Fishing seasons Wisconsin DNR

These include channel and flathead catfish, white bass, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, whitefish and bullhead. All fishing seasons listed are current at the time of publication, but they may change from one year to the next. A complete and up-to-date guide to Wisconsin’s fishing seasons, limits and other regulations is published annually by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This guide is available on the DNR website — see Resources — or in printed form at most bait shops, sporting-goods stores and other locations where fishing licenses are sold across the state. Running from the first Saturday in January through the first Friday in May, Wisconsin’s early trout fishing season gives anglers the ability to fish thousands of Class 1, 2 and 3 streams across the state.

Saturday is the opening day of game fishing season in Wisconsin, and 17-year-old Spencer Dahl has big plans to hit all of his summer fishing hotspots on day one. Catch and release fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass is open year round unless otherwise noted. Cooler temperatures have delayed walleye spawning in the northern parts of the state. As a result, they will likely be hanging around shoreline habitats.

Anglers can expect to find plenty of walleye over 15 inches in the St. Louis River, its estuary areas and along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior south shore. Anglers should focus on fishing Lake Wisconsin for the opener as walleye make their way back after spawning on the Wisconsin River. Based on early season fishing reports, the DNR predicts anglers across the state will have a successful opening weekend despite a slower spring thaw. No matter where anglers decide to fish, all Wisconsin residents and non-residents over the age of 16 are required to purchase a fishing license. Licenses can be bought through Go Wild, the DNR’s license portal, or from alicense agent.

The DNR uses three categories to classify the different types of trout streams throughout the state. Collected here are detailed maps of trout streams found throughout Wisconsin. The maps are sorted by county, and each map has a separate key to indicate the name and Water Body Identification Code of each stream. Having a fishing license is only one part of being a responsible angler.

Trout are cold blooded, and their metabolisms slow down during the winter. You’ll have the best luck fishing in the late afternoon when water temperatures, and fish activity levels, are at their peak. Any angler age 16 and older must purchase a Wisconsin fishing license, which is available online as well as at a number of local bait shops, chain stores and gas stations.

Spencer, an Ozaukee County resident, and his friends like to troll the waters of Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River for northern pike and bass, sometimes on foot and sometimes by kayak or boat. With minimal precipitation and shorter vegetation along streams, anglers should be stealthy while fishing for trout. Brown trout and splake are abundant this year in Lake Superior and can commonly be found in the shallow waters of the Apostle Islands and Chequamegon Bay region in the spring. Brown trout are also in the shallow waters around the shores of Lake Michigan, and anglers can find lake trout around harbors and rocks. Wisconsin Fly Fishing can provide an extremely rewarding fishing experience. Every lake or body of water has different regulations for the fish in it — usually size and bag limits.

A few important exceptions to the general Wisconsin fishing season apply to fish species. Fishing for lake sturgeon is open from September 7 to September 30 only, and fishing for shovelnose sturgeon is closed year-round on Wisconsin lakes. Some lakes have location-specific seasons for various fish species, and a complete list of these waters is available on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website. Many fish species have no season, which means that you can catch and keep them at anytime of year.

Hasz said these rules are often posted at boat landings but can also be found on the DNR website, where you can search by county and body of water. Hasz said it’s not unusual to see some ice at the start of the fishing season, but it’s a little unusual for such a late season. Because the season always opens on the first Saturday in May, the 7th is the latest possible start.

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Dion Liriano is a 51-year-old American zookeeper who has retired from the business. He was once a highly successful director of the Zoo and Aquarium, but he has since hung up his gloves and moved on to other ventures. Dion's passion for animals began at a young age, when he would help his father care for their family pets. This love grew exponentially when he started working at the zoo; Dion quickly became one of the most experienced keepers in the business. He credits his success to the relationships he built with both staff and animals over the years.

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