New Jersey · Fishing license
Do I need a fishing license in New Jersey?
Yes — anyone 16 or older needs one, until you turn 70 as a resident.
A year costs $22.50 if you live here and $34 if you don't. Just passing through? Vacation fishing, two days costs $9.
What it costs
If you live in New Jersey
| license | Price |
|---|---|
| Fishing, annual, ages 16 to 64Covers fresh water only. Trout needs the stamp on top. | $22.50 |
| Fishing, annual, ages 65 to 69The discount runs for five years, then the licence stops being needed at all. | $12.50 |
| All Around Sportsman, annualHunting and fishing in one. Only worth it if you hunt as well. | $72.25 |
If you're visiting
| license | Price |
|---|---|
| Fishing, annual, age 16 and over | $34 |
| Vacation fishing, seven daysVisitors only. | $19.50 |
| Vacation fishing, two daysVisitors only, and the cheapest legal fishing in New Jersey. | $9 |
How long it lasts
NJDEP Fish & Wildlife: "Fishing licenses and Trout Stamps are valid from date of purchase to December 31 of each year." Buy in November and you have weeks — New Jersey does not run the year forward from the day of purchase.
Who doesn't need one
- Anyone under 16
- New Jersey residents 70 and over — the trout stamp goes with it, since the stamp is written for ages 16 to 69
- Everyone on the two free fishing days
- Salt water needs no fishing licence at all. NJDEP publishes a boundary line for each tidal river and creek: at and upstream of that point the licence is required, below it you are in salt water
- On the main stem of the Delaware River, a Pennsylvania licence is honoured as well as a New Jersey one, from shoreline to shoreline
- On Greenwood Lake, New York and New Jersey licences are both recognised anywhere on the lake or along the shoreline
NJDEP Fish & Wildlife words the age rule this way: NJDEP Fish & Wildlife: "Anyone age 16 and above must have a valid license to fish the fresh waters of New Jersey", and residents of 70 and over are exempt from the licensing requirement. Between those two there is a middle band no other state on this site has quite like it: residents aged 65 to 69 pay a reduced $12.50 rather than $22.50, and the trout stamp is written for ages 16 to 69 — so at 70 the stamp falls away with the licence.
Where to buy it
- Online through the NJ Fish & Wildlife licensing system
- At licence agents across the state
Wondering about the big retailers? A shop like Walmart sells the state's license at the state's price — it sets none of its own.
Days you can fish without one
