Changes could be coming to St. Croix River fishing

St. Paul — There could be a few changes coming to the fishing season and regulations on a portion of the St. Croix River. The Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of natural resources are considering decreasing the daily bag limits for fish species, while also making a continuous fishing season on the river – for walleyes and other game fish.

The two departments believe changes will help the fish in the river, while making it comparable to the Mississippi River’s season and regulations. But some fishing guides and anglers believe this could hurt the population of fish and could reduce the diversity of fish species in the part of the St. Croix River south of the dam at Taylors Falls, Minn.

“The Mississippi River regulations were changed a few years ago,” said Kasey Yallaly, Wisconsin DNR senior fisheries biologist. “With that change and the reduction in the bag limits in that system, it kind of got me thinking (that) the St. Croix River regulations haven’t changed in decades.”

Joel Stiras, Minnesota DNR metro river specialist, has been working with Yallaly to propose rules changes for both sides of the river. Both of them believe such changes would benefit the river and fish populations.

The Wisconsin DNR already has gone through an advisory period and will offer six rule changes that relate to the St. Croix River for an upcoming spring hearing vote in the Badger State.

Four of the six proposals involve new bag limits, while one of the questions relates to a continuous season. One rule proposal is focused on a fish refuge near the Taylor Falls Dam to protect fish spawning in the spring.

Charlie “Turk” Gierke, a fishing guide on the St. Croix River, said he agrees with the decrease in bag limits because it’s been a topic of discussion for the past several years.

He said he’s confused about the continuous fishing season because he believes it’ll hurt the fish population.

“Your average angler isn’t an average angler anymore,” Gierke said. “They’re hardcore. Your average angler nowadays could’ve been tournament fishing 25, 30 years ago… There’s about three or four places that they’ll be concentrated in and everyone knows where they will be, and that’s the problem.

“And if these fish are there for two weeks, you take them before they spawn,” he said.

With this continuous season proposal, there would be changes to the daily bag limit.

White and yellow bass would go from 25 to 10 per day. Catfish would go from 10 combined to different limits for channel and flathead. The proposed rule would allow five channel catfish with one being larger than 24 inches and two flathead catfish with one being larger than 24 inches.

The northern pike limit would go from five to three with one being over 30 inches. The walleye and sauger combined limit would go from six to four with a minimum length of 15 inches and only one over 20 inches could be kept.

Along with the decrease in bag limits, there’s a proposed rule that applies a fish refuge from State Highway 8 upstream to the St. Croix Falls dam from March 1 to June 15 each year. Brian Nerbonne, Minnesota DNR Region 3 fisheries manager, said fish typically swim upstream to spawn.

“A lot of our river species will run upstream to spawn,” Nerbonne said. “That area below Taylor Falls definitely fits that bill. At certain times of the year, it’ll create a fairly high concentration of fish and if we’ve got a continuous season and high concentrations of fish, that creates the potential for a lot of harvest.

“Protecting those fish that are congregating at that location and at spawning times of the year is just a way for us to be a little more protective of the population as we put this continuous season in place,” Nerbonne said.

The continuous fishing season would apply to all fish species except muskies and lake sturgeon. Nerbonne said the two species are rare fish in the river. He added that a continuous season could lead to more hooking mortality, and they need to be mindful about the population of muskies and lake sturgeon.

Along with Gierke, St. Croix angler Dave Orf, of Wisconsin, also has expressed concerns about the continuous season because he believes it’ll harm the fish population.

“The ice-out on the St. Croix is four to six weeks before the Minnesota inland (fishing) opener and three to five weeks before the Wisconsin inland opener,” Orf said. “This lengthy period of heavy fishing pressure could have a significant impact on the resource of fish.”

Gierke compares this proposed rule to Pool 4 of the Mississippi River. That area is a continuous season and he describes it as “bumper boats” from March 1 to the middle of May.

He’s worried that if the continuous season rule is adopted that many who have been making the trip to Pool 4 will instead head to the St. Croix. Gierke added that the best walleye bite of the year is during the pre-spawn season, which is around March 1 and the fish don’t typically spread out.

“The St. Croix is a very nice fishery for many, many reasons” Gierke said. “One reason why the walleye fishery is so strong is A, they don’t stock it, and B, every year we catch all year-classes. That’s why I’m excited for (a four-fish walleye limit).”

The difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin is the amount of time it takes to approve new regulations. With Wisconsin, it can take anywhere from one and a half to three years. Minnesota can take about a year.

In Wisconsin, the DNR presented the possible rule changes as advisory questions in April 2022. The agency had public input during that spring, and Yallaly said it received public support. This allowed them to go further in the process and send the questions to the state Conservation Congress, a group of citizens who advise the Natural Resources Board and the DNR on how to manage Wisconsin’s natural resources. The advisory questions were supported by the congress and passed to the Natural Resources Board in January 2023.

The NRB passed this rule package in time for Wisconsin’s spring hearings where there will be public input. There will be an online questionnaire and an in-person meeting, while people can still write comments to the WDNR.

If there’s support from the public hearing in April and from the Conservation Congress in May, those questions will be sent to the NRB in June 2023 for adoption. If the rules are adopted, they need to go through an approval from the governor and the Legislature, which typically takes about six months.

“We’d be working with the Minnesota DNR to aim for a spring 2024 implementation,” said Meredith Penthorn, Wisconsin DNR fisheries policy specialist.

The Minnesota DNR will be proposing a rule change with public input occurring this summer or fall. There will be online surveys and in-person meetings to gauge public opinion.

If there’s support, the Minnesota DNR can make a change to the regulations for 2024. Stiras said the hope is to make the regulation change effective March 1, 2024.