SECTION 1 adds the Popple River, main stem of the Plover River upstream of Highway 153, and the Waupaca (Tomorrow) River between Durant Rd and Frost Valley Rd to the list of waters with an early catch-and-release season for trout using artificial lures only to provide additional angling opportunity.
SECTION 2 applies a protected slot of 25-35 inches and daily bag limit of 5 for northern pike in Parker Lake, Adams County to allow harvest of smaller pike while preserving larger pike for a quality fishery.
SECTIONS 3, 4, 10, 11, 25, 28, and 33 revert waters in Ashland, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer and Vilas counties to the Ceded Territory walleye regulation of a 15-inch minimum length limit, walleye between 20 and 24 inches may not be kept, and only one walleye greater than 24 inches may be kept, with a bag limit of 3 in total. The regulation currently in place is no longer appropriate for increasing adult walleye population densities on these waters.
SECTIONS 5 and 39 create a trophy harvest regulation of a 50-inch minimum length limit and daily bag limit of 1 for the Namekagon River from the Trego Dam to the confluence with the St. Croix River.
SECTIONS 6, 9 and 14 remove the late catch-and-release trout season (from October 16 to November 15) from the Popple River, Peshtigo River and Rat River. This will simplify regulations for anglers and reduce fishing pressure on spawning migrations of brook trout. Also, a late season is not needed since these rivers already allow an early catch-and-release fishing opportunity (with the Popple River gaining the early season in SECTION 1).
SECTIONS 7 and 15 establish a bag limit of 5 fish and no minimum length limit for trout on the North Branch Pemebonwon River, Wausaukee River and South Branch Pike River to allow anglers to make use of trout stocked on these waters by the department and cooperators.
SECTIONS 8, 19, 21, 29, and 31 establish a protected slot of 14 to 18 inches for largemouth and smallmouth bass with only one bass greater than 18 inches allowed for harvest on Butternut and Franklin lakes in Forest County, North Nokomis Lake in Oneida County, Nugget Lake in Pierce County, White Mound Lake in Sauk County, and the Tiger Cat Chain of Lakes in Sawyer County. This regulation is expected to result in more harvest of smaller bass, improving growth rates and the size structure of the bass population in these lakes.
SECTIONS 12, 22, 25, 32 and 44 reduce the daily bag limit for panfish on the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir, Marathon County, Big Round Lake, Polk County, Cranberry Lake, Price County, Lake Chippewa, Sawyer County, and Huron Lake, Waushara County to 10 in total to provide additional protection and maintain the quality of the panfish population.
SECTIONS 13, 24, 34, and 41 modify the trout regulation on the Little Wolf River, Comet Creek, Bradley Creek, Flume Creek, Rainy Creek, Jackson Creek and Jones Creek to 3 trout in total with a minimum length limit of 8 inches. This regulation is expected to preserve a high-quality brook trout fishery on these waters.
SECTIONS 16 establishes a daily bag limit of 5 and no minimum length limit for northern pike in Tuttle Lake, Marquette County to encourage pike harvest and improve growth rates and size structure.
SECTION 17 revises the regulation for northern pike on Lake Tomah in Monroe County to a minimum length limit of 40 inches and daily bag limit of 1 to cultivate trophy pike fishing opportunities in the lake.
SECTION 18 removes the minimum length limit for largemouth bass on White Potato Lake in Oconto County while retaining the 14-inch minimum length limit for smallmouth bass, and a daily bag limit of 5 in total. This regulation would promote additional harvest of largemouth bass to decrease their abundance.
SECTIONS 19 and 36 establish a daily bag limit of 5 in total and no minimum length limit for bass in Katherine Lake, Oneida County, and Upper and Lower Buckatabon lakes, Vilas County to encourage bass harvest and potentially improve quality potential for bass.
SECTIONS 20 and 38 apply a protected slot limit for walleye of a minimum length limit of 18 inches and fish from 22 to 28 inches may not be kept on Clear and Katherine lakes in Oneida County and Anvil and Laura lakes in Vilas County. This regulation aims to increase adult walleye densities and re-establish self-sustaining walleye populations.
SECTION 23 establishes that, for northern pike, waters in Portage County north of Highway 10 shall have a daily bag limit of 5 and no minimum length limit while waters south of Highway 10 shall have a daily bag limit of 2 and minimum length limit of 26 inches. This section also makes exceptions for Jordan Pond and Collins Lake, which will remain at a daily bag limit of 2 and minimum length limit of 26 inches, and does not make any changes to the existing regulations for the Wisconsin River system and Jacqueline Lake.
SECTION 25 removes the special musky size limit regulation on Butternut Lake in Ashland and Price County to replace it with the statewide regulation of a minimum length limit of 40 inches. The special size limit is no longer needed to decrease musky abundance in the lake.
SECTION 26 maintains the walleye regulations for Butternut and Long (Boyd’s) lakes in Price County at a daily bag limit of 3 and no minimum length limit but only 1 fish over 14 inches allowed for harvest. These walleye regulations were previously grouped with Flambeau River system regulations that are reverting to the Ceded Territory walleye regulations.
SECTION 27 adds Mill Creek from Highway 14 upstream to Quarry Hill Rd and Willow Creek from Lost Hollow Rd upstream to the Highway 58 bridge 0.25 miles north of Loyd to the trout regulation of 5 in total and a maximum length limit of 12 inches. This regulation would allow harvest of trout and reduce brown trout overabundance to improve growth potential.
