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Free/Reduced Fee & Lifetime Licenses

• Free/Reduced Fee Licenses: You may qualify for a free/reduced fee annual fishing license if you are:
  (For information on required documents and qualifications click the links below. In most instances, you must be a New York resident):
  • Active duty military
  • Military veteran with 40% or greater disability
  • Senior citizen (70 years or older)
  • Legally blind
  • Non-resident student attending a New York State college or university full-time
• Lifetime Licenses: Fish for life with a lifetime license! Available to residents only.

Who Needs a Fishing License?

You need a fishing license if you are 16 years and older and fishing for:

• Freshwater fish species by angling, spearing, hooking, longbow, and tip-ups.
• Frog species by spearing, catching with the hands or by use of a club or hook.
• Freshwater baitfish for personal use.

Note: You need a marine fishing registration if fishing for migratory fish of the sea and saltwater fish species.

You do not need a fishing license if you are:

• Fishing on a licensed fishing preserve
• Fishing during the free fishing weekend
• Fishing at a free fishing clinic
• A resident landowner primarily engaged in farming (including lessees and members of their immediate families) when fishing on farm lands they are occupying and cultivating.
• A farm fish pond license holder (including members of their immediate families) fishing on waters covered by the license.
• A Native American living and fishing on reservation land.
• A patient residing at a qualifying U.S. Veterans Administration hospital or facility in New York State.