fishing on canadian side of namaken crossing back and forth

[bugsbunny]

I get to Kabetogama since 1987 once or twice a year..We never have fished on the canadian side of Namakan ....With changing laws. And so I wont spin my wheels here...in 2008, what to you need to fish on the canadian side of namaken.We usually stay at wooden frog camp ground so will or would cross over every day while our stays last..

[MissouriJeff]

I think they have dropped the blood test, fingerprinting, and DNA scan. As of right now a passport with another legal form of ID is going to be required to cross, BUT lobbiest are trying to get that dropped too. Think of the the drop in border crossing by tourist that requirement will cause. I for one have not seen too many boat driving, Walleye fishing Al Quida spys have you?

[mark23]

I don't fish the canadian side because, because it's really not necessary with all the water on the u.s. side, but start with getting a canadian license, then look into there laws of taking live bait across the border, and then look into there possession limits in camparison to bringing the fish back into the u.s. side. And lastly no alchohol is aloud in year boat on the canadian side. Hopefully someone more informed than me will verify some of this.

[Johnny_Namakan]

It's actually not very difficult if crossing via border waters. If you're driving across via Fort Francis then it's a whole different story. As far as crossing via border waters, e.g. Namakan, Sandpoint, Rainy, all you need is your driver's license or some other form of I.D. Last year four of us went into Little Eva for the day and all the customs official asked was who's boat we were in. My brother said it was his and they wrote his numbers down and verified his drivers license and that was it. In fact you can buy a remote border crossing pass for a small fee which says you don't even have to check in at all and it is vaild for two years. Exception is if you plan on camping or even setting foot on Canadian land, then they do want you to check in. As far as booze, each person is allowed either one case of beer or one liter of booze. You can bring more but you have to pay duties for everything over. Bait is the big one. NO U.S. bait is allowed and you must have a receipt for the Candian bait on you at all times. If you buy bait in Canada, U.S. law says you are not allowed to bring it back into the U.S. Even if you bought Canadain bait and then just went back to your cabin, or camp, etc. it now became U.S. bait and can no longer be brought back into Canada. Plus by bringing Candaian bait back into U.S. you just broke a U.S. law that says NO Canadian bait. If you bring a dog into Canada you must present papers proving your dog had it's rabies shots. The only issue I have is that you can only bring home 2 fish, one being over 18.1". If you buy the more expensive sportmans license you are able to bring home 4 fish, but you must be staying over night in Canada. Long-story short it is actually very easy and hassel free to get into Canada with the exception of the Bait laws. Just bring your license and be very nice and they won't hassel you. If you start to argue with them or hide something and they catch you they will go through everything and make it a real bummer of an experience. Plus even if you pass the inspection 9 out of 10 times they won't let you in period. I know one group that didn't get let in just because one guy thought he knew everything and started to argue with the rangers.....big No No.

[MissouriJeff]

Johnny I agree with everything you said esp the don't argue with the rangers. We try to be as nice as possiable with them when we cross. This last June we were on father son trip, no booze, no beer, all our paper work, no problem... Wrong had a real pain of a crossing gaurd that seem to enjoy harassing us each time we crossed. Oh well everyone is born with an exit hole, its just the placement that makes the difference.

But notice that his question is about the summer of 2008 and in January new regulations require a passport for water crossings into Canada from the US and vice versa.

[Dusty]

Johnny N.

I believe you can bring in Night Crawlers packed in damp newspaper, at least thats what the people that I know do.

While fishing no alcohol is allowed in your boat.

[Johnny_Namakan]

Dusty-

Good point, you are 100% correct on that. I forgot about the crawlers. I also forgot about the law changes in '08. I thought that you just needed a passport to re-enter the U.S. and not one to enter Canada. Which I guess is pointless, unless you plan on staying I think I've been in Canada since the early 90's as far as the US is concerned. Back in the day when I was a youngster I don't think we ever checked back in to the U.S. We checked in to Canada and then when we got back we jsut went home. That was kind of the norm. I better let the US know that I'm back