Every year as the mercury drops through the floor, in Ontario, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, fishing huts pop up all over frozen lakes. For many die-hard ice anglers, these makeshift villages become home away from home during the long cold winter.
If you’re new to the sport of ice fishing, knowing how many lines, rods, or hooks states allow will make for a better day’s fishing if the warden shows up. Each state or province has its interpretation of what a fishing line is. Read on to learn what they are in Ontario, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
What’s a fishing line in Ontario, Wisconsin, or Minnesota? It seems like a simple question, but it’s not. Each state defines fishing lines differently and allows various numbers of hooks. Some allow two lines & four hooks, and others would call that four lines. Learn which and to keep the warden happy.
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How Many Ice Fishing Lines Can You Use in Ontario, Canada?
The director of Ontario, Canada’s Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry must be an ice angler, because he/she allows two lines for ice fishing, whereas open water anglers only get one line.
The regulation includes any type of rod & reel setup and tip-ups, which comprise a line with a hook and suspended in the water. A small flag tips or pops up signaling when a fish takes your bait.
Tip-ups give you the advantage of being able to watch more holes at a time. The regulation also requires maintaining a clear line of sight to your tip-up at all times and you shouldn’t be over 128 feet from the device.
Exceptions and Special Regulations
Canadians enjoy an extensive National Park system. You’ll find a directory at Parks Canada Agency Government of Canada. Each park system may have special regulations or exceptions specific to the park.
If fishing in a national park, you will need to buy a federal license for each day of fishing. Typically, national regulations superseded provincial regulations, so it’s wise to check if local regulations still allow two lines for ice fishing. You can also check out the regulations of a lake at Fish-On-line from your own home.
Parks that Allow Ice Fishing.
| National Park Name | Location & Information |
| Windy Lake Provincial Park | Known for lake trout and whitefish. Located near Sudbury. |
| Silent Lake Provincial Park | Between Ottawa and Toronto. Known for lake trout. |
| Sibbald Point Provincial Park | Nice jumbo perch and whitefish. Only an hour from Toronto. |
| Quetico Provincial Park | You can only use barbless hooks and artificial baits to tempt the lake trout. |
| Frontenac Provincial Park | Lakes stocked with brook trout. 45 minutes from Kingston. |
What’s considered a fishing line in Ontario?
In Ontario, the most basic definition of angling is a line held in hand with a hook attached. Holding a line in hand while using a rod and tip-up would put you over the top if a game warden was checking for compliance.
How many hooks can you have on a fishing line in Ontario?
In Ontario, a single fishing line can have up to four hooks on both of the two lines you’re allowed when ice fishing. When using a lure with multiple hooks, each hook counts towards the 4 hook total. Treble hooks or gang hooks count as only one hook
How Many Ice Fishing Lines Can You Use in Wisconsin, US?
Wisconsin fishing regulations are written upside down because they begin with the number of hooks you have in the water.
What’s considered a fishing line in Wisconsin and how Many Hooks are allowed?
Don’t think in terms of poles or rods, it’s the number of hooks available for a fish to bite. Each hook equals one line and you’re allowed a total of three hooks in the water.
The count can include tip-ups, hooks with live baits, lures (A lure with multiple treble hooks only counts as one hook). Up to three hooks on one line, or artificial baits all count as one line. Every additional hook on a line eliminates one of the three lines allotted.
Remember, you can use two hooks on one line and one on a second and it equals three lines. In this way, one poll with three hooks equals three lines. If you want to use three lines, they can only have one hook each.
You can have other unused rods with you. Fish smart and take one line out of the water before changing poles and dropping a new line in the water. Only the lines in the water matter to a warden. Click the highlighted link to download a pdf copy of Wisconsin fishing regulations.
How many Fishing Lines Can you use in Minnesota, US?
Minnesota ice fishers find favor and are allowed two lines, whereas open water anglers only get one.
| Minnesota Fishing Regulation | Definition |
| General ice fishing | Two lines allowed while ice fishing may be tip-ups or rod and reel. |
| Boundary Waters | The two-line rule applies to ice fishers. |
| Number of hooks per/line | A total of three hooks on one line are allowed. The distance from the first to the last hook cannot exceed 9-inches. |
| Trout specified lakes and streams. | Only one line is allowed for ice fishing. Non-specified lakes, two lines can be used/. |
| Artificial lures or baits. | An artificial lure can have one single or multiple hooks added no more than three inches from the lure, trout streams excluded. |
| Lake Superior | When ice fishing on Lake Superior two lines, only one 100 feet or less from inland streams. |
Wrapping it up
Ice fishing is a favorite wintertime sport in Ontario, Canada. South of Canada’s border, in Wisconsin and Minnesota, it’s just about a way of life. It may be the same sport in each of these regions, but Ontario and Minnesota each allow two lines or implements to be used. While Wisconsin technically allows three lines.
Differences emerge when you look at what defines a line and how many hooks a line may have. Ontario defines a line as any line held in hand or on a tip-up with a hook. Up to four hooks on each of the two allotted lines.
Wisconsin is upside down because it defines a line as a hook available to catch a fish, not a rod in hand. You can have 3 hooks on one line and meet your quota. Or you can have two rods and one tip-up, each with one hook, and meet your quota. It’s all about hooks in the water.
Minnesota allows two lines. They can be rods or tip-ups, each with up to three hooks. Waters specified as trout fisheries only allow one line even for ice fishing. If ice fishing on Lake Superior limits you to only one line within 100 feet of a stream entering the lake.
These are good starting guidelines. Having personally paid out over a hundred bucks to cover a fishing citation, I can tell you it’s always a good idea to verify local regulations before dropping a line in the water