Fishing seasons

For a complete list of fishing seasons please check the fishing regulations.

Openers

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04/18/20	Trout opener	Statewide inland waters
05/09/20	Walleye, sauger and northern pike opener	Statewide inland waters
06/06/20	Muskellunge opener	Statewide inland waters

Inland (Minnesota) waters

General

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05/11/19 - 02/23/20	Walleye, sauger and northern pike	Statewide inland waters
05/25/19 - 02/23/20	Largemouth bass	Statewide excluding northeastern Minnesota
09/09/19 - 02/23/20	Smallmouth bass catch-and-release	Statewide excluding northeastern Minnesota
01/18/20 - 03/31/20	Lake trout - winter	Statewide inland waters
03/01/20 - 04/14/20	Sturgeon - lake and shovelnose	Statewide inland waters
04/01/20 - 11/30/20	Flathead catfish	Statewide inland waters
05/09/20 - 09/30/20	Lake trout - summer	Statewide inland waters
05/09/20 - 05/22/20	Smallmouth and largemouth bass catch-and-release	Statewide excluding northeastern Minnesota
06/06/20 - 11/30/20	Muskellunge	Statewide inland waters
06/16/20 - 04/14/21	Lake sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon	Statewide inland waters

Northeast

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05/11/19 - 02/23/20

Smallmouth and largemouth bass - northeastern Minnesota

Northeastern Minnesota

Boundary Waters Canoe Area

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01/01/20 - 03/31/20	Lake trout - winter within BWCA	BWCA lakes entirely within Minnnesota
01/01/21 - 03/31/21	Stream trout in lakes	Waters entirely within the BWCA

Lake Superior

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12/01/19 - 10/03/21

Lake Superior and tributaries

Stream trout

General

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01/18/20 - 03/31/20	Stream trout in lakes	Outside or partly outside the BWCA
04/18/20 - 09/30/20	Stream trout	Excludes southeastern Minnesota
05/09/20 - 10/31/20	Stream trout in lakes	Statewide

Southeast

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09/15/19 - 04/16/20	Stream trout catch-and-release - portions of southeastern Minnesota	Specific locations only
01/01/20 - 04/17/20	Stream trout catch-and-release - portions of southeastern Minnesota	Specific locations only
04/18/20 - 09/15/20	Stream trout - portions of southeastern Minnesota	Specific locations only
04/18/20 - 09/14/20	Stream trout - southeastern Minnesota
09/15/20 - 10/15/20	Stream trout catch-and-release - portions of southeastern Minnesota	Specific counties in southeastern Minnesota
09/16/20 - 04/16/21	Stream trout catch-and-release - portions of southeastern Minnesota	Specific locations in southeastern Minnesota

Free fishing

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05/09/20 - 05/10/20	Take a Mom Fishing Weekend	Statewide
06/05/20 - 06/07/20	Take a Kid Fishing Weekend	Statewide

Border waters

Canada

General

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05/11/19 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger	Minnesota waters that border Canada
04/24/20 - 04/23/21	Lake sturgeon (seasons compiled) - Canada border waters	Minnesota waters that border Canada
05/04/20 - 09/30/20	Stream trout - Canada border waters	Minnesota waters that border Canada
05/09/20 - 04/14/21	Walleye and sauger - Canada border waters	Minnesota waters that border Canada
06/20/20 - 11/30/20	Muskellunge - Canada border waters	Minnesota waters that border Canada

Lake of the Woods

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03/01/20 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger - Lake of the Woods	Minnesota waters that border Canada
03/01/20 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger catch-and-release - Four Mile Bay	Lake of the Woods
05/09/20 - 02/28/21	Walleye and sauger - Four Mile Bay	Lake of the Woods
05/09/20 - 04/14/21	Walleye and sauger - Lake of the Woods

Namakan, Sand Point, Little Vermillion lakes

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05/11/19 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger - Namakan, Sand Point and Little Vermilion	Minnesota waters that border Canada
05/09/20 - 04/14/21	Walleye and sauger - Namakan, Sand Point and Little Vermilion	Minnesota waters that border Canada

Rainy Lake

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05/11/19 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger - Rainy Lake	Minnesota waters that border Canada
05/09/20 - 04/14/21	Walleye and sauger - Rainy Lake	Minnesota waters that border Canada

Rainy River

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03/01/20 - 04/14/20	Walleye and sauger - Rainy River	Minnesota waters that border Canada
05/09/20 - 02/28/21	Walleye and sauger - Rainy River	Minnesota waters that border Canada

Saganaga Lake

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05/09/20 - 04/14/21

Walleye and sauger - Saganaga Lake

Minnesota waters that border Canada

North Dakota

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03/01/20 - 04/14/21	Lake sturgeon catch-and-release only - North Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border North Dakota
04/15/20 - 06/15/20	Lake sturgeon closed - North Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border North Dakota
06/16/20 - 04/14/21	Lake sturgeon catch-and-release only - North Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border North Dakota

South Dakota

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03/01/20 - 04/14/20	Lake sturgeon catch-and-release only - South Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border South Dakota
04/15/20 - 06/15/20	Lake sturgeon closed - South Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border South Dakota
06/16/20 - 04/14/21	Lake sturgeon catch-and-release only - South Dakota border waters	Minnesota waters that border South Dakota

Wisconsin

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05/25/19 - 03/01/21	Largemouth and smallmouth bass (seasons compiled) - Wisconsin-Minnesota border waters	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin
03/01/20 - 03/01/21	Sturgeon - Wisconsin border waters (seasons compiled)	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin
04/01/20 - 11/30/20	Flathead catfish - Wisconsin border waters	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin
05/02/20 - 03/01/21	Walleye and sauger - St. Croix River	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin
05/09/20 - 03/01/21	Walleye and sauger - St. Louis River	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin
05/23/20 - 11/30/20	Muskellunge - Wisconsin border waters	Minnesota waters that border Wisconsin