Minnesota Fishing License: Costs, Exemptions, and Penalties

A Minnesota fishing license is required for residents ages 16 through 89 and for nonresidents 16 and older who fish the state’s public waters. Prices start at $12 for a resident 24-hour permit and go up to several hundred dollars for a resident lifetime license. You can buy one online through the DNR, by phone, or in person from an authorized agent.¹

Who Needs a License

Every Minnesota resident between 16 and 89 must carry a current fishing license to fish the state’s public lakes, rivers, and streams, whether they’re angling, spearing, or using another legal method.¹

Nonresidents 16 and older always need their own license, with no upper age cutoff. Visiting children 15 and younger can fish without a license only if a parent or guardian holds a valid Minnesota license.¹

Who Is Exempt

Several groups can fish without buying a license at all:

Residents under 16 and residents 90 or older.
Minnesota residents on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces stationed outside the state, while home on leave, carrying leave or furlough papers.
Residents recently discharged from federal active duty outside the country within the past 24 months, carrying discharge papers.
Current inpatients at a U.S. Veterans Administration hospital.
Residents of a Minnesota-licensed nursing or boarding care home.¹

Minnesota also runs a Take a Mom Fishing weekend in May and a Take a Kid Fishing weekend in June, when eligible residents can fish without a license. The DNR announces exact dates each spring.

Free Licenses for Disability and Veteran Status

State law directs license agents to issue fishing licenses at no charge to residents in certain categories. You still need to obtain and carry the license — it just costs nothing.²

Free annual angling and spearing licenses go to residents who are legally blind; receive SSI for age, blindness, or disability; receive Social Security disability; receive workers’ compensation for total and permanent disability; are 65 or older and qualified under the SSI or Social Security disability criteria at 64; are permanently disabled and meet SSI or Social Security disability standards; receive Railroad Retirement Act disability benefits; or are former U.S. Postal Service employees receiving federal disability pay. A Minnesota driver’s license or state ID card carrying the applicable disability designation is accepted as proof.²

Two groups receive a free permanent license instead of an annual one: residents 16 and older with a developmental disability, and veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability as determined by the VA.²

What a License Costs

Resident Licenses

24-hour angling: $12
72-hour angling: $14
Sports license (angling plus small game hunting): $41
Super Sports (angling with trout/salmon stamp, small game with pheasant and waterfowl stamps, plus a deer license): $100

Short-term resident licenses don’t require a separate trout and salmon stamp.³ Current pricing for the annual resident individual angling license is posted on the DNR license page.

Nonresident Licenses

24-hour angling: $14
72-hour angling: $36
7-day angling: $43
14-day couple angling: $54 (married couples only; no 14-day individual option)
Annual individual angling: $51⁴

Lifetime Licenses

Residents can buy a lifetime angling license, priced by age at purchase:

Those are the statutory base fees for angling only. Versions that add spearing or hunting privileges cost more. A lifetime license does not include a trout and salmon stamp.

Trout and Salmon Stamp

If you plan to fish designated trout streams or keep any trout or salmon, you need a trout and salmon stamp on top of your base license. The stamp applies to anglers 18 through 64; anglers 17 and younger or 65 and older are exempt. The 24-hour and 72-hour short-term licenses already waive the stamp, so you can fish trout waters on those permits without buying one separately.⁶

How to Buy One

You have three ways to buy:

Online through the DNR’s electronic licensing system, with immediate printing.
By phone through the DNR’s 24-hour license line.
In person at an authorized agent — bait shops, sporting goods stores, some retail chains, and DNR offices during business hours.

Minnesota residents 21 and older must provide a current driver’s license number or state public safety identification number to complete any license transaction. If you have neither, you’ll need to get one before buying.⁷ Every buyer provides name, address, and date of birth.

When It Expires and What to Carry

An annual Minnesota fishing license runs from March 1 through the last day of February the following year, no matter when you buy it. Short-term licenses (24-hour, 72-hour, 7-day) run for their stated duration from the time of purchase.¹

Carry your license while fishing and while transporting fish away from the water. Conservation officers and peace officers can ask to see it at any time. If you bought electronically and didn’t print it, bring your license identification number or stamp validation plus a valid state ID. Licenses are nontransferable.¹

Penalties for Fishing Without a License

Fishing without a valid license is a misdemeanor under Minnesota’s game and fish laws. Failing to carry your license or comply with its conditions falls under the same general misdemeanor penalty.⁸

The penalty jumps when large quantities are involved. Taking, possessing, or transporting fish over the legal limit, out of season, or without a valid license becomes a gross misdemeanor once the restitution value of the fish exceeds $1,000. A gross misdemeanor conviction carries a fine of $100 to $3,000 and a jail sentence of 90 to 364 days. Serious violations can also result in revocation of hunting and fishing privileges for multiple years.⁹

One More Rule if You’re Using a Boat

A license by itself doesn’t cover you on aquatic invasive species rules, which catch people out often. Before leaving any body of water or transporting a boat on public roads, you must remove drain plugs, open valves, and drain all water from the boat and trailer. Failure to do so is a $100 civil penalty, and it doubles on a repeat violation. Transporting aquatic plants attached to your equipment is another $100. Launching equipment with prohibited invasive species into uninfested waters is $500. Knowingly transporting a prohibited invasive species is a misdemeanor; importing or selling one, or refusing an officer’s order to remove invasive species from your equipment, is a gross misdemeanor.¹⁰

1
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.441 – Licenses Issued Without Fee
3
eRegulations. Minnesota Fishing – Fishing Licenses and Fees
4
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishing Licenses
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.473 – Resident Lifetime Licenses
6
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Trout and Salmon Stamp
7
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Where to Buy a License
8
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.301
9
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 97A.338 – Gross Overlimits of Wild Animals Penalty
10
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 84D.13