Early opener not expected to affect fishery

Anglers will soon have another month to harvest brook, brown and rainbow trout in streams, ponds and springs.

Beginning this year, the harvest season will change from the first Saturday in May, Wisconsin’s general inland season opener, to the first Saturday in April.

The change is one of several fisheries-related questions approved at last year’s state Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings held in all 72 counties.

“The change is basically moving the harvest season opener for trout by one month,” said Bradd Sims, DNR fisheries biologist. “This year it’ll begin the first Saturday of April. The close is still the same, Oct. 15. It’s going to be for inland streams, springs and spring ponds.”

Area trout streams affected by the early opener include stretches of the Oconto, Pensaukee, Little Suamico, Little, and Thunder rivers and their branches in Oconto County; and the Embarrass, Red, Shioc, and Pigeon rivers and their branches in Shawano County.

“We have an inland statewide trout team which consists of DNR staff and external members, representatives from the angling community and Wisconsin Conservation Congress and tribal representation,” he said. “We have what we call the statewide Inland Trout Management Plan, which is from 2019 to 2029, and one of the objectives of that plan is to increase angling opportunities for anglers. Part of that would be extending seasons. We extended the September closure to Oct. 15 and now the opener.”

An earlier opener has been talked about for years, according to Sims.

“It’s something that’s been there for a few years,” he said. “It did come up as a question back in 2017 or 2016 when we were doing regulation reviews. There were a lot of anglers who supported earlier opportunities if possible. Wisconsin’s always been a state that’s really strong in our outdoor traditions. Part of that outdoor tradition was having a harvest opener for fish the first Saturday of May. It’s not so much of a biological reason than a social reason.”

Weather could play a role if anglers are willing to try their luck in early April.

“It depends on the system,” Sims said. “Your good coldwater spring-fed system, there’s not going to be a change at all. The fish are going to be in the same habitats with the same activities in April. In some of your larger warmwater systems, some of your larger rivers where they do have some seasonal migrations, the fish may be down a little in their wintering habitats before they start moving up to their summer habitats.

Sims said it’s too soon to tell how most anglers will respond to an earlier opener that this year falls on April 4.

Sims doesn’t believe an extra month to harvest trout will have a major effect on the fishery.

“It will not,” he said. “One thing the trout team really took a look at is would there be a negative impact on the trout fisheries. Iowa doesn’t have the amount of trout resources that we have and they’re open year-round with harvest. They’re not seeing any negative impacts to their fishery. Minnesota and Michigan haven’t seen any negative impacts.

“One of the reasons that we were looking at this early opener is when we look at our creel surveys, we’re seeing more anglers becoming strictly catch-and-release anglers,” he said. “When you look at some of the creels that were taking place from the ’70s to the early 2000s, harvest rates decreased anywhere from 50-75%. I think it’s just that general attitude of anglers. The way we fish now is different than we used to.”

Sims said some northern Wisconsin fisheries biologists were concerned about an earlier opener because trout in small ponds can be susceptible to ice fishing.

“If that does become an issue, we can basically have that first Saturday open to open water only,” he said. “That’s the only concern that was brought up and it’s a pretty small one.”

The DNR is in the process of updating its website, apps, printed publications and signage informing anglers of the rule change.

“There are some things posted online for anglers to look at,” Sims said. “We do have an online mapping tool that they can use to look at regulations. That’s slowly getting updated. The wheels are in motion. When you look at a statewide change, there’s the communication with the public, the printing, the applications, anywhere you have those regulations posted.”