Ask a conservation officer

[Lee Borgersen]

    Ask a conservation officer

Q: When fishing on the St. Louis River under my Wisconsin license, can I exit the water on the Minnesota side of the river with my legally caught Wisconsin fish? Or do I need to exit on the Wisconsin side of the river?



A: Good question for those anglers that access the river and Lake Superior from one state but may fish in the other state’s waters. Because the Wisconsin and Minnesota limits are the same on the St. Louis River, there is no issue for where you fish or access the river as long as you have a valid license to fish.

On Lake Superior, however, there are situations where the limits between Minnesota and Wisconsin differ. For instance, a properly licensed angler fishing in Wisconsin waters can take a steelhead of a certain size. However, in Minnesota waters of Lake Superior, steelhead are protected and are catch-and-release only. If you are returning to a Minnesota access while in possession of a lawfully-taken Wisconsin steelhead, you must travel directly to the access and not stop to fish in Minnesota waters. This rule of direct-travel would similarly apply wherever regulations differ on neighboring waters and travel requires such a crossing.