Minnesota 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 2026-27. Listed prices are license fees. A $1 agent issuing fee is added; online sales add a 3% convenience fee and phone sales $2.75. Non-resident prices include the state's $5 surcharge.

Where these prices come from: Prices from Minn. Stat. 97A.475 (2025) for the license year March 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027. The statute has a change to resident fees taking effect March 1, 2027. Conservation, sports, lifetime and some add-on prices are from eRegulations.

How long annual licenses last: The license year runs March 1 to the last day of February. 24-hour, 72-hour and 7-day licenses run from the start time you choose. Official source2

Non-residents (visitors)

Residents

• Trout and salmon stamp

  $10

  Ages 18-64 fishing designated trout waters or Lake Superior, or keeping trout or salmon. Not needed with a 24-hour or 72-hour license.

  Everyone · fresh water Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)2

• Walleye stamp (voluntary)

  $5

  Optional donation to walleye stocking; not needed to fish.

  Everyone Official source

• Sturgeon tag

  $5

  Needed to keep a lake sturgeon where harvest is allowed. Can't be used with a conservation license.

  Everyone Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Resident spearing license (18-89)

  $6

  Spearing from a dark house; an angling license is also needed.

  Residents Official source

• Non-resident spearing license (18+)

  $17

  Spearing from a dark house; an angling license is also needed. Includes the $5 surcharge.

  Non-residents Official source

• Resident fish house or shelter license

  $15

  Leaving a fish house or shelter on the ice unattended (rules vary). 3-year: $42.

  Residents Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Non-resident fish house or shelter license

  $37

  As above for non-residents. 7-day: $21; 3-year: $111.

  Non-residents Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Minnesota residents under 16

  Fresh Residents Official source

• Minnesota residents aged 90 or over

  Fresh Residents Official source

• Non-residents under 16 fishing while a parent or guardian holds a Minnesota fishing license (their fish count in the parent's limit)

  Fresh Non-residents Official source

• Residents fishing from shore or wading on state land in a state park, or on waters entirely inside a park (not trout waters)

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Minnesota residents on leave from military service stationed outside the state (carry leave papers), or discharged from overseas active duty in the last 24 months

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Some residents with disabilities, residents of certain care facilities and foreign exchange students (free license)

  Fresh Everyone Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Resident mothers on Take a Mom Fishing Weekend

  Fresh Residents Official source

• Residents 16 or over fishing with a child under 16 on Take a Kid Fishing weekends

  Fresh Residents Official source

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

2027 dates not yet announced.

The rule: Take a Mom Fishing Weekend: Saturday and Sunday of Mother's Day weekend (resident mothers) (residents only); Take a Kid Fishing Weekend: one 3-day weekend in the open-water season, set by the DNR (residents only); Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend: one 3-day weekend in the ice season, set by the DNR (residents only).

Residents 16 or over fishing with a child under 16 need no license on Take a Kid weekends. Resident mothers fish free on Mother's Day weekend. The trout exemption doesn't apply on state park waters. All limits still apply. 2027 Take a Kid dates not yet announced.

Official source23

Who counts as a resident

You must have had your legal residence in Minnesota for at least 60 consecutive days before buying. Under-21s whose parent is a Minnesota resident also count as residents. (at least 60 days)

Military

Military members stationed in Minnesota, and spouses of Minnesota residents on active duty, may buy at resident rates with proof.

Students

Minnesota residents studying full time at a Minnesota school may buy at resident rates with a fee statement.

Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

Sold online, by phone (1-888-665-4236) and at license agents.

Online

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources license sales

Phone

1-888-665-4236 ($2.75 fee)

License on your phone

Accepted

ID needed

Residents 21 or over need a current Minnesota driver's license or Minnesota ID (or a receipt for one at least 60 days old).

Online sales add a 3% convenience fee (plus $1.50 if anything has to be mailed). Phone sales give an instant license number; $3.50 if items are mailed. eRegulations says a self-printed or electronic license is valid proof.

Official source23

The DNR has proposed lowering the statewide walleye limit from 6 to 4 from March 1, 2027. Check current limits before fishing.

Yes: everyone who fishes needs their own license.

Minnesota lists no license exemption for guided or charter anglers, so the normal rules apply: residents 16-89 and non-residents 16 or over need their own license. Charter and guide operators on Lake Superior and the St. Louis River Estuary need a fishing guide license.

Official source2

Border waters

• Minnesota-Wisconsin boundary waters (Mississippi River, St. Croix River, Lake Pepin, St. Louis River Estuary)

  Fish shore to shore with either a Minnesota or a Wisconsin license. Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Minnesota-North Dakota boundary waters (Red River of the North, Bois de Sioux River)

  Anglers fishing from the North Dakota shore need a North Dakota license. Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Minnesota-South Dakota and Minnesota-Iowa boundary waters (Big Stone Lake, Lake Traverse, Little Spirit Lake and others)

  Minnesota residents need a Minnesota license; residents of the bordering state need their own state's license; other non-residents may buy either state's non-resident license. Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

• Canadian border waters (Lake of the Woods, Rainy River, Rainy Lake)

  A Minnesota license covers only the Minnesota side. The Canadian side needs an Ontario license and you must follow border-crossing rules. Secondary source: Minnesota Fishing Regulations (eRegulations)

Statewide inland-water limits. Many lakes and rivers, border waters and Lake Superior have their own rules. Statewide limits are both the daily and possession limit unless a separate possession limit is shown (yellow perch: 20 a day, 40 in possession).

Compare Minnesota with other states

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

• Minnesota vs Iowa
• Minnesota vs Michigan
• Minnesota vs North Dakota
• Minnesota vs South Dakota
• Minnesota vs Wisconsin

Questions

Sources and checks

Every fact on this page comes from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 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 2026-27)

Free fishing days

Checked Nov 4, 2026

Seasons and limits

Checked Nov 4, 2026

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