Missouri 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 MDC permit fees.

How long annual licenses last: Annual permits run from purchase to the end of February. Official source

Non-residents (visitors)

Residents

• Trout permit (resident 16+)

  $12

  Keeping trout (outside trout parks), all winter fishing in trout parks, and any fishing in Lake Taneycomo above the US 65 bridge. Under 16: $6.

  Residents Official source

• Trout permit (non-resident 16+)

  $24

  As the resident trout permit. New for 2026. Under 16: $6.

  Non-residents Official source

• Trout park daily tag (16+)

  $5

  Fishing at Maramec Spring, Bennett Spring, Montauk or Roaring River trout parks, March 1 to October 31. Under 16: $3.

  Everyone Official source

• Anyone 15 or younger

  Fresh Everyone Official source

• Missouri residents aged 65 or over

  Fresh Residents Official source

• Missouri resident landowners and their households, fishing on their own land (trout permits or tags still needed where required)

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Missouri residents who own land fully enclosing a body of water, and their households, fishing that water

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Missouri residents with severe vision impairment, or who can't move freely without a wheelchair (with certification)

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Missouri residents with cerebral palsy or a qualifying mental disorder who can't fish alone, with a licensed adult and a physician's statement

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Veterans with a service-related disability of 60% or more, and former prisoners of war (residents and non-residents)

  Fresh Everyone · check this applies to you Official source

• Active-duty military patients at certain military medical facilities, with orders

  Fresh Everyone · check this applies to you Official source

• Anyone, on Missouri's free fishing days (no permit or trout tag needed)

  Fresh Everyone Official source

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

The rule: One weekend in June, set by MDC.

No fishing permit, trout permit or daily trout tag needed. All other rules apply.

Official source

Who counts as a resident

You count as a Missouri resident if your actual home and legal permanent residence has been in Missouri for at least 30 days before you buy, and you don't claim resident privileges in another state or country. Owning property or attending a Missouri school does not by itself make you a resident. Immigrants with a resident alien card (I-551) who meet the same test also qualify. (at least 30 days)

Military

Active-duty members of the US armed forces stationed in Missouri on permanent change of station orders, and immediate family living with them, can buy resident permits. Service members assigned as patients to a Warrior Transition unit or military medical center also qualify and must carry proof.

Students

Non-resident students registered at a Missouri secondary, post-secondary or vocational school who live in Missouri while studying can buy resident permits. They must carry proof of their Missouri address and student status, and buy in person, by phone or by post through Conservation Department offices (not from vendors).

Official source

Sold online, in the MO Fish app, and at permit vendors.

Online

Missouri Department of Conservation license sales

Phone

800-392-4115 ($1 fee)

App

MO Fishing

License on your phone

Accepted

ID needed

A Social Security number is needed to buy (or a statement that you don't have one). If you bought by phone or online and don't have the permit yet, carry the permit authorization number and photo ID.

Phone purchases add a $1 surcharge and the permit can take up to 10 days to arrive. Permits bought in the MO Fishing app appear in the app straight away; an image of a fishing permit on a phone or tablet is accepted (MDC has allowed this since 2015). Lifetime and reduced-cost military permits can't be bought online.

Official source23

Yes: everyone who fishes needs their own license.

Missouri has no charter or guide license that covers clients, and the permit rules have no exemption for guided anglers, so anyone 16 or over on a guided trip needs their own fishing permit (plus a trout permit or daily tag where trout rules require one) unless another exemption applies. Customers of a licensed private trout fishing area can fish for trout there without a permit.

Official source

Border waters

• Mississippi River (Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee)

  A Missouri permit (or a Missouri exemption) lets you fish the flowing Mississippi River in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee waters, plus backwaters and shared oxbow lakes in Illinois and Tennessee. Bank fishing is allowed on the Illinois side, and on the Kentucky side within the Kentucky definition of the river. Kentucky backwaters and floodplain lakes are excluded when the river is above 33 feet on the Cairo gauge. You may not fish another state's tributaries. Follow the rules of the state you are in; when fishing another state's waters, follow the stricter of the two states' rules. Official source

• Missouri River (Kansas, Nebraska)

  Missouri permits are honored on the flowing river, adjacent backwaters and shared oxbow lakes, including from the bank. Tributaries are not included. Follow the rules of the state you are in, and the stricter rules when in the other state's waters. Official source

• St. Francis River (Arkansas)

  Missouri permits are honored on the flowing waters of the St. Francis River where it forms the Arkansas border (not backwaters, oxbow lakes or the bank). Here you follow the regulations of the state that licensed you. Official source

• Des Moines River (Iowa)

  Missouri permits are honored on the flowing river and adjacent backwaters or shared oxbow lakes, but not for bank fishing on the Iowa side. Follow the rules of the state you are in, and the stricter rules when in Iowa waters. Official source

Statewide limits. Many Missouri lakes and streams have their own rules; see the special regulations in the MDC summary. Possession limit is generally twice the daily limit.

Compare Missouri with other states

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

• Missouri vs Arkansas
• Missouri vs Illinois
• Missouri vs Iowa
• Missouri vs Kansas
• Missouri vs Kentucky
• Missouri vs Nebraska
• Missouri vs Oklahoma
• Missouri vs Tennessee

Questions

Sources and checks

Every fact on this page comes from Missouri Department of Conservation 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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