5. Plain Language Analysis:
This rule is minor in nature and mainly clarifies regulations, codifies existing department policies to ensure consistency in implementation, corrects outdated language and drafting errors, removes obsolete provisions, updates cross-references and points of reference, and addresses inconsistencies in administrative code language. Some of these changes also make administrative code consistent with regulation changes that were implemented using the process outlined in s. NR 20.35, Wis. Admin. Code, which allows the department to remove a special regulation or implement a predefined alternate regulation through a public notice period and public meeting, if requested. Specifically, these rules will amend fishing regulations found in Chs. NR 19-23 and 26, Wis. Admin. Code. SECTION 1 implements consistent terminology relating to educational outdoor skills activities, and includes language and a cross-reference relating to the statutory exemptions to the requirement to hold a fishing license.
SECTION 2 clarifies that the department may authorize commercial fishing studies in line with s. 23.09 (2) (h) and (k), Stats., in order to increase useful scientific knowledge, and that the department may authorize activities outside of the times, locations, and gear types established by department rule to be conducted as part of the study design. This makes administrative code consistent with existing department policies and authority. SECTION 3 states that written authorization from the department may be used in lieu of a scientific collector permit to tag fish for a fishing contest, consistent with current practices.
SECTION 4, 5 and 6 allow a DNR customer identification number to be used instead of a person's name and address for tagging crayfish traps and turtle traps.
SECTION 7 specifies that liquid scents are considered to be a type of artificial lure and lists certain Lake Michigan tributaries (Manitowish River and Sauk Creek and their tributaries upstream to the first dam or lake) that were not plainly listed in the original definition.
SECTION 8 places definitions in correct alphabetical order.
SECTION 9 defines lure and excludes aggregators of hooks, baits and lures as being considered a single lure themselves. Aggregators such as Alabama (umbrella) rigs do not inherently catch fish, but serve to group more than one hook, bait or lure to attract or catch fish. This definition will help clarify what is considered to be a lure for the public.
SECTIONS 10 and 11 specify that fish in a person's possession are included in the possession limit regardless of the person's proximity to the storage location, and pulls specific possession limits out of the definitions section and into a new section (in SECTION 20).
SECTION 12 amends the definition of Sheboygan Marsh to clarify that it encompasses the area of habitat created by water manipulation by the dam, which will also better protect fish populations in that area. This section also makes the definition of spearing consistent with current practices and statutory language, and including a more accurate list of the devices used for spearing fish.
SECTION 13 allows a DNR customer identification number to be used instead of a person's name and address for marking live boxes. This section also clarifies language on department authorization for tagging fish for a fishing contest. This authorization can be a permit condition for fishing tournaments that require a permit, but for tournaments that are exempt from a permit, written authorization would be required for fishing contest organizers to tag fish.
SECTION 14 clarifies the purpose of the cross-reference to s. 29.193 (1m), Stats., with regard to trolling rules to clarify that trolling permit holders and their assistants are exempt from fishing line restrictions when trolling with an electric motor. This section also adds unmanned aircraft systems to the prohibition on remote-controlled devices for fishing. SECTION 15 and 17 add crossbow to the list of spearing devices, which is consistent with statutory language but is not explicit under current administrative code language.
SECTION 16 adds a note pointing to additional property-specific rules in different chapters of administrative code that prohibit the possession and use of bows, crossbows and spears. On these properties, the weapons restrictions also serve to prohibit bowfishing and spearfishing.
SECTION 18 establishes that speared fish must be removed from the water and disposed of in accordance with statutory requirements.
SECTION 19 improves the sentence structure of the provision on spearing with a handheld spear to provide additional clarity.
SECTION 20 creates a table for possession limits and provides exceptions, which were removed from the definition of "possession limit" in SECTION 10 of this rule.
SECTIONS 21, 24, and 40 correct omissions of the statewide catch-and-release bass season dates on certain waters and a bag limit error. The bass catch-and-release season went into effect in 2020.
