St. Croix River
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for St. Croix River, as the state words them
Burnett 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.
- largemouth bass; smallmouth bassWhere the St. Croix River forms the boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota, boundary water regulations apply. Largemouth and smallmouth bass must be at least 14”.
- Largemouth And Smallmouth BassSaturday preceding Memorial Day to, but not including, the second Monday in September (dates as written)
- Largemouth And Smallmouth BassSecond Monday in September to March 1catch and release
- Largemouth And Smallmouth BassSaturday preceding Memorial Day to March 1
- Lake SturgeonFirst Saturday in September to September 30 (harvest); October 1 to October 15 (catch and release only) (dates as written)October 1 to October 15 catch and release only
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 section begins and ends
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
Different sections of this water can have different rules. The exact section boundaries are not marked on the map yet; each rule above describes in plain words where it starts and ends, and that written description is the authoritative boundary. Map boundaries come water by water, never as a guess.
Season at a glanceDerived
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Streamflow: 511 cfs at st. croix river near danbury, wi (2026-10-13 07:00)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in St. Croix River'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.
You also need (Wisconsin)
Receipts
Local services near St. Croix River
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 St. Croix River? Get listed.