Louisiana · Fishing license · Cost
How much is a fishing license in Louisiana?
$17 a year if you live here, $68 if you don't. The saltwater licence only works together with the basic fishing licence — count both.
Just passing through? Charter passenger freshwater, 3 days costs $10 — the annual pays for itself from about 7 of those.
Every license price
| License | Who | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Basic fishing Covers every legal method for freshwater species. | Resident | $17 |
| Saltwater Only sold on top of the basic fishing licence, and needed south of the saltwater line. 7.50 of it funds LA Creel. | Resident | $15 |
| Hook and line (cane pole, roadside crabbing) The cheap option if you fish with a pole and no reel. | Resident | $5 |
| Senior hunting and fishing (born before 1 June 1940) Free. | Resident | Free |
| Senior hunting and fishing (born 1 June 1940 to 31 May 1962) | Resident | $5 |
| Charter passenger saltwater, 3 days For anglers on a licensed charter boat. | Resident | $20 |
| Charter passenger freshwater, 3 days | Resident | $10 |
| Basic fishing | Visitor | $68 |
| Saltwater On top of the basic fishing licence. | Visitor | $60 |
| Charter passenger saltwater, 3 days Same price as for residents. | Visitor | $20 |
| Charter passenger freshwater, 3 days Same price as for residents. | Visitor | $10 |
Fees inside the price
Saltwater is not a licence of its own here: LDWF sells it only on top of the basic fishing licence. Fishing salt water as a visitor therefore costs 68 plus 60.
How long your money lasts
LDWF: an annual licence runs 365 days from the day you buy it. Buying online lets you set it to renew itself each year.
What we could not pin down
Rather than fill these in from somewhere else, they stay open until LDWF states them plainly.
- LDWF's fee list shows no short-term licence for ordinary anglers — the only three-day items are for charter passengers. A visitor for a weekend therefore buys the annual licence, unless a shorter one exists that the pages read did not show.
- Free fishing days: no dated 2026 announcement was read.
- Louisiana restructured its licences in recent years; the prices here are the ones on LDWF's current fee list.
