Montana · Fishing license · Age
What age do you need a fishing license in Montana?
From 12 on, with no upper limit.
The ages that matter
Under 12
No license needed
Children can fish without one. Everything else still applies though — limits, sizes and seasons do not change with age.
12 and up
License required
Carry it with you while fishing.
62 and up
Only on conditions
Montana drops the rate at 62 rather than 65, and it is a discount and not an exemption: the season fishing licence falls from $21 to $10.50 and the conservation licence from $8 to $4, so a senior resident season costs $16.50 including the AIS pass.
How FWP words it
FWP: "A valid fishing license is required for all types of fishing on state waters for anyone 12 or older." And: "Anyone 11 years old or younger is not required to have a fishing license, including a Conservation or AIS Prevention Pass." Twelve is low by national standards — only Arizona, at 10, starts earlier among the states on this site. From 62 a resident pays the same half rate as a 12-to-17-year-old.
Quoted rather than paraphrased. With rules that carry a fine, the exact wording is the point.
Other ways to be exempt
Age is one route. FWP lists these as well.
- Anyone 11 or younger — no fishing licence, no conservation licence, no AIS pass
- Everyone, resident or visitor, on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day weekends — with paddlefish and bull trout excepted
- Patients living at VA hospitals and residents of state institutions other than the state penitentiary — free permits are issued on site
- Qualified educational events and fishing clinics, for a named date and place
