The new Mary Lake panfish regulation is in effect as of April 1, 2026.  The new panfish regulations were posted at the boat landing April 14th. 

Mary Lake Special Panfish Regulations

Panfish species include bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, white and black crappie, warmouth, green sunfish, orangespotted sunfish

Daily Bag Limit:

A total of 10 panfish but no more than 5 Bluegill per day

Effective April 1, 2026

The panfish regulation proposal/change process was completed last year (2025) and our new regulations usually go into effect on April 1 of the following year (2026).  This panfish regulation will stay in effect as long as it is working as intended, and as long as people continue to want it and see the benefits of it.  It will not sunset, and the only way to change it will be to go through the formal rule making process like we just went through in 2024-2025 to get it on the books.

Dave Seibel

Senior Fisheries Biologist – Fisheries Management Bureau/Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Division
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources