Idaho 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 IDFG fees. The yearly access/depredation fee is added to your first annual or 3-year license. Online orders add 3% plus $3.50 and phone orders 3% plus $6.50.

Where these prices come from: Non-resident prices are from IDFG's current fee page. Resident prices are from IDFG's older (d7) fee page, which matches the eRegulations listing (prices as of 1 December 2024) and the non-resident figures still current in 2026. Residents enrolled in Price Lock pay less.

How long annual licenses last: Annual licenses, tags and permits are valid to 31 December, not for 12 months from purchase. Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

Non-residents (visitors)

Residents

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

• Access/depredation fee (resident adult)

  Annual $5
  3 year $10

  Required for residents with annual, 3 years licenses (ages 18–64)

  Once a year with your first annual or 3-year license. Not charged on daily licenses.

  Residents Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

• Access/depredation fee (resident junior)

  Annual $2
  3 year $4

  Required for residents with annual, 3 years licenses (under 18)

  Once a year with your first annual or 3-year license.

  Residents Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

• Access/depredation fee (resident senior)

  Annual $2
  3 year $4

  Required for residents with annual, 3 years licenses (ages 65+)

  Once a year with your first annual or 3-year license.

  Residents Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

• Access/depredation fee (non-resident adult)

  Annual $10
  3 year $20

  Required for non-residents with annual, 3 years licenses (ages 18+)

  Once a year with your first annual or 3-year license. Not charged on daily licenses.

  Non-residents Official source

• Access/depredation fee (non-resident junior or DAV)

  Annual $4
  3 year $8

  Required for non-residents with annual, 3 years licenses (under 18)

  Once a year with your first annual or 3-year license.

  Non-residents Official source

• Salmon/steelhead permit (resident)

  $15.25

  Needed to fish for salmon or steelhead, with a valid license. $12.75 with Price Lock. Resident children under 14 may buy one to keep their own limit.

  Residents · fresh water Official source2

• Salmon/steelhead permit (non-resident)

  $28.25

  Needed to fish for salmon or steelhead, with a valid license.

  Non-residents · fresh water Official source

• Two-pole permit (resident)

  $15

  To fish with two rods. $13.75 with Price Lock.

  Residents · fresh water Official source2

• Two-pole permit (non-resident)

  $17

  To fish with two rods.

  Non-residents · fresh water Official source

• Anyone under 14 (non-resident children must be with a licensed angler and their catch counts toward that angler's limit, unless they buy their own license)

  Fresh Everyone Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

• Anyone, on Idaho's Free Fishing Day (second Saturday in June); all other rules apply

  Fresh Everyone Official source2

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

The rule: Free Fishing Day: second Saturday in June.

No fishing license needed; all other rules, limits and seasons still apply. 2027 date: 12 June.

Official source2

Who counts as a resident

You must have been domiciled in Idaho for at least 6 months before applying. Drivers prove it with an Idaho driver's license; non-drivers with an Idaho ID card or two documents showing their name and Idaho address. (at least 183 days)

Military

Active-duty military (including Idaho National Guard) permanently stationed in Idaho for 30 days before applying, and their spouse and children under 18, qualify. So do Idaho residents serving elsewhere who keep Idaho as their official residence.

Official source

Sold online at GoOutdoorsIdaho.com, in the GoOutdoorsIdaho app, by phone, at license vendors and at Fish and Game offices. Online and phone sales add a processing fee.

Online

Idaho Department of Fish and Game license sales

Phone

1-800-554-8685

App

GoOutdoorsIdaho

ID needed

Proof of residency for resident licenses (Idaho driver's license or ID card).

Buy online at GoOutdoorsIdaho.com (3% plus $3.50), in the GoOutdoorsIdaho app, by phone on 1-800-554-8685 (3% plus $6.50, US only), from license vendors or at Fish and Game offices. Licenses bought online or by phone must be printed; they are not mailed. Fishing licenses are not refundable.

Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

Residents who have bought an annual license every year since 2017, or hold a 3-year license, pay lower Price Lock prices.

Fishing for salmon or steelhead needs a salmon/steelhead permit on top of a license.

Not applicable.

No sea charters. There is no guided-trip exemption: everyone 14 or over fishing with an outfitter or guide needs their own Idaho license.

Secondary source: Idaho fishing seasons and rules (eRegulations edition)

Border waters

• Snake River (Oregon and Washington boundary) and Bear Lake (Utah)

  Idaho law lets IDFG agree with Oregon, Washington and Utah to recognize each other's licenses on these shared waters. Check the current agreement and rules before relying on an out-of-state license. Official source

• All boundary waters

  On the Snake River or any other water forming an Idaho boundary, you may keep only the limit allowed by one license, however many licenses you hold. Official source

General regional rules for Idaho's seven fishing regions (2025-2027 rules). Many waters have special rules that change these limits. Possession limit is three times the daily bag limit.

Compare Idaho with other states

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

• Idaho vs Montana
• Idaho vs Nevada
• Idaho vs Oregon
• Idaho vs Utah
• Idaho vs Washington
• Idaho vs Wyoming

Questions

Sources and checks

Every fact on this page comes from Idaho Department of Fish and Game 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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