Wisconsin fishing opener features new 3-walleye limit

[h2ofwlr]

By Dave Orrick
dorrick@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 05/01/2015 12:01:00 AM CDT | Updated: 2 days ago


Saturday is Wisconsin's inland fishing opener for most game fish.

Walleye, northern pike, stream trout, and largemouth and smallmouth bass can all be targeted, although smallmouth bass must be released in the far northern portion of the state.

Minnesota's opener is a week away, but popular border waters, including the St. Croix River in the metro, open with Wisconsin's season.

For many anglers, walleye will be the prime quarry, and this year conditions look good. Spawning has been over for a week or two, water temperatures are creeping into the 50s, and several biologists this week said the fish have had time to recover.

So they're ready to start feeding -- and biting anglers' offerings.

For popular walleye lakes in northern Wisconsin, many anglers should be aware of new 3-walleye bag limits.

NEW WALLEYE RULES

Statewide, five walleye are allowed to be kept daily in Wisconsin, with a minimum size of 15 inches.

However, in the "ceded territories" -- the northern parts of the state where Chippewa Indians maintain off-reservation rights to take walleyes under different rules -- the rules have been stricter for years to accommodate the tribal kill.

This year, nearly all those waters will allow non-tribal anglers three walleyes daily with a protected slot: All walleyes between 20 and 24 inches must be released and only one can be kept longer than 24 inches.

And it's going to stay that way all season.
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That's a change from previous years, when the limit was generally two walleyes, but the bag often changed on individual lakes in mid-season, based on what Native Americans actually took out of a given lake.

For resort owners, anglers and the Department of Natural Resources, the old system was a headache, to say the least, and many are happy to bid it farewell.

"This should go a long way toward improving angler satisfaction and promoting tourism in the Northwoods," Mike Vogelsang, DNR district fisheries supervisor for northern Wisconsin, said in an online chat with the public Wednesday. His comment was in response to a compliment about the new rules.

"The 3-walleye bag will really alleviate some sign posting nightmares we've had too," Vogelsang said. "It was necessary to post (and then re-post bag limit revisions near Memorial Day) at all the lakes!"

By employing the added slot restrictions, Vogelsang and other DNR biologists believe they will be able to keep walleye populations stable, while still allowing the extra fish to be taken.

In waters where walleye density is a concern, the agency has several other options. For example, in some high-density, slow-growth lakes, there will be no minimum size with only one fish allowed longer than 14 inches.

Anglers fishing in the ceded territories should check each lake they plan to fish.

The statewide total daily bag limit of five walleyes still applies when not on an actual body of water in the ceded territories, so a fisherman can keep his limit of three walleyes from one lake, drop those fish off at the cabin, and keep two walleyes from a different lake later that day.

The total possession limit for walleyes is 10 in Wisconsin.

TROLLING RULES

Trolling with a motor remains prohibited throughout most of Wisconsin, although the advent of a change has caused confusion.

Exceptions, including the St. Croix River and a number of lakes and entire counties that allow trolling, are unchanged. In other words, nothing has changed for motor trolling.

Yet.

A change in rules that has been through much of the regulatory process, including the recent approval by Gov. Scott Walker, will allow trolling with at least one line per angler throughout the state.

But that change remains under review by two committees in the Wisconsin Legislature and won't take effect until later this season at the earliest.

Wisconsin is one of the few states with widespread prohibitions on motor trolling, and the new rule will signal a major loosening. In many parts of the state, each angler would be allowed to troll up to three lines.

Dave Orrick can be reached at 651-228-5512. Follow him at twitter.com/OutdoorsNow.

WISCONSIN OPENER

When: Starts at midnight Saturday, May 2

What fish: Walleye, pike, trout, bass*

Where: All inland waters and Minnesota border waters

[Quack]

Their fishing rules sound about like our duck rules.