BALSAM LAKE, Wis. — The fishing opener, paired with a fantastic forecast, meant this weekend was probably going to be busy on Wisconsin lakes and rivers, no matter what. But this year there's extra reason to enjoy being out on the water.
"People just want to get out, with everything that's going on," said John Amrhien, who was fishing on Balsam Lake Saturday.
Because of the pandemic, anyone out on the water is being asked to practice social distancing. You can be on a boat with members of your own household, but anyone else needs to be at least six feet away.
Conservation warden Jesse Ashton, in the Balsam Lake area, said compliance Saturday wasn't an issue.
"There's one or two people, maybe three people in a boat, assuming a lot are family members," he said. "I'm not even getting complaints on it. So, I would say, the biggest thing we're dealing with, and that I'm looking for today, I'm ensuring that people have the correct number of life jackets in the boat and they they're accessible."
Ashton said he was also checking licenses, bag limits, and educating people about the cold water temperature, which he said was only around 50 degrees.
"It can be really dangerous, if you enter the water," he said.
For the most part, Ashton said conservation officers were focused on their usual enforcement. The Wisconsin DNR said they weren't planning on ticketing anyone who violates social distancing rules, but they would talk with them about it as they're out patrolling.
Wisconsin is not restricting travelers from out of state from buying a Wisconsin fishing license, but they are asking people to fish as close to home as possible.
The Minnesota fishing opener is May 9. The Minnesota DNR says they also want people to fish as close to home as possible. They say there are no restrictions on people from out of state buying a Minnesota license, but they don't want anyone traveling a long distance to fish.
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The state of Minnesota has set up a hotline for general questions about coronavirus at 651-201-3920 or 1-800-657-3903, available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There is also a data portal online at mn.gov/covid19.