Ask a Conservation Officer

[Lee Borgersen]

             Ask a Conservation Officer:

        Great Lakes Salmon/Trout Stamp is good only in Wisconsin


Q: I am from Superior and have a Wisconsin resident fishing license and a nonresident fishing license for Minnesota. When I purchased my Wisconsin license I also got a “Great Lakes Salmon/Trout Stamp.” Does this salmon/trout stamp enable me to fish trout and salmon in any of the Great Lakes where I hold a fishing license in that state?

 
A: No. To fish anywhere in Minnesota’s waters of Lake Superior or its tributaries, an angler must be in possession of a valid Minnesota angling license and a Minnesota trout stamp or stamp validation. Wisconsin sells what they call a “Great Lakes Trout Stamp” for angling in their waters of Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, but that is a Wisconsin license and carries no privileges in Minnesota. Minnesota has only a single “trout stamp” that is required of anglers ages 18-65 to fish in Minnesota’s waters of Lake Superior or any other designated trout stream or trout lake — or to take/possess trout in a nondesignated lake if trout are present.