Minnesota DNR Wants Your Input
If you fish Minnesota's border waters — or just want to see where state fisheries rules are headed — the Minnesota DNR opened a preliminary public-input window on Oct. 12, 2026 for a batch of fishing-rule proposals. Comments are due by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. This is an early input stage, not a final rule.
What's on the table
According to the DNR's Oct. 12 news release, the proposals include:
St. Croix River: align Minnesota and Wisconsin bass catch-and-release seasons and adjust angling limits for several species. St. Louis River: add Perch Lake to the boundary-waters regulations, create a bass catch-and-release season, and revise walleye size limits. Waters opened/closed to fishing: open several streams in Otter Tail County; close waters including Musky Bay on the Mississippi River; close certain stream waters near electric carp barriers; open waters below Lock and Dam 3 and 4; and let the DNR close the Grand Marais harbor to fishing in the fall when brook trout gather there. Other items: allow more commercial minnow harvest on certain south-central Minnesota lakes currently closed to it; remove special regulations on Crawford Lake (Wright County); clarify boundary-water descriptions for tributary mouths on the Minnesota–North Dakota border; correct species names in commercial fishing rules for Minnesota–South Dakota boundary waters; and change walleye length rules on Saganaga Lake to match the statewide walleye rules.
DNR fisheries rules coordinator John Dunn said the changes are meant to "bring clarity to complex rules and strengthen fish conservation efforts."
The St. Croix details
Local outlet St. Croix 360, reporting on the DNR release, lists the specific St. Croix proposals. Treat the numbers below as proposals only, and confirm them against the DNR's rule text before acting:
Bass: the catch-and-release season now runs from the second Monday in September through March 1. The proposal would extend it to end the Friday before Memorial Day, effectively making bass fishing year-round (catch-and-release in the off-season). No other bass rules would change. Above Taylors Falls: eliminate the current daily/possession limits on northern pike (5), crappie (25), sunfish (25), yellow perch (25), white and yellow bass (25), walleye and sauger (6), and catfish (10 combined). Boundary-waters section (below the Taylors Falls dam): northern pike 3 (only 1 over 30 inches); crappie 15; sunfish 15; yellow perch 15; white/yellow bass 10; walleye/sauger 4; channel catfish 5 (only one over 24 inches); flathead catfish 2 (no more than one over 24 inches). Stated rationale: anglers' improved ability to target panfish, white bass and walleye, changing habitat conditions, greater use of technology to locate fish, and consistency with Wisconsin and other boundary-water sections.
The National Park Service notes that on the St. Croix border waters you must follow the regulations of the state where you are fishing, and that either a Minnesota or Wisconsin license covers the shared water for non-residents — so rule changes on the Minnesota side matter to Wisconsin anglers too.
How to weigh in Complete the DNR's online questionnaire (Engage with DNR). Call 888-646-6367 (MINNDNR) or 651-296-6157. Email the contact listed in the release. Full rule text is on the DNR fisheries rulemaking page.
The questionnaire itself lists topics but not the proposed values, so read the rule text first.
Separate but related: the walleye limit proposal
Don't confuse this with the DNR's earlier proposal to cut the walleye/sauger daily and possession limit from six combined to four, with only one walleye over 20 inches in possession. Per the DNR rulemaking page, that comment period closed March 5, 2026; more than 50 valid hearing requests were received, so it is headed to a hearing before an administrative law judge, with no hearing date set yet. It is not part of this Nov. 19 comment window.
Takeaway
Preliminary input is when agencies are most open to changes. If you fish the St. Croix, St. Louis River or Minnesota's border waters, read the rule text and comment before Nov. 19.
Sources Minnesota DNR: seeks public input on several fisheries rule proposals (Oct. 12, 2026) Minnesota DNR fisheries rulemaking page St. Croix 360: Minnesota DNR seeks public input on several fisheries rule proposals Minnesota DNR Engage questionnaire National Park Service: Fishing the St. Croix Image: Pexels, "Person Holding Fishing Rod in Front of a River"