Fishing License by State

Every state licenses fishing, almost all sell online in minutes, residents pay less than visitors, and the money funds the hatcheries, ramps and biologists behind every good day you have ever had on the water. What varies wildly is the price and the structure: $5.00 for a resident in Hawaii, $174.14 for a visitor to California, with some states folding every species into one licence and others selling a stamp for each.

Compare the states

Annual adult licence, no concessions, including any compulsory stamp or pass. Where a state sells fresh and salt separately, the freshwater fee is shown and both are broken out on the state page.

Sorted alphabetically rather than by price, because the cheapest licence is rarely the relevant one: what matters is the state you are standing in. Each state page carries the date we last read its fees off the agency, and we revalidate at least once a year.

Why some figures look high: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming do not sell the licence on its own. Colorado adds $12.76 of compulsory stamps to a $44.87 licence, and the others work the same way. The figures above are what you actually pay.

Pick your state

• Alabama — $17.00 resident, $66.25 visitor, from ADCNR. 18 Alabama waters tracked daily.
• Arizona — $37.00 resident, $55.00 visitor, from AZGFD. 20 Arizona waters tracked daily.
• Arkansas — $10.50 resident, $60.00 visitor, from AGFC. 18 Arkansas waters tracked daily.
• California — $64.54 resident, $174.14 visitor, from CDFW. 58 California waters tracked daily.
• Colorado — $57.63 resident, $136.77 visitor, from CPW. 37 Colorado waters tracked daily.
• Connecticut — $28.00 resident, $55.00 visitor, from CT DEEP. 14 Connecticut waters tracked daily.
• Delaware — $8.50 resident, $20.00 visitor, from DNREC. 13 Delaware waters tracked daily.
• Florida — $17.00 resident, $47.00 visitor, from FWC. 33 Florida waters tracked daily.
• Georgia — $15.00 resident, $50.00 visitor, from GA DNR. 22 Georgia waters tracked daily.
• Hawaii — $5.00 resident, $25.00 visitor, from DAR. 13 Hawaii waters tracked daily.
• Idaho — $35.50 resident, $118.00 visitor, from IDFG. 26 Idaho waters tracked daily.
• Illinois — $15.00 resident, $31.50 visitor, from IDNR. 13 Illinois waters tracked daily.
• Indiana — $23.00 resident, $60.00 visitor, from DNR. 15 Indiana waters tracked daily.
• Iowa — $22.00 resident, $48.00 visitor, from Iowa DNR. 14 Iowa waters tracked daily.
• Kansas — $27.50 resident, $77.50 visitor, from KDWP. 15 Kansas waters tracked daily.
• Kentucky — $23.00 resident, $55.00 visitor, from KDFWR. 14 Kentucky waters tracked daily.
• Louisiana — $17.00 resident, $68.00 visitor, from LDWF. 13 Louisiana waters tracked daily.
• Maine — $25.00 resident, $64.00 visitor, from MDIFW. 15 Maine waters tracked daily.
• Maryland — $32.00 resident, $55.00 visitor, from MD DNR. 13 Maryland waters tracked daily.
• Michigan — $26.00 resident, $76.00 visitor, from DNR. 27 Michigan waters tracked daily.
• Minnesota — $25.00 resident, $46.00 visitor, from DNR. 21 Minnesota waters tracked daily.
• Missouri — $14.00 resident, $57.00 visitor, from MDC. 14 Missouri waters tracked daily.
• Montana — $31.00 resident, $117.50 visitor, from FWP. 26 Montana waters tracked daily.
• Nebraska — $38.00 resident, $84.00 visitor, from NGPC. 13 Nebraska waters tracked daily.
• Nevada — $40.00 resident, $80.00 visitor, from NDOW. 14 Nevada waters tracked daily.
• New Hampshire — $45.00 resident, $63.00 visitor, from NHFG. 15 New Hampshire waters tracked daily.
• New Mexico — $49.00 resident, $104.00 visitor, from NMDOW. 13 New Mexico waters tracked daily.
• New York — $25.00 resident, $50.00 visitor, from DEC. 30 New York waters tracked daily.
• North Carolina — $32.00 resident, $56.00 visitor, from NCWRC. 21 North Carolina waters tracked daily.
• North Dakota — $29.00 resident, $73.00 visitor, from NDGF. 14 North Dakota waters tracked daily.
• Ohio — $25.00 resident, $76.96 visitor, from ODNR. 19 Ohio waters tracked daily.
• Oklahoma — $31.00 resident, $81.00 visitor, from ODWC. 20 Oklahoma waters tracked daily.
• Oregon — $50.00 resident, $138.00 visitor, from ODFW. 23 Oregon waters tracked daily.
• Pennsylvania — $27.97 resident, $60.97 visitor, from PFBC. 22 Pennsylvania waters tracked daily.
• Rhode Island — $24.00 resident, $41.00 visitor, from RI DEM. 14 Rhode Island waters tracked daily.
• South Carolina — $10.00 resident, $35.00 visitor, from SCDNR. 13 South Carolina waters tracked daily.
• South Dakota — $41.00 resident, $105.00 visitor, from SD GFP. 13 South Dakota waters tracked daily.
• Tennessee — $33.00 resident, $49.00 visitor, from TWRA. 21 Tennessee waters tracked daily.
• Texas — $30.00 resident, $58.00 visitor, from TPWD. 76 Texas waters tracked daily.
• Utah — $40.00 resident, $120.00 visitor, from UDWR. 20 Utah waters tracked daily.
• Vermont — $28.00 resident, $54.00 visitor, from VTFW. 13 Vermont waters tracked daily.
• Virginia — $23.00 resident, $47.00 visitor, from DWR. 15 Virginia waters tracked daily.
• Washington — $39.95 resident, $115.85 visitor, from WDFW. 24 Washington waters tracked daily.
• West Virginia — $24.00 resident, $50.00 visitor, from WVDNR. 13 West Virginia waters tracked daily.
• Wisconsin — $20.00 resident, $55.00 visitor, from WI DNR. 29 Wisconsin waters tracked daily.
• Wyoming — $48.50 resident, $123.50 visitor, from WGFD. 13 Wyoming waters tracked daily.

More states are added one at a time, and only once the fees have been read off the agency itself. Four states are written but unpublished because their agency sites block automated access and we will not print a fee we have not verified: New Jersey, Rhode Island, Arizona and Mississippi.

The add-ons that catch people out

The base licence is often not the whole ticket, and this is where anglers with a valid licence still get written up. Trout stamps in a dozen states. Salmon and steelhead cards in the Northwest. Saltwater registries on the coasts, sometimes free but always mandatory. Great Lakes stamps. Second-rod validations. Catch record cards that must be returned even when you caught nothing.

The pattern worth internalising: states either fold everything into one price, as Michigan does, or sell privileges à la carte, as Illinois, Oregon and Washington do. The à la carte states look cheap on the headline figure and are not, once you add what your target species requires. Each state page lists the full stack next to the official link.

Free fishing days

Every state runs between one and four days a year when nobody needs a licence, usually on a summer weekend. They are the right way to introduce someone to fishing without buying them a licence they may use once. The rest of the rules still apply on those days: size limits, bag limits, seasons and closed waters do not lift because the licence requirement does.

Questions