inches and the other was a little bigger but we didn’t measure it. They were both super fat.

The one I caught was in the same size range.

Makes sense with the trout streams that run into the croix that there would be some in there.

So cool. I’ve been fishing there early season for over 20 years and haven’t got one yet. Breaking 20 on a stream trout is a big deal! 18+ is special in my book. Congrats

We need to see some pics!

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If you are over 65 in MN you do not need a trout stamp.

From MN DNR Website:

Do I need a trout stamp when fishing in non-designated trout lakes and streams?
No, you do not need a trout stamp unless you are trying to catch trout or decide to keep one. If you are 65 or older, or younger than 18, or are fishing with a valid 24- or 72-hour license, you do not need a trout stamp to fish for or keep trout anywhere.

Key wording “From MN DNR Website”

He was on the WI sided and would have to follow WI rules.

But thanks anyway djshannon. Now I don’t have to look up the MN Regs.

From the WIDNR:

If you are fishing on the MN/WI border on the Mississippi and St. Croix on the Wisconsin side you would need an inland trout stamp to keep a trout that you catch.

From the 2019-2020 Trout Regulations:
It is illegal to fish without a Wisconsin fishing license or stamp as required. You must have an inland trout stamp if you need a fishing
license and intend to fish for trout or salmon in inland waters, including streams flowing into Lake Superior. You need a
Great Lakes salmon and trout stamp to fish for trout and salmon in streams that flow into Green Bay and Lake Michigan
from their mouths up to the first dam or lake. Note: A Great Lakes salmon and trout is required to fish Lake Superior and
Lake Michigan, proper. A 2-day resident inland lake trout license may be purchased to fish for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
only in inland lakes (no general fishing license or stamp is required).

In this case, the Mississippi River would fall under the general inland waters. If you look at the trout regulations regarding specific counties, there is a designation for all waters not listed which would include the Mississippi River.

Thank you,
Joseph M.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Key wording “From MN DNR Website”

He was on the WI sided and would have to follow WI rules.

But thanks anyway djshannon. Now I don’t have to look up the MN Regs.

I looked at the WI regs and it appears there are only possession regulations based on individual waters per county. The St. Croix would fall under “All Other Waters” in it’s respective county where the possession regs could be different depending on which county you were in (I did notice Pierce Co was different than St. Croix Co for non listed waters). The stamp requirements are dependent on the fishing license requirements and if you intend to fish for trout. By extension I’m assuming if you take a fish into possession it means you are fishing for trout even though it wasn’t your primary target.