Fishing Regulations
Here are some basic fishing rules to follow in Wisconsin:

• Wisconsin residents who are 16-years-old or older must have a fishing license to fish in any waters in the state.
• Non-residents who are 16 or older need a non-resident fishing license to fish in any Wisconsin waters.
• Individual resident annual fishing licenses are $14.00, but extra stickers are needed to fish for salmon or trout. The Annual Inland Trout Stamp and Annual Great Lakes Trout and Salmon Stamp privileges, are an extra $7.25 each per license.
• If you lose your fishing license, you can get a duplicate for $7.00 at DNR service centers. Duplicate stamps are not available, you must pay for them again.

It is illegal:
• To fish in any state waters without a Wisconsin fishing license under the rules above. You have to show a warden your license if he or she asks you.
• To take fish by any means other than fishing with hooks and line (angling) without other permission.
• To “jug” fish in any waters in the state.
• To use spears, snag hooks, gill nets, trammel nets, hoop nets, or fish traps
• To take fish using a gun of any kind.
• To release unused bait into any of Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams.
• To have live crayfish while fishing anywhere in the state except the Mississippi River.
• To use live goldfish or alewives as bait.
• To keep a fish under the minimum size or over the maximum size for the waters on which you are fishing.
• To sort fish catches. Any fish you take in that you do not release immediately are part of your daily bag limit, even if you were planning on releasing them later.
• To fish in fish refuges which are posted “NO Fishing” with DNR or US Fish and Wildlife Service signs.
• To dump fish entrails into any of Wisconsin’s water.