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Fishing Information and Regulations for the BWCA
License Requirements
- If you’re fishing in the BWCA, you will need a fishing license. There are a tiny number of exceptions and they are listed below. You must carry your license with you into the BWCA and have it with you the entire time you are fishing. (Duplicate licenses cost $2.50)
- You will need to provide a Social Security number for each individual buying a license. This includes minors. Please have these numbers ready before you arrive at Seagull.
- Your SSN does NOT become part of public record.
Residents
- To qualify as a resident, a person must maintain a legal residence in Minnesota for at least 60 consecutive days before purchasing a license.
- Residents 21 or older must provide a valid Minnesota Driver’s license or ID card unless exempt under the Religious Freedom act.
- A nonresident under age 21 whose parent is a Minnesota resident.
- All residents age 15 and younger are allowed to take their own limit of fish without purchasing a license.
There are two groups of people who are exempt from carrying a license; the following are the ONLY two exceptions:
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Residents in the U.S. Military who are stationed outside of Minnesota are exempt from carrying a license, but must carry leave or furlough papers.
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Patients of a U.S. Veterans Administration hospital, residents of a Minnesota licensed nursing or boarding care home or board and lodging facility are exempt from carrying a license
Non Residents
- All nonresidents 16 and older are required to have an appropriate fishing license while angling. Nonresidents under age 16 don’t need a license if the parent or guardian is licensed.
- Children 16 and under of an adult who has a Minnesota nonresident family license ($46) may possess their own limit of fish.
- If the adult has an individual license ($24), the child’s fish are included in the adult’s limit.
- Nonresidents under age 16 may purchase a license and possess their own limit of fish.
Non Resident Students and Military
- A person in the U.S. Armed Forces who is stationed or training in Minnesota may purchase a resident fishing license.
- Students spending the full-term school year may purchase a resident license with proof of student status.
Purchasing Licenses
- Visitors may also purchase their fishing licenses upon arrival at Seagull.
- If you are arriving late and have an early tow scheduled, please consider ordering your license on-line or purchasing it on the way up in Grand Marais. There’s nothing worse that standing in line when you really want to be fishing!
- The most common licenses purchased by residents is the Individual Angling ($17)
- The most common license purchased by nonresidents is the Individual 7-Day Angling ($24)
- For married nonresidents who love to fish, the 14-Day Husband & Wife Angling ($35) is a great value
Transporting Fish
- A fish may not be reduced to more than two fillets.
- The easiest way to transport fish is in clear, resealable plastic bags. Have a one square inch patch of skin with scales visible for easy species identification.
Seasons and Limits
Inland Waters (includes Seagull Lake)
Species Name |
Season |
Possession Limit (Size) |
Walleye & Sauger |
May 12, 2007-February 24, 2008 |
6 (Not more than one (1) walleye over 20” may be taken each day) |
Northern Pike |
May 12, 2007-February 24, 2008 |
3 (Not more than one (1) over 30” may be taken each day) |
Muskellunge including Hybrid Muskellunge |
June 2, 2007- February 24, 2008 |
One (1) (Minimum size limit for both species: 40”) |
Large & Smallmouth Bass |
May 12, 2007- February 24, 2008 |
Six (6) Catch and release only for smallmouth bass from September 10 through the end of the season |
Crappie |
Continuous |
Ten (10) |
Sunfish (either or combined) (bluegill, pumpkinseed, green, orange spotted, longear, warmouth and their hybrids) |
Continuous |
Twenty (20) |
Rock Bass |
Continuous |
Thirty (30) |
White Bass |
Continuous |
Thirty (30) |
Lake Trout |
May 12, 2007- September 30, 2007 |
Two (2) |
Stream Trout
Species Name |
Season |
Possession Limit |
Stream Trout (splake, brook, brown and rainbow) |
April 14, 2007- September 30, 2007 |
Five (5) combined (Not more than one (1) over 16”) |
Special Stream Trout Regulations:
- Possessing live minnows or using them for bait on designated stream trout lakes is prohibited.
- Only dried, frozen, or pickled (brined) minnows are allowed.
- Live leeches are legal to use.
- All stream trout must have head, tail, fins and skin intact when being transported.
Border Waters (includes Devil’s Elbow Lake, Gneiss Lake, Granite Lake and River, Gunflint Lake, Little Gunflint Lake, Magnetic Lake, Maraboeuf Lake and Saganaga Lake)
Species Name |
Season |
Possession Limit |
Walleye & Sauger |
May 12, 2007-April 14, 2008 |
Six (6) No size restrictions
**On Saganaga Lake only one (1) of these may be over 19 ½”** |
Northern Pike |
Continuous |
Six (6) |
Muskellunge including Hybrid Muskellunge |
June 16, 2007-November 30, 2007 |
One (1) (Minimum size 40”) |
Large & Smallmouth Bass
(either or combined) |
Continuous |
Six (6) |
Crappie |
Continuous |
Ten (10) |
Lake Trout |
May 12, 2007-September 30, 2007 |
Two (2) |
Special Closures
- Saganaga Narrows: closed to fishing April 1- May 25, 2007
- Seagull River: closed to fishing April 1- May 25, 2007
- Gull Lake: closed to fishing April 1- May 25, 2007
- Cross River from Cook County Road 12 to Gunflint Lake: closed to fishing April 1- May 25, 2007
- Saganaga Falls ( Granite River mouth): closed to fishing April 1- May 31, 2007
- Channel between Little Gunflint and Little North Lakes: closed to fishing April 1- May 31, 2007
All of the information above was compiled from Minnesota’s DNR fishing regulations booklet and their website.
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Fishing in Minnesota
