A Minnesota fishing license costs $25 per year for residents and $51 per year for non-residents, plus a $1 agent fee at the point of sale. Short-term passes start at $12 for a resident 24-hour license and $14 for a non-resident 24-hour license. Several groups, including all residents under 16 and disabled veterans rated 100 percent by the VA, pay nothing at all.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
Every Minnesota fishing license runs from March 1 through the last day of February, no matter when in that window you buy it.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses A license bought in January is good for about six weeks; the same license bought in March is good for a full year.
Resident License Fees
- 24-hour: $12
- 72-hour: $14
- Annual individual: $25
- Annual combination (married couple): $40
- 3-year individual: $71
- Youth, ages 16–17: $5
The combination license covers both spouses. The three-year license saves a few dollars over buying three annuals back-to-back. The $5 youth license for 16- and 17-year-olds also includes an exemption from the trout and salmon stamp that would otherwise add $10.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
Residents who also hunt can bundle everything into a Super Sports Individual license for $100, or $126 for a married couple. That bundle wraps in small game hunting along with the trout and salmon, waterfowl, and pheasant stamps.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Hunting and Trapping Licenses
Non-Resident License Fees
- 24-hour: $14
- 72-hour: $36
- 7-day: $43
- 14-day couple: $54
- Annual individual: $51
- Annual family: $68
- Youth, ages 16–17: $5
The 72-hour pass is the usual weekend choice; the 7-day covers a full vacation week. The family license covers a non-resident and immediate family and comes out well below the price of separate individual licenses.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
Non-resident children under 16 have a choice. They can fish free under a licensed parent or guardian’s license, but anything they catch counts against the parent’s limit. For $5, a parent can buy the child a youth license, which gives the child a separate possession limit. Children included on a family license also keep their own limit.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.451 – Fishing License Requirements
Add-On Stamps That Change the Total
Trout and Salmon Stamp
Anglers 18 through 64 who fish designated trout streams, trout lakes, or Lake Superior need a trout and salmon stamp on top of the base license. The same stamp is required to possess trout or salmon taken anywhere in state waters.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97C.305 – Trout and Salmon Stamp The stamp is $10 for residents and non-residents alike. A collectible pictorial version is $10.75, but the pictorial itself isn’t required to fish legally.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
Youth license holders ages 16–17 and anglers 65 and older don’t need the stamp. Super Sports license holders already have it included.
Spearing License
Dark house spearing for northern pike takes a separate spearing license added to the base fishing license. It’s $6 for residents and $17 for non-residents.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses Anglers 16 and 17 are exempt from the spearing license but still need a regular fishing license to spear. Non-resident children under 16 need neither.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.451 – Fishing License Requirements
Who Fishes for Free
Some groups are fully exempt from the license requirement:5Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
- Minnesota residents under 16
- Minnesota residents 90 and older
- Active-duty Minnesota residents stationed outside the state and home on leave, carrying their leave or furlough papers
- Minnesota residents discharged from federal active-duty overseas service within the past 24 months, carrying discharge papers
- In-patients of a U.S. Veterans Administration hospital, with the required form
- Residents of a Minnesota licensed nursing or boarding care home
A separate list of residents qualifies for a free license issued in their name rather than an outright exemption. That includes blind residents, recipients of SSI for the aged, blind, or disabled, Social Security disability recipients, workers’ compensation recipients with a total and permanent disability finding, residents 65 and older who qualified under SSI or Social Security disability at age 64, residents with permanent disabilities meeting SSI or Social Security disability criteria, recipients of Railroad Retirement Act disability benefits, and former U.S. Postal Service employees receiving federal disability pay.6Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.441 – Licenses Issued Without Fee
Residents with developmental disabilities receive a free permanent license that never needs renewal. So do disabled veterans with a 100-percent service-connected disability as determined by the U.S. Veterans Administration. A Minnesota driver’s license or state ID card showing the applicable disability designation is accepted as proof at any license agent. A person helping a disabled angler who holds one of these free licenses does not need a fishing license, provided no extra lines beyond the normal per-person limit are in the water.6Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.441 – Licenses Issued Without Fee
What It Costs to Skip the License
Fishing without a valid license in Minnesota is a misdemeanor.7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.301 – Penalties The standard fine on the state’s payables schedule is $100, and a court has discretion to go higher. That’s four times the price of a resident annual license, and it lands on your record as a misdemeanor rather than a minor infraction. If you’re not sure whether you’ll fish more than a day, the 24-hour license at $12 resident or $14 non-resident is the cheap way to stay clear of that.