Kentucky · Fishing license · Cost
How much is a fishing license in Kentucky?
$24.31 a year if you live here, $58.14 if you don't. The cheapest legal way for a Kentucky resident 65 or older to fish is not the $24.31 annual fishing licence — it is the $12.68 Senior Sportsman's licence, which happens to bundle in hunting, deer, turkey, waterfowl and trout permits as well. Buying fishing alone costs almost twice as much as buying everything.
Just passing through? 1-Day Fishing costs $15.86 — the annual pays for itself from about 4 of those.
Every license price
| License | Who | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Fishing | Resident | $24.31 |
| Joint married-couple Annual Fishing Covers both spouses on one licence — cheaper than two separate annual licences at $24.31 each. No nonresident equivalent exists. | Resident | $44.38 |
| 1-Day Fishing | Resident | $7.40 |
| 3-Year Fishing The one Kentucky licence exempted from the annual March-to-February renewal — it simply runs three years from purchase. No nonresident equivalent exists. | Resident | $58.14 |
| Combination Hunting/Fishing No nonresident equivalent exists. | Resident | $44.39 |
| Sportsman's Licence (fishing, hunting, deer, turkey, waterfowl and trout permit bundled) Excludes Peabody, LBL and Otter Creek permits, the Elk Hunt Drawing application, elk and bear permits, the federal duck stamp and the trapping licence. | Resident | $100.42 |
| First-time Buyer Sportsman's Licence A one-time discount on the full Sportsman's bundle for a resident buying it for the very first time. | Resident | $37 |
| Senior Sportsman's Licence, residents 65 and older Only proof of age is required. Includes the same licences and permits as the regular resident Sportsman's Licence. | Resident | $12.68 |
| Senior Lifetime Sportsman's Licence, residents 65 and older Must maintain Kentucky residency. Includes all senior sportsman's licences and permits for life. | Resident | $190.26 |
| Disabled Sportsman's Licence Same price and bundle as the Senior Sportsman's Licence, for residents who qualify as disabled rather than by age. | Resident | $12.68 |
| Youth Sportsman's Licence, ages 12 to 15 Same bundle as the standard resident Sportsman's Licence, except it does not include the trout permit. | Resident | $31.71 |
| Annual Fishing | Visitor | $58.14 |
| 1-Day Fishing | Visitor | $15.86 |
| 7-Day Fishing No resident equivalent — residents have the cheaper 1-day and annual options instead. | Visitor | $37 |
What comes on top
These are separate from the base license. Buying the license alone is not always enough.
| Trout Permit Needed on top of a fishing licence to fish Kentucky's trout waters. Same fee for residents and nonresidents. Already bundled into every Sportsman's-tier licence except the youth version. | $10.57 |
|---|
How long your money lasts
fw.ky.gov: "Unless otherwise noted below, all licenses are valid from the beginning of March through the end of February." New licences are required every year except the 3-year fishing licence.
What we could not pin down
Rather than fill these in from somewhere else, they stay open until KDFWR states them plainly.
- fw.ky.gov refused every automated request in an earlier pass — 403 and 'Service unavailable' to scripts and to a rendered browser alike. It answered cleanly this time, and every figure here comes directly from the live fee page, not from the older 301 KAR 5:022 base rates, which the department's own site says are superseded by annual CPI adjustment starting January 1, 2026. The odd-cent prices ($24.31, not $24 or $25) are the visible sign of that adjustment.
- A handful of secondary sources describe a minimum-acreage requirement for the landowner/tenant exemption, following a change reported in 2024–2025 coverage. The current official exemptions page read here states the exemption without naming an acreage figure, so none is published here.
- Kentucky also sells commercial fishing, fishing guide and fishing outfitter licences. Only recreational products are reproduced here, matching every other state on this site.
- The Sportsman's Licence explicitly excludes Peabody, LBL and Otter Creek permits, the Elk Hunt Drawing application, and several other add-ons whose fees are not fishing-related and are not reproduced here.
