Georgia fishing license: cost, who needs one and how to buy

What will it cost? Calculator

Pick your trip and we'll work out the cheapest licenses to buy, including any required stamps.

Prices for 2026. Listed prices are Georgia DNR fees. A transaction fee is added to every paid license.

How long annual licenses last: Annual licenses run 365 days from purchase and can be stacked. Official source

Non-residents (visitors)

Residents

Some of these are required: the calculator adds them automatically.

• Saltwater Information Program (SIP) permit

  Free

  Required for everyone who needs a license (ages 16+) fishing salt water

  Free and required for salt water, age 16 or over. Valid 365 days, even with a lifetime license.

  Everyone · salt water Official source

• Trout license (resident)

  $10

  Fishing for or keeping mountain trout, age 16 or over.

  Residents · fresh water Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

• Trout license (non-resident annual)

  $25

  Fishing for or keeping mountain trout, age 16 or over. Non-resident one-day trout license $10, extra days $2.

  Non-residents · fresh water Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

• Anyone 15 or under (no fishing, trout or SIP license needed)

  FreshSalt Everyone Official source

• Georgia residents, on the state's free fishing days

  FreshSalt Residents Secondary source: Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies law library (O.C.G.A. 27-2-29)

Fishing licenses from other states aren't valid in Georgia, except under the border-water agreements below.

The rule: Up to three days a year, chosen by the DNR commissioner (residents only).

Residents only. All limits and rules still apply. Dates change each year.

Secondary source: Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies law library (O.C.G.A. 27-2-29)2

Who counts as a resident

You count as a Georgia resident for a fishing license if you have been domiciled in Georgia (living there as your permanent home) for at least three months. For a lifetime license you need three consecutive months, shown by a Georgia driver's license or ID card dated at least three months before you buy.

Military

Active-duty full-time military personnel and their dependents can buy resident annual and short-term licenses.

Students

Out-of-state college students living in Georgia can buy resident annual and short-term licenses. A current Georgia student ID counts as documentation.

Official source

Sold online at Go Outdoors Georgia, by phone and at license agents. A transaction fee applies to paid licenses.

Online

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division license sales ($3 fee)

Phone

1-800-366-2661

App

Go Outdoors Georgia

ID needed

Non-residents must carry the identification document they used when buying, as well as the license. Lifetime licenses need a Georgia driver's license or ID card as proof of residency.

A $3 transaction fee applies to online recreational license purchases. You can print your license, or keep a copy in the Go Outdoors Georgia app; Georgia's pages don't say outright that a phone copy is accepted while fishing. A temporary authorization number from a phone or internet sale can be used for seven days until you get or print the paper license. The call center is open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and weekends 9am to 5pm.

Official source23

One fishing license covers fresh and salt water; salt water also needs the free SIP permit.

It depends on the boat and where you fish.

Georgia has no general charter-boat license for passengers. A licensed saltwater fishing guide who holds a US Coast Guard passenger-vessel license can buy an optional annual customer license. It covers all fee-paying anglers fishing with that guide, who then need no license of their own (resident guides: $150 for up to 6 customers or $400 unlimited; non-resident guides: $400 unlimited). Ask your captain whether they hold one. If not, you need your own Georgia license, plus the free SIP permit in salt water. The law also lets the owner of a saltwater fishing pier buy a license that covers anglers on that pier. Freshwater guides' clients need their own license: Georgia DNR says anyone fishing, or helping an angler, must be licensed.

Official source23

Border waters

• Savannah, Tugaloo and Chattooga rivers and their lakes (South Carolina)

  A Georgia or South Carolina freshwater license is valid, for residents and non-residents, on the Savannah River from its mouth up to the Tugaloo/Seneca junction, the Tugaloo and Chattooga rivers up to the North Carolina line, and Lakes Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, Clarks Hill (Strom Thurmond), Yonah, Tugaloo, New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam and Stevens Creek. This covers the banks as well. Tributary streams are not covered, and nor are saltwater or commercial fishing. You need a South Carolina saltwater license to fish from a boat on the South Carolina side of the Savannah below the CSX trestle over the Back River. Shared creel and size limits apply on these waters. Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

• Chattahoochee River and lakes (Alabama)

  Anyone meeting Georgia or Alabama license requirements can fish from the banks and in the border section of the Chattahoochee River and Lakes West Point, Walter F. George (Eufaula), Bartletts Ferry (Harding), Goat Rock, Oliver, George W. Andrews and Seminole (the part not covered by the Florida agreement). Not covered: West Point's Chattahoochee arm above the Georgia Highway 109 bridge, Lake Weiss and other tributaries. Live blueback herring cannot be used in the Alabama waters covered. Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

• Lake Seminole and St. Marys River (Florida)

  Anyone with a valid Georgia or Florida fishing license (and any permits required) can fish for freshwater species in the St. Marys River (not its tributaries) and the covered part of Lake Seminole. The Georgia Honorary Disability license is not recognized. For saltwater species you need a Georgia license on the Georgia side and a Florida saltwater license on the Florida side of the St. Marys. Each state's rules apply on its own side. Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

• Lake Chatuge (North Carolina)

  A valid Georgia or North Carolina license lets you fish Lake Chatuge, and branches you can reach by boat from the main lake, with hook and line from a boat only. The boat may not be tied to the shore or to a dock or pier attached to it. Both states honor each other's senior and youth exemptions. Each state's law applies on its own part of the lake. Secondary source: Georgia sport fishing regulations (eRegulations)

Statewide freshwater limits and Georgia saltwater limits (state waters to 3 nautical miles). Many lakes and rivers have exceptions. Limits shown are daily limits.

Compare Georgia with other states

Neighboring states, side by side: prices, age rules, free days and shared waters.

• Georgia vs Alabama
• Georgia vs Florida
• Georgia vs North Carolina
• Georgia vs South Carolina
• Georgia vs Tennessee

Questions

Sources and checks

Every fact on this page comes from Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division unless it's marked secondary. We use a secondary source only when the official site doesn't show something, and we name it.

Licenses and prices

Checked Nov 4, 2026 (prices for 2026)

Free fishing days

Checked Nov 4, 2026

Seasons and limits

Checked Nov 4, 2026

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