To fish legally in Texas, you need a current fishing license with the right endorsement for the water you’re on, you have to stay within the daily bag and length limits for every species you keep, and you can only use gear the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) allows. Texas fishing regulations are set by statute and by TPWD commission rules, and they apply on every public waterway in the state unless a specific lake or bay has its own exception.1Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Frequently Asked Questions About Licenses Honest mistakes about species, size, or how your gear is tagged can still land you a misdemeanor charge, so the details matter.
License Requirements and Cost
Texas Parks and Wildlife Code § 46.001 makes it unlawful to fish in public water without a valid fishing license.2State of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Code PARKS WILD 46.001 You can buy one on the TPWD website or at an authorized retailer with a valid ID.
Licenses come as freshwater, saltwater, or all-water packages. Resident freshwater starts at $30, resident saltwater at $35, and the resident all-water package at $40. Seniors 65 and older pay $12 to $22. Non-residents pay $58 to $68 depending on the package.3Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Fishing Licenses and Packages Most packages run from the date of purchase in mid-August (August 15 or later) through August 31 of the following year. If you’re buying mid-cycle, the Year-from-Purchase All-Water Package costs $47 and runs a full 12 months from the date you buy it.
If you buy a package, your endorsements are already bundled in, including a Red Drum Tag and Spotted Seatrout Tag on anything with a saltwater endorsement. Standalone fishing licenses require a separate freshwater endorsement ($5) or saltwater endorsement ($10).4Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Fishing Endorsements, Tags and Permits Keep a digital or physical copy of your license on you whenever you fish.
Who Can Fish Without a License
Texas residents born before January 1, 1931 are exempt from the license requirement under Parks and Wildlife Code § 46.002.5State of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Code 46.002 – Exemptions TPWD rules also exempt Texas residents under 17 from needing to buy a license.
Disabled veterans with a service-connected VA disability rating of 50 percent or more, or who have lost the use of a foot or leg, qualify for a free Super Combo Hunting and All-Water Fishing Package. You have to apply in person at a license retailer and show official VA documentation each year.6Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Disabled Veteran Super Combo Hunting and All-Water Fishing Package
Two situations let anyone fish without a license. The first Saturday in June is Free Fishing Day, when no license is required on any public water.7Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Free Fishing Day in Texas Year-round, you can fish from a bank or pier inside a Texas State Park without a license or endorsement, as long as you’ve paid the park entry fee.8Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Free Fishing in State Parks
Game Fish Versus Nongame Fish
TPWD splits fish into two regulatory categories, and the split drives almost every harvest rule you’ll run into. Game fish carry species-specific bag limits, length limits, and gear restrictions. Nongame fish, defined as any species not listed as game fish and not separately protected as endangered or threatened, usually don’t have individual bag or length limits but still fall under general harvest and gear rules.9Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Definitions – Fishing
In freshwater, game fish include Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted, and Guadalupe Bass; Blue, Channel, and Flathead Catfish; and White and Black Crappie.10Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Freshwater Fishes Found in Texas In saltwater, Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, and Flounder are the most heavily regulated. Common nongame species include Common Carp, Gar, Buffalo, and Bowfin. Misidentifying a game fish as nongame is not a defense to a violation, so learn to tell them apart before you keep anything.
Statewide Bag and Length Limits
The daily bag limit is the most of a species you can keep in a day. The length limit is a minimum, or sometimes a slot, that a fish must meet before you can keep it. TPWD measures total length from the tip of the snout to the farthest tip of the tail with the lobes squeezed together on a flat surface.
Freshwater
- Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted, Guadalupe, and Alabama Bass: 5 per day combined. Largemouth and Smallmouth carry a 14-inch minimum length; Spotted, Guadalupe, and Alabama Bass have no minimum.
- Channel and Blue Catfish, including hybrids: 25 per day combined, but no more than 10 may be 20 inches or longer.
- Flathead Catfish: 5 per day.
- White and Black Crappie, including hybrids: 25 per day combined.11Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Freshwater Bag and Length Limits
Saltwater
- Red Drum: 3 per day, 20-inch minimum and 28-inch maximum slot.12Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Drum Bag and Length Limits
- Spotted Seatrout: 3 per day, 15-inch minimum.13Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Seatrout Bag and Length Limits
Possession Limits
For most game fish, nongame fish, and shellfish, the possession limit is twice the daily bag. Flounder is the main exception, where possession equals the daily bag.14Cornell Law Institute. 31 Texas Admin Code 57.992 – Bag, Possession, and Length Limits If you’re camping for a weekend and the daily bag is 5, you cannot have more than 10 of that species on hand at any point.
