Every price Arkansas Game and Fish Commission prints, when the licence stops working, the age it is first needed, the days it is lifted and the stamps that ride on top of it.
Arkansas runs a full year from the day it is bought, so a licence bought on the first of December is worth a full year. It stops on one year later. The ordinary resident annual licence is $10.50, sold as Resident Fisheries Conservation License (FSH). The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Buy a licence at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission The agency page this was read from
Read September 23, 2026.
Arkansas runs a full year from the day it is bought, which means the month a licence is bought in makes no difference at all. The same purchase on the same morning is worth 395 days in Pennsylvania and 30 in West Virginia, a spread of 365 days across the country for what is often the same twenty five dollars.
365 days
What an annual licence bought on 1 December 2026 still has in it, which is a full year.
Drawn against 395 days, the longest in the country.
An Arkansas fishing licence runs a year from the day it is bought, with the combination hunting and fishing licence the exception the agency notes: that one ends on 30 June.
All fishing licenses expire one year from date of purchase unless otherwise noted.Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state rarely sells one licence. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission prices 8 of them, and the duration beside each is the half that decides what the money is actually worth: a short term licence at a third of the annual price is the better buy for a weekend in almost every state in the country, and in 10 states it is the better buy in December for a lot longer than a weekend.
Each price below carries the line it was printed in. Several agencies print a base fee and charge a larger one at the counter once an issuing or transaction fee is added, so the quoted line is the thing to read rather than the number alone.
$10.50
Resident Fisheries Conservation License (FSH) Entitles a resident to fish the waters of the state with sport fishing tackle. A Resident Trout Permit also must be purchased to retain trout or to fish in certain waters. | $10.50Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$60
Nonresident Annual Fishing License (NRF) Entitles a nonresident to fish the waters of the state with sport fishing tackle. A Nonresident Trout Permit also must be purchased to retain trout or to fish in certain waters. | $60Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$15
Nonresident 1-Day Fishing License (NT1) Entitles a nonresident to fish the waters of the state with sport fishing tackle for one specified day. | $15Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$30
Nonresident 3-Day Trip Fishing License (NT3) Entitles a nonresident to fish the waters of the state with sport fishing tackle for the three-day period valid for 72 hours from the specified start time. | $30Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$10.50
65-Plus Lifetime Fishing License | Application Entitles Arkansas residents 65 or older to the privileges of the Resident Fisheries Conservation License. A lifetime trout permit (purchased once after age 65) must be purchased to fish in certain waters. Proof of age and one year of Arkansas residency are required. | $10.50Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$35.50
Combination Sportsman's License (CS) Entitles holder to the privileges of the Resident Sportsman's License (RS) and the Resident Fisheries Conservation License (FSH). Expires June 30. | $35.50Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$1000
Nonexpiring Lifetime Resident Hunting and Fishing Sportsman's Permit | Application Entitles purchasers of any age to the privileges of the Resident Sportsman's License (hunting) and the Resident Fisheries Conservation License (fishing). | $1000Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$10.50
Resident 3-Year Disability License (RDF) | Application Entitles a resident to fish the waters of the state with sport fishing tackle. A Resident Trout Permit also must be purchased to retain trout or to fish in certain waters. | $10.50Fishing License Descriptions and Fees, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
29 states set the threshold at 16 and the youngest in the country is 9, so this is a number worth checking rather than carrying across a state line. The agency’s own sentence usually carries a condition the number alone does not: who a child has to be with, whose limit their fish count against, and whether the age is measured on the day or across the licence year.
In Arkansas a licence is needed from 16. That is the commonest threshold in the country, shared by 29 states. There is a senior rate from 65.
If you are 16 or older, you must carry a valid Arkansas fishing license to take or attempt to take aquatic wildlife in Arkansas.Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What is lifted is the licence and nothing else. Seasons, limits, size rules and closed water all run exactly as they always do, and several states still want a free permit pulled before the day. Nationally 42 states publish 62 of these and 8 publish none at all, so a free day in a neighbouring state does not travel.
proclaimed by the governor rather than fixed in the guidebook
Traditionally, Arkansas's Free Fishing Weekend is proclaimed by the governor for the second weekend in June. The AGFC holds free fishing derbies that Saturday at our warmwater hatcheries at Hot Springs, Lonoke, Centerton and Corning.Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fishing Guidebook 2026-27, page 31, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A stamp is a separate purchase and a licence alone does not carry it. This is the line most often crossed without anyone meaning to, usually on the first morning of a trip into water the angler does not normally fish. Where a state stocks trout, the hatchery is generally funded out of the stamp rather than out of the licence, which is why the stamp exists at all.
| Stamp or endorsement | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Trout Permit (TPR) | $10 | residents keeping trout or fishing the named trout waters |
| Nonresident Trout Permit (TPN) | $20 | nonresidents keeping trout or fishing the named trout waters |
| White River Border Lakes License (WRL) | $10 | Arkansas licence holders fishing the Missouri waters of Bull Shoals, Norfork and Table Rock |
Arkansas runs a full year from the day it is bought. Across the country 19 states run a full year from the day of purchase, 16 run to a fixed date on their own calendar, 10 run the calendar year, one sells the same licence on two clocks, and 4 publish no rule at all.
On price, the national middle is $25.00, with Hawaii at $5 at one end and California at $64.54 at the other. A visitor pays anywhere from 1.25 times the resident price in Massachusetts to 5.71 times in Arkansas.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission read September 23, 2026, with every price, rule, day and stamp above linked to the page it came from. Fees change by legislation and by rule, usually with effect from the start of a licence year, and the agency page is what governs on the day.