ON THE ST. CROIX RIVER, Minn. _ In a move that has little precedent, Minnesota and Wisconsin fisheries managers announced recently that angling regulations on the Mississippi River between Hastings and the Iowa border will be reviewed jointly by the states' respective departments of natural resources.
The idea, the officials said, is to decide whether gamefish regulations on the river should be updated and _ this would be a shocker _ made uniform between the two states.
Anglers who fish the Mississippi regularly will pay special attention to any changes made to protocols governing walleyes, which attract most anglers to the river. This is especially true in early spring, when pre-spawn walleyes collect in waters below the Red Wing dam, attracting an armada of anglers not only from Minnesota and Wisconsin but also from Iowa (especially) and Illinois.
"We don't have any specific proposals for changes to bag limits or size restrictions," said Kevin Stauffer, Lake City area fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. "But many of these regulations have been in place for 50 years, and we'd like to hear what people who fish the river have to say about them, and whether they think any changes are in order."
In addition to walleyes, rules governing angling for sunfish, crappies, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, white bass, saugers, catfish and yellow perch will be discussed.
What's not on the table, apparently, for examination are angling regulations on the St. Croix River, which also forms a long boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Which is odd, because at least some fish that spend portions of the year in the Mississippi also pass long periods in the St. Croix, swimming upstream and down by season.
Last week, Dick "Griz" Grzywinski and I, along with my son Cole, sat atop waters that form the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers, targeting some of these transient fish.
At times, the three of us were on the Mississippi, dangling half-ounce jigs in about 34 feet of water, while, moments before or after, we were on the St. Croix, angling similarly. Near us, a dozen or so other boats also bobbed between the two rivers, most, like us, seeking walleyes that had migrated up the Mississippi.
"You can watch the calendar and get an idea where the walleyes will be in the river," Griz was saying, "but in a year like this, when spring was so late arriving, you have to spend a little time on the water to find out if the fish have arrived yet."
Griz, a St. Paul fishing guide (www.fishwithgriz.com), begins his springtime Mississippi River fishing in the last half of March near Red Wing. These early-season days can be bone-chilling. But sooner or later, walleyes migrating from Lake Pepin start to show up, including some monsters.
On multiple occasions, Griz and I _ he more often, admittedly _ have taken walleyes between 8 and 12 pounds on the Mississippi, not only while fishing near Red Wing but also in Pool 2, near downtown St. Paul, Minn.
We release these fish, as well as smaller specimens. But not everyone does. In fact, arguably, walleyes congregated within a few miles of the Red Wing dam in early spring, preparing to spawn, are targeted for catch-and-keep more aggressively than any other pre-spawn walleyes in Minnesota _ a fact that is long overdue for review by Wisconsin and Minnesota fisheries managers.
That said, upstream near Prescott, Wis., Griz, Cole and I were untroubled by such serious considerations. The sky was blue, mostly, and a faint breeze rippled the rivers' surface beneath a warming sun.
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