Fishing tournament permit application and registration process

You can now apply for your fishing tournaments and submit registrations electronically:

1. View a calendar with all scheduled Wisconsin tournaments and
2. Use the screening tool to determine if you need a permit application or a registration, and then complete and submit the appropriate form.

How do I apply for a permit or register a tournament?

Electronic and paper options are available for applying for a fishing tournament permit or submitting a small tournament registration. Online options are preferred - they can make the review and management or your applications and registrations simpler:

1. Submit an online application or registration
   • Create your user account at the Wisconsin Web Access Management System.
   • Next, log in to the Fisheries Management Information System. You can store your contact information, DNR customer ID number, and tournament permit and registration history and create new permit applications and registrations. 
   • For permit applications, you can now pay your fee electronically! Be sure to have your checking account and bank routing numbers on hand before you apply.
   • Follow the instructions provided in the online form or
2. Print a blank tournament application or a Fishing Tournament self-registration form and complete it by hand (see instructions below if you are having difficulty accessing the form.)
   • For fishing tournament permit applications: Fill out all fields, including either your DNR customer ID or your date of birth, before mailing (see the license requirements for an explanation of why a DNR customer ID is needed). Hard copies of tournament applications should be mailed along with the application fee (payable to "Wisconsin DNR") to Fishing Tournament Applications - FH/4, Wisconsin DNR, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921.
   • For tournament registrations: Fill out all required fields including organizer contact information and information about your event (number of participants and boats, target species, waterbodies, and the date or dates of your event or series of events). Mail the completed form to Fishing Tournament Applications - FH/4, Wisconsin DNR, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921 so that it arrives at least 72 hours prior to the start of the event.

What if I'm organizing a series of smaller tournaments (like a weekly bass league)?

In the tournament registration system and form, you can:

• submit a single registration for an entire series.
• list out the dates individually or describe their recurrence (e.g., weekly on Tuesdays from June 1 through August 31). Each individual event in the series should meet the criteria to not require a permit - they should have < 20 boats, <100 participants, and <$10,000 prize value, be regional/statewide in nature without specific waters to be fished or be seasonal or continuous for more than 4 days where participants can fish at any time.
• submit your registration for the current year and the next calendar year. If you repeat the same type of tournament in future years and have submitted electronically, you can use the ‘copy’ feature to create new registrations.

How do I pay my application fee?

Please remember to pay your tournament application fee when you complete the application process. Our fisheries biologists are unable to review your tournament application materials until your fee is paid in full.

After submitting your application online, you will be directed to a payment page. If you submitted a paper application without payment or if you need to pay your fee after you have submitted your online application, please login to your tournament applications portal here: https://apps.dnr.wi.gov/fisheriesmanagement/Tournaments/MyTournaments

Under the column header of ‘Permit Fee Received’, you will see a link next to all permit applications that have not been paid that indicates “No Pay Online”. Click on the blue link and follow the directions to submit payment. Repeat this process for all outstanding permit application fees.

If you have technical difficulties, please reach out to our staff to assist in completing your payment process (DNRFWPFHFishTournaments@wisconsin.gov).

If you cannot pay online, you can send a paper check to the address below. When using a paper check and standard mail, to ensure your payment is assessed to the correct tournament event, we ask that you please include a copy of your tournament permit application or note your tournament sequence number (found in your completed application documents, T123456) on the check along with a note with the organizer name, tournament name, and dates to ensure payment is applied to the tournament event.

FISHING TOURNAMENT APPLICATIONS - FH/4 
WISCONSIN DNR 
PO BOX 7921 
MADISON, WI 53707-7921

Missing a past fishing tournament results report?

You cannot submit a new tournament application until you have completed and returned the results report from your previously held tournament(s).

If you are trying to apply online but receive an error message informing you that you are missing a report, you need to print the report, complete it, and

• please mail it to the address listed above or
• send a scanned copy to FM Fish Tournaments or fax a copy with a cover sheet to 608-266-2244.

In the report, be sure to include the number of people and boats who participated, the total prize value awarded for fishing, tournament dates with fishing start and stop times, and a catching summary of fish registered, kept, and released by species.

Tournament types and application fee structure

When should I submit an application or a registration for a fishing tournament?

We must receive your completed application at least 30 days before the start date of your tournament. As of June 2014, the "open period" process has been changed to a simpler first-come-first-served process. Applicants may apply to start on Jan. 1 of the preceding year for traditional tournaments and April 1 of the prior year for non-traditional (everybody else) tournaments.

Tournament registrations must be received 72 hours prior to the start of the event.

Traditional tournaments

A traditional tournament is one that was issued permits 4 out of 5 years from 2004 to 2008 for the same water and time period. A traditional tournament shall continue to be conducted at least 4 out of 5 years for the same water or waters and time period to remain a traditional tournament.

What happens next?

• For fishing tournament permit applications
  • once the application is received, the fisheries biologist will review it.
  • if approved, the biologist will mail you a signed permit with conditions for the tournament and a blank results form.
  • the results form must be filled out and returned to the address above within 30 days after the tournament is held.

• For tournament registrations
  • as soon as your registration is submitted online or the mailed-in registration is received, your tournament is successfully registered. No further action is needed.

Contact information

If you have general questions about fishing tournaments, please send them to FM Fish Tournaments.