A Michigan fishing licence bought in December runs about 4 months
Michigan Fishing License: $26* and When It Expires
Every price Michigan Department of Natural Resources 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.
$26*
Resident annual licence
Resident Annual
Licence year
Which clock it runs on
runs to a fixed date that is not 31 december
120 days
A licence bought 1 December 2026
against 395 in Pennsylvania and 30 in West Virginia
8 / 2 / 0
Prices, free days and stamps here
each one linked to the page it was read from
The answer
What a Michigan fishing license costs, and how long it lasts
Licence yearMichigan Department of Natural Resources
Michigan runs to a fixed date on the agency’s own calendar, so a licence bought on the first of December is worth about 4 months. It stops on March 31 of the following year. The ordinary resident annual licence is $26*, sold as Resident Annual. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Michigan runs a fixed licence year that starts on 1 March and ends on 31 March the next year, so whatever day you buy, the licence dies on 31 March and one bought in February is worth about six weeks.
Michigan charges residents $26* for Resident Annual. Someone from over the line pays $76*, which is 2.92 times as much. Michigan Department of Natural Resources prices 8 licences in all, and every one of them is in the table below with the row it was printed in.
In Michigan a licence is needed from 17. The commonest threshold in the country is 16, so Michigan is not one of the ordinary ones here. There is a senior rate from 65.
Michigan publishes 2 days in the year when the licence requirement is lifted. What is lifted is the licence, not the rules: seasons, limits and size rules run as they always do, and a few states still want a free permit pulled first.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources sells licences through its own online counter.
Buy on 1 December in Michigan and you get 120 days
Michigan runs to a fixed date on the agency’s own calendar, which means the month a licence is bought in changes what the money buys. 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.
120 days
What an annual licence bought on 1 December 2026 still has in it, which is about 4 months.
Drawn against 395 days, the longest in the country.
When a Michigan license expires
Michigan runs a fixed licence year that starts on 1 March and ends on 31 March the next year, so whatever day you buy, the licence dies on 31 March and one bought in February is worth about six weeks.
Your annual fishing license is valid from March 1 of a given year through March 31 of the following year.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Every price the agency prints
All 8 Michigan license prices
A state rarely sells one licence. Michigan Department of Natural Resources 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.
Resident Annual
$26*
Resident annualannual
Resident Annual $26*
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Nonresident Annual
$76*
Nonresident annualannual
Nonresident Annual $76*
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Daily Fish (Resident or Nonresident)
$10/day
Resident short term24 hours
Daily Fish (Resident or Nonresident) $10/day This license is valid for 24 hours and may be purchased as needed
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Daily Fish (Resident or Nonresident)
$10/day
Nonresident short term24 hours
Daily Fish (Resident or Nonresident) $10/day This license is valid for 24 hours and may be purchased as needed
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Senior Annual
$11*
Seniorannual
Senior Annual (Residents 65 or older or Residents who are legally blind – see p. 6) $11*
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Voluntary Youth (Age 16 and under)
$2*
Youthannual
Voluntary Youth (Age 16 and under) $2*
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Hunt/Fish Nonresident
$266*
Combination hunting and fishingannual
Hunt/Fish Nonresident $266*
2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Who needs one
A Michigan license is needed from age 17
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.
The age rule in Michigan
In Michigan a licence is needed from 17. The commonest threshold in the country is 16, so Michigan is not one of the ordinary ones here. There is a senior rate from 65.
If you are 17 years of age or older and fish in Michigan, you must purchase a fishing license. If you are under 17, you may fish without a license, but you are required to observe all fishing rules and regulations.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A public fishing area ramp with the state’s own board standing where the concrete meets the water. Everything on these pages works the same way: a figure is here because an agency printed it, and the sentence it was printed in travels with it. Fifty agencies were read on one day, and between them they publish 417 separate licences. “Lake Paradise boat ramp, Paradise PFA”, Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0
The days it comes off
Michigan has 2 free fishing days
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.
Winter: Feb. 14-15, 2026
residents and nonresidents, inland and Great Lakes waters, all species
All fishing license fees will be waived for the two days of Free Fishing Weekend. Residents and out-of-state visitors may enjoy fishing on both inland and Great Lakes waters for all species of fish.
Free Fishing Weekend, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Summer: June 13-14, 2026
residents and nonresidents, inland and Great Lakes waters, all species
Free Fishing Weekend, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
How Michigan compares
19 states run a year from purchase, 10 run a calendar year
Michigan runs to a fixed date on the agency’s own calendar. 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.
Michigan fishing license questions
Michigan charges residents $26* for Resident Annual. Someone from over the line pays $76*, which is 2.92 times as much. Michigan Department of Natural Resources prices 8 licences in all, and every one of them is in the table below with the row it was printed in.
Michigan runs to a fixed date on the agency’s own calendar, so a licence bought on the first of December is worth about 4 months. It stops on March 31 of the following year. The ordinary resident annual licence is $26*, sold as Resident Annual. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia. Michigan Department of Natural Resources writes: “Your annual fishing license is valid from March 1 of a given year through March 31 of the following year.”
In Michigan a licence is needed from 17. The commonest threshold in the country is 16, so Michigan is not one of the ordinary ones here. There is a senior rate from 65. The agency writes: “If you are 17 years of age or older and fish in Michigan, you must purchase a fishing license. If you are under 17, you may fish without a license, but you are required to observe all fishing rules and regulations.”
Yes. Michigan publishes 2 days in the year when the licence requirement is lifted. What is lifted is the licence, not the rules: seasons, limits and size rules run as they always do, and a few states still want a free permit pulled first. The agency sets the first of them out this way: “All fishing license fees will be waived for the two days of Free Fishing Weekend. Residents and out-of-state visitors may enjoy fishing on both inland and Great Lakes waters for all species of fish.”
$76* for Nonresident Annual, against $26* for a resident. Nonresident annual prices across the country run from $20.00 in Delaware to $174.14 in California, and short term licences are often the better buy for a single trip.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources sells licences through its own online counter. Every price and rule here was read off Michigan Department of Natural Resources's own pages on September 23, 2026, and each one is linked beside the sentence it came from.
No. Each state licenses its own water, which is why the prices here are the prices for Michigan alone. It is also why buying in December is a different decision in every state: the same purchase on the same day is worth about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources 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.
