Tennessee 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 TWRA fees. A processing fee is added to every purchase.

How long annual licenses last: Annual licenses run 365 days from purchase. Official source

Non-residents (visitors)

Residents

• Annual trout supplemental (residents)

  $21

  Fishing for trout with a resident combination, county or one-day no-trout license.

  Everyone Official source

• TWRA lake fishing permit (daily)

  $6

  Fishing TWRA-owned lakes. Not needed under 16 or for residents 65+. Annual permit $48.

  Everyone Secondary source: Tennessee hunting and fishing guide (eRegulations)

• Anyone under 13

  Fresh Everyone Official source

• Tennessee residents born before March 1, 1926 (carry proof of age and residency)

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Tennessee resident landowners, their spouses, children and children's spouses, fishing their own farmland

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Resident agricultural tenants (and spouse and dependent children) who live on and farm the land, with the owner's permission

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Official source

• Resident grandchildren and great-grandchildren under 16 on their resident grandparents' farmland

  Fresh Residents · check this applies to you Secondary source: Tennessee hunting and fishing guide (eRegulations)

• Military personnel on leave, with a copy of their leave orders (a pass doesn't count)

  Fresh Everyone · check this applies to you Official source

• Anyone, on Tennessee's free fishing day; children 15 and under all of free fishing week

  Fresh Everyone Official source

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

The rule: One Saturday in early June, set by TWRA; Free fishing week for children 15 and under (young anglers).

Residents and visitors, on public waters, TWRA lakes and state park facilities. Private pay lakes may still charge.

Official source2

Who counts as a resident

A valid Tennessee driving license or state ID shows residency (state law expects new residents to get one within 30 days). Without one, you count as a resident after living in Tennessee for 90 days in a row with the intent to make it your permanent home, shown by two documents such as Tennessee voter registration, vehicle registration or title, a lease, mortgage or property tax receipt. (at least 90 days)

Military

Active-duty military stationed in Tennessee, and their children under 16 living with them, qualify as residents and may use an out-of-state driving license.

Students

Students enrolled at a Tennessee school, college or university for at least six months qualify as residents with a student ID, even with an out-of-state driving license.

Official source

Sold online through Go Outdoors Tennessee and at license agents. A Social Security number is needed to buy.

Online

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency license sales

App

Go Outdoors TN

ID needed

A Social Security number is required by federal law to buy a Tennessee fishing license. Lifetime license applicants 16 and over must upload a Tennessee driving license or state ID.

Sold online through Go Outdoors Tennessee and at license agents, TWRA regional offices, county clerks and many shops and boat docks. TWRA says processing fees apply to all purchases but doesn't list the amount. Licenses can be stored in the Go Outdoors TN app, emailed or reprinted; TWRA doesn't state outright that a phone copy is accepted. Help line: 1-888-891-8972.

Official source2

Yes: everyone who fishes needs their own license.

Paid fishing guides need a TWRA guide license on top of their own licenses, but that does not cover clients. Tennessee's license exemptions don't include guided clients, so anyone 13 or over on a guided trip needs their own fishing license unless another exemption applies.

Official source

Border waters

• Kentucky Lake, Dale Hollow Lake (Wolf River arm) and Big South Fork (Kentucky)

  Tennessee and Kentucky licenses are both valid on Kentucky Lake from the Governor Ned McWherter Bridge (US 79) north to the Eggner's Ferry Bridge (US 68), including tributaries and embayments except Kentucky's Blood River embayment; on the Wolf River arm of Dale Hollow Lake; and on the Big South Fork from Leatherwood Ford Bridge to the KY 92 bridge at Yamacraw. Boat anglers follow the rules of the state that licensed them; bank anglers follow the rules of the state they are standing in. Official source

• Mississippi River (Missouri)

  A Tennessee or Missouri fishing license covers the Mississippi River and its backwaters in the other state, plus oxbow lakes the state line passes through, but not the other state's tributaries. Follow the rules of the state you are fishing in; where you are not licensed, the stricter state's rules apply. The boundary is the center of the navigation channel. Official source

• Mississippi River (Arkansas)

  Tennessee and Arkansas licenses are both honored on the flowing Mississippi River, adjacent sloughs, bayous and old river runs reachable by boat, but not wildlife management areas or the Wolf, Loosahatchie, Hatchie, Forked Deer and Obion rivers. Shared limits apply (for example 10 black bass, 50 crappie, 50 sunfish). Arkansas rules apply on Ikes Chute, Hopefield Chute, Mosquito Lake, Mound City Lake, Island 40 Chute and Lake Neark. Official source

• Pickwick Lake (Alabama and Mississippi)

  A valid sport fishing license from Tennessee, Alabama or Mississippi is accepted on Pickwick Lake from Pickwick Dam upstream to the mouth of Bear Creek (Tennessee River mile 224.8), excluding Bear Creek and part of Yellow Creek. Follow the rules of the state whose waters you are in. Official source

• Calderwood Reservoir and Slickrock Creek (North Carolina)

  Tennessee and North Carolina licenses are both recognized on Calderwood Reservoir when fishing from a boat, and on the part of Slickrock Creek that forms the state line. Official source

• South Holston Reservoir (Virginia)

  Tennessee residents can buy an annual South Holston Reservoir License to also fish the Virginia side (Virginia residents can buy the equivalent from Virginia). You still need your home-state license, and a resident trout license from either state to fish for trout. Non-residents of both states must stay on one side unless licensed in both. Official source

Statewide creel and length limits. Many Tennessee waters have exceptions. Possession limit is twice the daily limit, but no more than one daily limit while fishing.

Compare Tennessee with other states

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

• Tennessee vs Alabama
• Tennessee vs Arkansas
• Tennessee vs Georgia
• Tennessee vs Kentucky
• Tennessee vs Mississippi
• Tennessee vs Missouri
• Tennessee vs North Carolina
• Tennessee vs Virginia

Questions

Sources and checks

Every fact on this page comes from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 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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