Red Drum Tags
Red Drum is one of the few species where you can legally keep a fish outside the slot limit. During a license year, you can keep one Red Drum over 28 inches by affixing a properly completed Red Drum Tag, and a second oversized fish using a Bonus Red Drum Tag. Digital tags can be reported through the Texas Hunt & Fish mobile app rather than physically attached. Tagged oversized fish count in addition to your regular daily bag and possession limit.12Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Drum Bag and Length Limits
Lake-Specific Exceptions
Statewide limits are the baseline, not the ceiling. Dozens of lakes and reservoirs carry their own special harvest limits or gear restrictions that override statewide rules for one or more species. TPWD publishes a full list of these exceptions.15Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Exceptions to Freshwater Harvest Regulations If a water body isn’t on the list, statewide limits apply. Always check before fishing a lake you haven’t fished before. Not knowing a lake-specific rule is not a defense.
Legal Gear and Prohibited Methods
Pole and line is the standard recreational method. On some waters, including community fishing lakes, you’re limited to two poles.16Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Fishing Regulations for Community Fishing Lakes Pole limits vary by location, so check wherever you plan to fish.
Trotlines, juglines, and throwlines are legal with proper gear tags. In freshwater, a trotline needs a valid gear tag attached within 3 feet of the first hook at each end, and the tag is valid for 6 days after it’s set out.17Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Legal Devices, Methods and Restrictions Leaving untagged or improperly marked passive gear in the water is a violation on its own, whether or not it has caught anything.
Spears, spearguns, longbows, compound bows, and crossbows are legal for nongame fish only. None of these can be used on game fish. Snagging or foul-hooking (catching a fish anywhere other than the mouth) is unlawful, and any fish caught that way has to be released. Using explosives, electricity, or harmful chemicals to stun or take fish is prohibited outright and carries the harshest penalties in the fishing code.
Mandatory Draining and Invasive Species Rules
These rules apply to every boater and angler regardless of what you’re fishing for. It is unlawful to possess or transport any exotic aquatic species listed as harmful or potentially harmful, including zebra mussels, invasive carps (Grass, Silver, Bighead), applesnails, and plants like hydrilla, water hyacinth, and giant salvinia.18Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Possession and Transport of Exotic Aquatic Species
When leaving or approaching public freshwater, you have to drain all water from your vessel, including live wells, bilges, motors, and anything else that touches water. You cannot transport live fish, including live bait you caught yourself, from one water body aboard your vessel in water taken from that water body. Tournament anglers get a narrow exception to transport live fish to an off-site weigh-in from a single water body, but all water has to be drained and properly disposed of before leaving the weigh-in location. Failing to remove harmful aquatic plants from your vessel or trailer carries a fine of $25 to $500.
Penalties for Violations
Fishing violations are misdemeanors that scale by severity:
- Class C misdemeanor: $25 to $500 fine. Covers common violations like keeping undersized fish or going over the daily bag.
- Class B misdemeanor: $200 to $2,000 fine and up to 6 months in jail.
- Class A misdemeanor: $500 to $4,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail. This is the tier for prohibited harvest methods.19Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Laws, Penalties and Restitution
TPWD can also pursue restitution for the value of illegally taken fish. And a Texas conviction can follow you out of state. Texas belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, so a license suspension here can trigger suspensions in every other member state.20National Association of Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs. Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact
Federal law adds another layer. The Lacey Act makes it a federal offense to transport, sell, or acquire any fish taken in violation of state law across state lines.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 3372 – Prohibited Acts Catching fish illegally in Texas and driving them to Oklahoma or Louisiana turns the state violation into a federal case too.
Consumption Advisories on Specific Waters
Catching a legal fish doesn’t mean eating unlimited amounts is safe. Texas maintains consumption advisories for specific lakes and rivers where contaminant levels warrant caution, published alongside the lake-specific exceptions on the TPWD website. Larger catfish, carp, and perch are among the species most often flagged. The EPA and FDA also publish general advice on fish servings, especially for pregnant or breastfeeding people and young children.22U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA-FDA Advice about Eating Fish and Shellfish Check both before you eat what you catch, especially if you fish the same water body regularly.