SECTION 22 reverts the size limit for bass on Cornell Lake in Chippewa County to no minimum length limit, which was implemented through the s. NR 20.35 regulation change process as an alternate size limit due to slow bass growth rates and high densities. Removal of the size limit will help reduce overabundant bass and improve size structure. SECTION 23 removes obsolete regulations relating to white and yellow bass in Columbia Lake, Columbia County. These species no longer occupy the lake, so special regulations are not needed.
SECTION 24 reverts the bass regulations on Lake Mendota to the statewide regulation (14-inch minimum length limit and daily bag limit of 5) since special regulations are no longer needed. This section also updates a point of reference for the Wisconsin River boundary since the railroad bridge was removed. This section also extends the Fox Lake regulations in Dodge County to the lake's tributaries and connected waters to ensure consistent management and reduce complexity in regulations. This section also adds missing text to the bass size limit column for certain lakes in Douglas County.
SECTION 25 reverts regulations for Lake Menomin and connected waters in Dunn County to the Ceded Territory walleye regulation of a 15-inch minimum length limit, walleye from 20-24 inches may not be kept, and only one walleye over 24 inches may be kept. These regulations were implemented through the s. NR 20.35 process. This makes regulations consistent with connected Tainter Lake to reduce angler confusion, improve law enforcement efforts, and provide additional protection to walleyes. SECTION 26 and 27 group Roberts Lake with other Forest County lakes that have the same regulation, which also corrects a season dates error.
SECTION 28 corrects a drafting error to restore overwritten regulations on a segment of Castle Rock Creek and Castle Rock Spring in Grant County, which have a catch-and-release season with only artificial lures allowed. This section also corrects the legal description for an adjacent segment of the creek.
SECTION 29 and 35 correct a drafting error in boundary descriptions to waters of the Rock and Bark rivers that have a continuous season, minimum length limit of 15 inches, and daily bag limit of 5. SECTION 29 also adds waters of Golden Lake in Jefferson County to the walleye regulation of a minimum length limit of 18 inches daily bag limit of 3 to make the regulation consistent with the majority of the lake, which lies in Waukesha County.
SECTION 30 Reverts K.C. Creek and the Pike River between County Highway K and the confluence of the north and south branches of the Pike River to the county base trout regulation of a daily bag limit of 3 and minimum length limit of 8 inches, which was implemented through the s. NR 20.35 regulation change process. SECTIONS 31 and 41 clarify the boundary between the Fox River and Little Lake Butte des Morts in Outagamie and Winnebago counties. The boundary between the two sections is Appleton Lock 1. The Little Lake Butte des Morts side includes some connected waters of the Fox River as well as tributaries, sloughs and flowages of Little Lake Butte des Morts. The Fox River side encompasses just the Fox River downstream to the De Pere lock. For most species, the regulations are the same on both sides of Appleton Lock 1, but these descriptions help reduce uncertainty on the full scope of the waters to which the regulations apply. This section also applies the same northern pike regulations to Little Lake Butte des Morts waters in Outagamie County as currently apply to Little Lake Butte des Morts waters in Winnebago County.
SECTION 32 establishes the October 15 end date for certain trout streams in Pierce County rather than the lake season end date which was applied erroneously, corrects drafting errors in Polk County bass and musky season dates and applies a legal description to Long Lake in Polk County to distinguish it from other lakes with the same name.
SECTION 33 reverts the Wilson Flowage in Price County to the statewide northern zone pike regulation of a daily bag limit of 5 and no size limit, which was implemented through the s. NR 20.35 process and encourages angler harvest of overabundant smaller pike. SECTION 34 reverts Smith Hollow Creek downstream of Robin Hollow Road in Richland County to the county base regulation of a daily bag limit of 3 and minimum length limit of 8 inches, which was implemented through the s. NR 20.35 process. SECTION 36 updates the point of reference for the Wisconsin River muskellunge boundary to the U.S. Highway 12 bridge, since the railroad bridge was removed.
