WI Law

man-o-man………….coming up that way and staying at Evert’s………… so all I need is a Wisc. lic……right?

Yes Sir! Come up, stay at Evertts, and purchase a WI license. That’s a surefire, no-threat combination! The only thing you’ll need to complete a big grin is to get some tugs on your line! :O)

Still waiting for one of the MN guides to jump in here!!! What do you say James…..Steve. Two couples from Madison come to Red Wing for the weekend. The guys hire you for a fun filled day on the river fishing. The women shop, spend a couple hundred. They are going to stay at the casino, eat and gamble. They have a successful day fishing and limit out.

Being from Wis. they have their Wis. lic. When the days is over and they head to the motel, do you tell them to be sure to have a Minn. lic.? Sure would be good PR for your business and the Minn. Department of Tourism!!!!

Okay, I’m no guide but I wonder if you’d win this case in court? If you’ve already paid for accomodations, you’ll have receipts and proof of itinerary………as long as you left the following day and didn’t go anywhere else. I think the idea is to get them in a cooler and shut up if this HAS to be your plan.

James,……………………do you place any stipulations/recommendations on the licensing of your customers? I mean, frankly…………..it’s not your responsibility to be concerned with the situation once your clients leave the boat. A license is a license for the fishing and anything after that is the responsibility of the client………………right?

Under these circumstances, you’re just wiser to buy a MN license. If you come up this way fishing, there’s more than the Mississippi to provide some excellent fishing and your covered either way. Call it cheap “insurance”, good for 12 months. Another benefit? Get your limit with a guide, party the night away worry free, go out the next day, get your limit, go home. Insurance plus extra fish if that’s your intention.

Another way to go is Morey’s Fish Market………….buy all the fresh walleye you could legally catch for less than the trip would cost you. Not thrilling enough? Don’t worry about the meat and release ’em all! Not a suggestion, just listing another option or two.

I actually do concern myself with keeping my customers out of hot-water after they leave my boat for the simple reason that if they were to get a ticket for something along these lines, their experience and memories from the trip would be less than favorable. I want everyone to go home and have great stories to tell and to be darn near unable to wait until the next time they get to go out with me. If they get a $100 ticket, that’s not going to be the case.

But the truth of the matter is, this RARELY, like NEVER, is an issue. The customers that live in MN seem to stay in MN. Those from out of state by a license from the state in which they choose to lodge. Who’s going to drive from SD and stop in MN to buy a fishing license before they continue on to WI to get to their campground/hotel/cabin? Nobody. Sure, some might have examples of isolated instances where they have a WI license and camp in MN… but I never run into an example like that with a customer. And I’m aware of the law and I would think, if anyone would, I’d run into this problem given the number of people I guide from out of state in a year.

But then I’d never let any individual keep a double limit with a WI license over two days of fishing anyway…. regardless of where they were staying. Ever see the pile of fillets a guy gets from 2 limits of 18″ fish if you know how to clean fish well? I clean all the fish my customers keep if given the opportunity to minimize meat waste caused by those inexperienced with a fillet knife. I typically ice fish with a 8 Lb bag of ice in a cooler during warmer months and those two limits of 18″ fish will completely fill an 8 Lb ice bag… to the point where the bag will be impossible to bind at the top. That’s boneless, skinless fillets. All meat. I can’t imagine a situation where I’d allow a group of 2 -3 guys to keep a two man limit of fish like that over two days. And I tell my customers that up front.

The solution in my mind to end hard to interpret situations like this is to somehow get WI to go to a 6 fish possession limit…. just like MN.

No, I won’t be holding my breath….

Okay, Here’s my two cents worth. I live in Iowa, I always buy a MN license. I buy a family license, this gives me a limit for myself,my wife and my daughter if they are fishing with me, and if I wanted that many fish in the first place. About the only time this would apply would be on a week long family vaction. On our weekend trips to Lake City, it is usually just two of us fishing and 12 walleye and /or sauger would be a heavens plenty for anyone to take home. I certainly don’t want to transport them whole to satisfy the Wis.size requirement. For those folks who want to keep more than six fish, try the crappie or white bass fishing, if your lucky enough to fill your walleye limit the first day. Not to mention the smallmouth fishery, let’s keep that a secret LOL. My son, who has gotten old enough to have to buy his own license, can spend the weekend at pool 4 and never fish for anything but smallies! I have to agree with James ( boy does it pain me to admit that LOL!!) the best way to ease the confusion may be for Wis and IA. to adopt the 6 fish limit. MN. limits would certainly take some pressure off crappie and white bass in the border waters of those states. ……………..B

Like James says, rarely or never a problem. I’m from IL. and have a non-resident Wisc.license.Use to stay at the Wabasha Motel for 5 days straight when up there fishing. Subject never came up when license was checked. One year we got checked on Hwy. 61 going home. Nothning was said, even though the shortest route to Wisc. would have been going over the bridge to Nelson and taking Rte. 35.

I have a question about fishing Wisconsin, Iowa border waters. I am a Wisconsin resident. If I fish the Mississippi from a boat, leaving from the SW Wisconsin side of the river, am I allowed to fish on the Iowa side of the river with a Wisconsin fishing license? Or do I need to get an Iowa fishing license also.

As long as you stay on the river and between the RR tracks you won’t need an Ia. license.

You know, this could be one of those golden opportunities where I could (dig) about (foreigners) on Ia. waters, but I won’t.

Good luck and leave a few for seed feutz.