Every price Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks 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.
Kansas 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 365 days from the date of purchase. The ordinary resident annual licence is $25.00, sold as 1 Year Fishing License. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Buy a licence at Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks The agency page this was read from
Read September 23, 2026.
Kansas 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.
A Kansas annual fishing licence runs 365 days from the day it is bought, so a December purchase is worth a full year rather than a few weeks, and the five year and youth multi year options sit beside it on clocks of their own.
365-Day Licenses Licenses and permits that will be valid for 365 days from date of purchase are the following. Fishing Licenses & Permits Resident Annual Fish Nonresident Annual Fish Senior Annual Fish (age 65-74)Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state rarely sells one licence. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks prices 9 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.
$25.00
Kansas Resident Fishing Licenses (ages 16-64) 1 Year Fishing License $25.00 365-day license, eligible for Auto RenewFishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$75.00
Non-Resident Fishing Licenses Non-Resident 1 Year Fishing License (ages 16 and older) $75.00 365-day license, eligible for Auto RenewFishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$3.50
Kansas Resident Fishing Licenses (ages 16-64) 1 Day Fishing License $3.50 expires same day purchasedFishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$10.00
Non-Resident Fishing Licenses Non-Resident 1 Day Fishing License (ages 16 and older) $10.00Fishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$25.00
Non-Resident Fishing Licenses Non-Resident 5 Day Fishing License (ages 16 and older) $25.00Fishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$12.50
Kansas Resident Senior Fishing Licenses (ages 65-74) Senior 1 Year Fishing License $12.50 365-day license, eligible for Auto RenewFishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$40.00
Kansas Resident Youth Fishing Licenses (ages 16-20) Youth Multi-Year Fishing License $40.00 Expires on December 31 of the year the person turns 21Fishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$45.00
Kansas Resident Fishing Licenses (ages 16-64) 1 Year Combination Hunting & Fishing License $45.00 365-day license, eligible for Auto RenewFishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$500.00
Kansas Resident Lifetime Licenses Lifetime Fishing License $500.00 or eight quarterly payments of $69.00Fishing Licenses & Permit Fees, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, 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 Kansas 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.
All resident anglers age 16 through 74 must have a resident fishing license unless exempt by Kansas law. Non-resident anglers age 16 and older must have a nonresident fishing license (unless fishing on a private pond not leased for public fishing.)Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, 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.
everyone fishing in Kansas those two days, with every other rule still in force
The first full weekend in June is traditionally the free fishing weekend. Anglers do not need a fishing license on those days but must abide by all other regulations such as length and creel limits, equipment requirements, etc.Fishing FAQ, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Trout Permit (age 16 and older) | $17.50 | fishing for trout, residents and nonresidents alike |
| Trout Permit Youth (age 15 and younger) | $4.50 | fishing for trout, anglers 15 and younger |
| Three-Pole Permit | $6.00 | fishing a third rod |
| Paddlefish Permit | $10.00 | snagging paddlefish, six carcass tags included |
| Handfishing Permit | $25.00 | handfishing, on a calendar year clock unlike the licence itself |
Kansas 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.
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks 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.