SECTION 37 reverts Black Dan and Island lakes in Sawyer County to the Ceded Territory walleye regulation of a 15-inch minimum length limit, walleye from 20-24 inches may not be kept, and only one over 24 inches may be kept, and a daily bag limit of 3. This section also reverts the Middle Branch Embarrass River in Shawano County to the county base trout regulation of a daily bag limit of 3 and minimum length limit of 8 inches. The department utilized the s. NR 20.35 process to revert to the Ceded Territory walleye and county base trout regulation. This section also makes the Vilas County waters of Sherman Lake consistent with the regulations in the rest of the lake in Iron County. Finally, in combination with SECTION 39, this section applies the Ceded Territory regulation to the Manitowish Chain of Lakes in Vilas County, which was implemented through the s. NR 20.35 process. The size limit consists of a 15-inch minimum length limit, walleye from 20-24 inches may not be kept, and only one over 24 inches may be kept. The daily bag limit of 3 would apply chainwide. SECTION 38 makes regulations that have been applied to certain waters of the Bear River and Manitowish River in Iron County consistent in the same waters across the Vilas County border.
SECTION 40 removes Woodfield Park Pond South from the urban fishing pond program. The pond no longer exists because the dam was removed.
SECTION 42 restores the closed bass season from March to the end of June for the Washington Island complex. This long-standing closed season has been in place for decades to protect spawning bass, with the fishing season opening in July, and was inadvertently overwritten during implementation of the statewide catch-and-release bass season.
SECTIONS 43, 45, 46 and 47 align fishing tournament rules with contemporary practices in light of the implementation of the statewide catch-and-release bass season to maintain good fishing conditions during the first weekend in May. This section specifies that opening weekend is considered to be the first weekend in May rather than the first weekend of a calendar year that a person may fish for that species. The first weekend in May is opening weekend for most species and waters, and due to implementation of the statewide bass catch-and-release season, by the previous definition, any tournament could be held during the first weekend in May. This is inconsistent with previous policy and practices, in which most tournaments may not be held during the first weekend in May to reduce crowding at boat landings and on the water when non-tournament anglers are also trying to fish. There is an exception for traditional tournaments and a de facto exception for tournaments on waters with a continuous open harvest season (which has no opening weekend under the current definition). By updating the definition but establishing an exemption for tournaments on waters with continuous open harvest seasons, those tournaments may continue to be held on the first weekend in May as usual, while other tournaments that are not traditional fishing tournaments still may not hold a tournament that weekend. This section also clarifies language to make tournament provisions more understandable. This section also codifies the practice allowing tournament organizers to deliver trout and salmon taken by tournament participants to a non-profit food distribution service. Finally, this section adds an exemption and cross-reference to the prohibition on tournaments running for more than 10 consecutive hours or more than 4 consecutive days to correct an inconsistency, since some very loosely organized non-Great Lakes tournaments that are exempt from a permit under a different provision may run for more than 4 days.
SECTION 44 adds a note with a cross-reference to ch. NR 45 to the definition of “weigh-in” to signify that special event authorization from the department may be needed for weigh-ins on certain department-managed lands. SECTIONS 48 and 49 eliminate references to Mississippi Pools 10 to 12, which are covered under the Wisconsin-Iowa boundary waters.
SECTIONS 50 and 51 reduce ambiguity in language for Wisconsin-Minnesota panfish regulations to correctly group panfish species with an aggregate bag limit and to separate panfish species with an individual bag limit. This section also lists out all of the boundary waters other than the Mississippi River for which the panfish regulations apply to improve clarity.
SECTION 52 eliminates an unnecessary line of code. Pools 3 to 9 encompass all of the Mississippi River in the Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters, so this line is not needed.
SECTION 53 adds a cross-reference to the bullhead and catfish hand and bowfishing regulations in ch. NR 20. SECTION 54 adds the exemption allowing rough fish to be taken by hand during the closed season for trout to be consistent with statutory language.
SECTION 55 lists all the boundary waters for which regulations apply in place of the "all other waters" designation to improve clarity, and makes some water descriptions consistent with how they are listed in ch. NR 20. This section also corrects a typo in bass season dates on the Wisconsin-Michigan boundary waters, which allow catch-and-release at all times outside the harvest season.