SECTIONS 30 and 32 apply the same regulations on Schoolhouse Lake as already in place on the connected Durphee Lake, Sawyer County. Durphee Lake is under experimental regulations, so applying consistent regulations to Schoolhouse Lake will simplify the regulations on this chain and improve the data collected to evaluate the experimental regulations.
SECTION 35 establishes Pipke Park pond in Vilas County as an urban fishing pond, with a continuous season except during the period from the second Saturday in March to the Friday before the last Saturday in April which is only open to youth anglers under 16 years old and certain disabled anglers. The daily bag limits shall be 1 game fish (largemouth or smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike), 3 trout or salmon in total, and 10 panfish in total, with no size limits.
SECTION 37 establishes a minimum length limit of 50 inches and daily bag limit of 1 for musky on the Presque Isle Chain of Lakes (all waters combined). This section also modifies the walleye regulation on Escanaba Lake, an experimental research lake, to the Ceded Territory length limit of 15-inch minimum length limit except walleye between 20-24 inches may not be kept and only one over 24 inches may be kept. The daily bag limit will remain 3 until an annual harvest quota (in pounds of walleye) specified by the department is reached, then will go to 0, catch and release only for the remainder of the season. The season on Escanaba Lake will run from the second Saturday in June to the first Sunday in March.
SECTIONS 40 and 43 revise the northern pike regulation on Big Muskego Lake, including Bass Bay, Waukesha County, and Irogami, Long and Wilson lakes, Waushara County, to be no minimum length limit and a protected slot of 25-35 inches, with a daily bag limit of 2. Applying this regulation will provide anglers with more diversified fishing opportunities while protecting larger female pike and maintaining northern pike size structure and recruitment.
SECTION 42 establishes a regulation of no minimum length limit and daily bag limit of 5 for northern pike in Morris, Big Hills and Pine lakes, Waushara County. Removing the size limit will encourage the harvest of smaller, slow-growing pike to reduce density and improve growth rates and size structure.
6. Summary of, and Comparison with, Existing or Proposed Federal Statutes and Regulations:
No federal regulations apply. States retain management authority over the fish and wildlife resources within state boundaries provided that state regulations do not conflict with regulations established in the Federal Register. None of these rule changes violate or conflict with the provisions established in the Federal Code of Regulations.
7. Comparison with Similar Rules in Adjacent States:
Individual state or provincial agencies are responsible for managing fisheries within their state boundaries and each jurisdiction has its own decision-making process. Wisconsin’s approach to fisheries management and regulations are comparable to that of surrounding states. Additionally, Wisconsin works with the natural resources agencies of neighboring states when proposing rules relating to fishing in shared boundary waters.
8. Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies Used and How Any Related Findings Support the Regulatory Approach Chosen:
With this rule, the department will make changes to certain fish size limits, bag limits, seasons, and other regulations related to fishing in inland, outlying, and boundary waters. Fishing regulations are in place to help meet management goals and objectives for fish populations in waters of the state. Examples include providing a trophy walleye fishery or a bass fishery that maximizes predation on smaller fishes. New regulations are proposed when management goals have changed or the department must address a critical need, such as a fish population decline.
The regulation proposals included in this rule are based on biological surveys and analyses conducted by fisheries biologists and input from local stakeholders and the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. All proposals are peer-reviewed for justification, enforceability, and completeness by department Bureaus of Fisheries Management, Law Enforcement, and Legal Services.
Based on the management goals for individual waters and species, the department strives to provide:
consumptive opportunities where anglers can fish for a meal from a self-sustained, slow-growing fish population;
quality and memorable opportunities where anglers can catch large fish and the density of adult fish in the populations are sustained or increased; and
trophy opportunities where anglers can catch large trophy-size fish and the survival of older and larger fish is increased. Most recreational fishing regulation changes are updated in Administrative Code every two years. Forestalling the proposed rule changes would result in less than optimal management of fish populations in waters of the state and reduced fishing opportunities for resident and visiting anglers. However, existing regulations would remain in place to provide some level of continued protection of fish resources.
9. Analysis and Supporting Documents Used to Determine the Effect on Small Business or in Preparation of an Economic Impact Report:
The department does not expect any economic impact or change directly related to these rule changes (Governor’s Executive Order 50, level 3 economic impact analysis of minimal to no economic impact less than $50,000). The proposed rule will primarily affect recreational anglers. Fishing regulations are already in place for waters of the state, and this rule is intended to continue protection and enhancement of the state’s fish resources by adjusting regulations on select waters where there is a management need. One purpose of the rule is to help maintain the general, beneficial economic impact of fishing throughout Wisconsin.
The department prepared an economic impact analysis, which was posted for public comment in March 2019 to determine if any individuals, businesses, local governments, or other entities expect to be adversely affected economically by the rule. No comments were received on the economic impact analysis.
10. Effect on Small Business (initial regulatory flexibility analysis):
The proposed rule would not impose any reporting requirements on small businesses, nor are any design or operational standards contained in the rule. The rule would not allow for the potential to establish a reduced fine for small businesses, nor would it establish “alternative enforcement mechanisms” for “minor violations” of administrative rules made by small businesses.
12. Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
Written comments may be submitted at the public hearings, by regular mail, fax or email to:
Meredith Penthorn
Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707
