Winnebago
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Winnebago, as the state words them
Winnebago County · River · WI
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from WI's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
- All fishBait Whole or live fish cannot be usedNamed water (Winnebago, Winnebago County) where whole or live fish may not be used as bait on a setline or set or bank pole.
- Channel catfishGear set or bank pole and setlineChannel catfish taken here may be sold; flathead catfish taken here CANNOT be sold.
- All fishSee the Winnebago System Waters regulations .
- lake sturgeonFeb. 8 through Feb. 23, 2025 (dates as written)Season closes before the maximum 16 day season if any of the pre-set Lake Winnebago harvest caps or any Winnebago system-wide harvest caps are reached, whichever comes first, as per trigger closure rules.
- sturgeon2025 Lake Winnebago harvest cap allocation: 280 juvenile females, 717 adult females, 1,002 males. Closure triggers at 100% of any one of the three Lake Winnebago caps (or 24 hours after a day ending at 90-99%).
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- General Inland Fishing May 3, 2025 - March 1, 2026Statewide
- Gear
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Bait
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Poles
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Largemouth and smallmouth bass | 5 in total | - | Statewide |
Ruffe, White Perch and Gobies | one of each may be killed and possessed for transport to a Wisconsin DNR office | - | Statewide |
Muskellunge | 1 | - | Statewide |
Northern Pike | 5 in total 2 in total | - | Statewide |
Lake Sturgeon Varies by water: 36 inches, limit One (1) lake sturgeon per licensee (All waters of the Winnebago system) | 1 per season | - | Statewide |
Shovelnose Sturgeon | 3 | - | Statewide |
Catfish | 25 in total, of which only 1 may be flathead catfish from the Lake Winnebago system | - | Statewide |
Cisco (lake herring), whitefish, and hybrids | 10 in total 10 in total | - | Statewide |
Ruffe, white perch, and gobies | 0 but one of each may be killed and possessed for immediate delivery to a DNR Service Center or regional office. | - | Statewide |
Walleye, sauger, and hybrids | 5 in total | - | Statewide |
Channel catfish | Channel catfish - Five, Flathead catfish - One, Bullheads - none | min. Length limit - none | Statewide |
snapping turtles Varies by water: a shell length that is between 12 to 16 inches from front to back (Statewide - snapping turtle size limit) | 3 snapping turtles, 3 softshell turtles and 5 in total of all other species | - | Statewide |
suckers | the limit for suckers is 600 | - | Statewide |
snapping turtles and softshell turtles | The possession limit for snapping turtles and softshell turtles is three each statewide | - | Statewide |
Snapping turtle | See size | min. a 12-inch minimum and a 16-inch maximum carapace (top shell straight front to back) length | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
This water is not yet drawn on the map. Its rules are captured and receipted; the geometry ledger records exactly why it is not drawn (an ambiguous name match or a gap in the source data), and it will never ship as a guess. Each rule above describes in the state's own words where it applies, and those written descriptions are the authoritative boundaries.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Winnebago's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
Receipts
Local services near Winnebago
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Winnebago? Get listed.