Virginia · Fishing license · Cost
How much is a fishing license in Virginia?
$23 a year if you live here, $47 if you don't. Stocked trout water from 1 October to 15 June needs the extra 23-dollar trout licence.
Just passing through? Freshwater, one day costs $8 — the annual pays for itself from about 6 of those.
Every license price
| License | Who | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freshwater, annual DWR also sells two-, three- and four-year versions, the four-year at 86. | Resident | $23 |
| Saltwater, annual | Resident | $17.50 |
| Freshwater and saltwater combination Cheaper than the two separate licences. | Resident | $39.50 |
| Freshwater, senior (65+) | Resident | $9 |
| Freshwater, 5 days | Resident | $14 |
| Trout licence On top of the fishing licence, and only for stocked trout water between 1 October and 15 June. | Resident | $23 |
| Freshwater, annual | Visitor | $47 |
| Saltwater, annual | Visitor | $25 |
| Freshwater and saltwater combination | Visitor | $71 |
| Freshwater, one day | Visitor | $8 |
| Freshwater, 5 days | Visitor | $21 |
| Trout licence Same price for visitors as for residents. | Visitor | $23 |
Fees inside the price
Stocked trout water between 1 October and 15 June needs the separate 23-dollar trout licence on top of the fishing licence — the same price whether you live in Virginia or not.
How long your money lasts
A Virginia licence runs a year from the day you buy it, unless the licence itself says otherwise. DWR also sells the freshwater licence as a multi-year package.
What we could not pin down
Rather than fill these in from somewhere else, they stay open until DWR states them plainly.
- DWR lists multi-year freshwater licences up to 86 dollars for four years; only the one-year price is published here, with the four-year figure named in the note.
- Free fishing days exist in Virginia but the pages read carried no 2026 dates, so the rule stands without them.
- Saltwater fishing in Virginia is administered by the Marine Resources Commission alongside DWR; the saltwater prices here are the ones DWR publishes.
