Fishing regulation changes on Mississippi guided in part by answers to online questionnaire

Crowd sourced info will help guide the next set of regulations for fishing on the Mississippi River.

For the first time in a long time, Wisconsin and Minnesota are working together on changing fishing rules on the river. An online questionnaire (click here) is meant to help guide the agencies in developing rules for bag limits, sizes and other regulations.

“It’s also very difficult to get partner organizations to be on the same page with this stuff,” Wisconsin DNR fisheries supervisor Jordan Weeks out of La Crosse said. “And, at this point, we have Minnesota and Wisconsin on board looking at this stuff. It gives us a unique opportunity we haven’t had in the past.”

While questionnaire seeks public input and guidance on the process, Weeks isn’t sure many will see a need for big changes.

“A lot of anglers seem to be on a similar page,” he said. “There aren’t huge discrepancies in what folks believe is currently going on out there and then also what they desire.

“OUr intentions are to move forward with this. Whether or not that means large scale changes, I can’t say at this point.”

Weeks says all gamefish species are being looked at for new rules, including sunfish, crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, white bass, walleye, sauger, catfish and yellow perch. The survey will be up through July 31.