2020 Minnesota Fishing Regulations

Available in Hmong, Karen,

Somali and Spanish!

Effective March

2024

through February 28, 2025

Updated 3.15.24

MINNESOTA

FISHING

REGULATIONS

fishing

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FISHINGFISHING

IN ALEX:

S0...MUCH...FUN!

? 300+ Lakes

? Lots of fish variety

? Just off I-94



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218-666-5850



Only 3.5 hours north from the Twin Cities

START A NEW

TRADITION

Register as a donor when you get your

Minnesota fishing license online.

GET Hooked up

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Cabins, campgrounds, hotels, houseboats

Walleye, musky, bass, northern

40,000 acres with 100¡¯s of islands, bays, coves

Fishing reports on website

Cabins, campgrounds, hotels, houseboats

Walleye, musky, bass, northern

40,000 acres with 100¡¯s of islands, bays, coves

Fishing reports on website

Paid Advertisement



State Record Fish

Program Updates

Minnesota¡¯s State Record

Fish Program generates

excitement among anglers,

the public and the media!

Updates have been made

to the Certified Weight

category, and the Catch

and Release category.

What¡¯s new?

? Records established prior to requiring

weight to be documented on a certified

scale will be recognized as ¡°Historical

Records,¡± and new submissions will be

accepted for many species!

? Catch and release records are no longer

limited to muskellunge, northern pike,

flathead catfish, and lake sturgeon.

New record submissions will be

accepted for many species!

See details on page 83.

Additional information and application

forms are available on the Minnesota

Department of Natural Resources website

recordfish.

FAW_0064_24

FISHMINNESOTA

Your first stop for

Minnesota fishing

information

? View regulations on your

mobile device

? LakeFinder¡ª

lake data and maps

? Trout fishing and stream

information

? Helpful fishing tips

? Minnesota DNR contacts

fishing

Photo by Tyler Winter

FAW_0024_22

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TRESPASS LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NEW REGULATIONS FOR 2024 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

FISHING LICENSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Free Fishing Weekends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

LICENSE GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

SEASONS AND LIMITS¡ªINLAND AND LAKE SUPERIOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Inland Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Trout¡ªBrook, Brown, Rainbow and Splake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Lake Superior and Its Tributaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

GENERAL REGULATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Tackle and Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Bait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Possession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Other Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Illegal Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

SPECIAL REGULATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Intensive Management Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Waters with Experimental and Special Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

BORDER WATERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Lake Sturgeon Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Canada¨CMinnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Iowa¨CMinnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

North Dakota¨CMinnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

South Dakota¨CMinnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Wisconsin¨CMinnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

BOWFISHING, SPEARING, HARPOONING AND DIP NETTING . . . . . . . . . . 69

Bowfishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Spearing, Harpooning and Dip Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

DARK HOUSE SPEARING, ICE ANGLING AND ICE SHELTERS . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Dark House Spearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Ice Angling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Ice Shelters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

ILLUSTRATED FISH OF MINNESOTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

STATE RECORD FISH PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

SUNRISE/SUNSET TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

HEALTH ADVISORY AND FISH EATING GUIDELINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Statewide Consumption Guidelines for Fish Caught in Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

CONTACT INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

The sale of advertising pays for a portion of this publication. The state of Minnesota and

the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) neither endorse products or

services listed nor accept any liability arising from the use of products or services listed.

ON THE COVER: Fishing photo by Joshua Duplechian, featuring Scot Simmons and son, Cooper. As a child,

Scot grew up in the Twin Cities fishing the metro lakes with his family. Fast forward, he's now a fly fishing guide

on his home waters. River photo by Deborah Rose, Minnesota DNR. Fish photo by Ryan Hagerty, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service Digital Library.

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In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

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