A Mississippi fishing licence runs a full year from the day you buy it
Mississippi Fishing License: $10.00 and When It Expires
Every price Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, 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.
$10.00
Resident annual licence
Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing
365 day
Which clock it runs on
runs a year from the day you buy it
365 days
A licence bought 1 December 2026
against 395 in Pennsylvania and 30 in West Virginia
9 / 2 / 2
Prices, free days and stamps here
each one linked to the page it was read from
The answer
What a Mississippi fishing license costs, and how long it lasts
365 dayMississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
Mississippi 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 from that start date. The ordinary resident annual licence is $10.00, sold as Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
A Mississippi annual fishing licence runs a year from the start date on the licence, not to a fixed date in the calendar.
Mississippi charges residents $10.00 for Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing. Someone from over the line pays $68.00 for Freshwater Fishing, a different product from the resident figure above: Mississippi sells residents no fishing-only annual licence, so the resident line buys Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing and the nonresident line buys Freshwater Fishing. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks prices 9 licences in all, and every one of them is in the table below with the row it was printed in.
In Mississippi 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.
Mississippi 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.
A licence is not always the whole bill. Mississippi sells 2 further stamps and endorsements on top of it, each covering water or a species the ordinary licence does not.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks sells licences through its own online counter.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
Buy on 1 December in Mississippi and you get 365 days
Mississippi 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.
When a Mississippi license expires
A Mississippi annual fishing licence runs a year from the start date on the licence, not to a fixed date in the calendar.
Small Game Hunting/Freshwater - Does not include Federal or State Waterfowl Stamps or the ability to hunt deer, hog, or turkey. Valid one year from license start date. When used for hunting small game or migratory birds, individuals must also have valid hunter education if born after January 1, 1972. Hunter education not required if used only for fishing.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Every price the agency prints
All 9 Mississippi license prices
A state rarely sells one licence. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, 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.
Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing
$10.00
Resident annualannual
Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing | $10.00 | $1.00 | $2.49
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Saltwater Fishing
$10.00
Resident annualannual
Saltwater Fishing | $10.00 | $1.00 | $2.49
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Saltwater Fishing
$30.00
Nonresident annualannual
Saltwater Fishing | $30.00 | $3.00 | $4.42
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Freshwater Fishing
$68.00
Nonresident annualannual
Freshwater Fishing | $68.00 | $3.00 | $4.42
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
3-Day Freshwater Fishing
$3.00
Resident short term3 day
3-Day Freshwater Fishing | $3.00 | $1.00 | $2.49
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
1-Day Freshwater Fishing
$10.00
Nonresident short term1 day
1-Day Freshwater Fishing | $10.00 | $1.00 | $4.42
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Senior Exempt License
$2.30
Seniorannual
Senior Exempt License - A voluntary license for hunters aged 65 and older. Includes All Game Hunting, Archery/Primitive/Crossbow Weapon, Freshwater Fishing, and WMA User Permit. 65+ are exempt from purchasing the Turkey Stamp and Velvet Season Permit. Does not include Saltwater Fishing, Federal Duck Stamp, or State Waterfowl Stamp. | $2.30 | $1.00 | $2.49
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Exempt Under 16
$2.30
Youthannual
Exempt Under 16 - A voluntary license for hunters under 16 years of age. Includes All Game Hunting, Archery/Primitive/Crossbow Weapon, Freshwater and Saltwater Fishing, and WMA User Permit. Youth under 16 are exempt from purchasing the State Duck and Turkey Stamp. Valid one year from license start date. | $2.30 | $1.00 | $2.49
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Lifetime Sportsman's License - Age 13 and Over
$1,000.00
Lifetime or multi yearlifetime
Lifetime Sportsman's License - Age 13 and Over | $1,000.00 | $0
Hunting and Fishing License Prices, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Who needs one
A Mississippi license is needed from age 16
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 Mississippi
In Mississippi 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.
Each resident of the State of Mississippi ages sixteen (16) through sixty-four (64), fishing in the fresh or marine waters of Mississippi, including lakes and reservoirs but NOT to include privately owned ponds and streams, shall be required to buy a fishing license.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, 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
Mississippi 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.
June 6 and 7, 2026
Mississippi residents, and no fishing permit needed at state fishing lakes or state park lakes
In Mississippi, June 6 and 7, 2026 have been designated as "Free Fishing Days," allowing all Mississippi residents to participate in sport fishing without a license. Also, fishing permits are not required for state fishing lakes and state park lakes on those two days.
Free Fishing Days, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
July 4, 2026
Mississippi residents on public waters, but a permit is still needed at state fishing lakes and state park lakes
Additionally, July 4, 2026, is another designated "Free Fishing Day" statewide. On this day, residents can enjoy fishing without a license on any of Mississippi's public waters. However, it is important to note that fishing permits will be required at state fishing lakes and state park lakes specifically on July 4.
Free Fishing Days, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What the licence does not cover
The 2 Mississippi stamps sold on top of a license
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.
What Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks sells on top of a licence, with the water or the species each one covers. A stamp is a separate purchase: a licence alone does not carry it.
The other half of what a licence fee buys. Agencies stock on a calendar, which is part of why so many of them run a licence year that starts somewhere other than January: eight states end theirs on 31 March, five on the last day of February, and two in late summer, after the season they were sold for has finished. “Hatchery truck at Stackhouse (22557766742)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, Public Domain
How Mississippi compares
19 states run a year from purchase, 10 run a calendar year
Mississippi 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.
Mississippi fishing license questions
Mississippi charges residents $10.00 for Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing. Someone from over the line pays $68.00 for Freshwater Fishing, a different product from the resident figure above: Mississippi sells residents no fishing-only annual licence, so the resident line buys Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing and the nonresident line buys Freshwater Fishing. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks prices 9 licences in all, and every one of them is in the table below with the row it was printed in.
Mississippi 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 from that start date. The ordinary resident annual licence is $10.00, sold as Small Game Hunting/Freshwater Fishing. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks writes: “Small Game Hunting/Freshwater - Does not include Federal or State Waterfowl Stamps or the ability to hunt deer, hog, or turkey. Valid one year from license start date. When used for hunting small game or migratory birds, individuals must also have valid hunter education if born after January 1, 1972. Hunter education not required if used only for fishing.”
In Mississippi 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. The agency writes: “Each resident of the State of Mississippi ages sixteen (16) through sixty-four (64), fishing in the fresh or marine waters of Mississippi, including lakes and reservoirs but NOT to include privately owned ponds and streams, shall be required to buy a fishing license.”
Yes. Mississippi 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: “In Mississippi, June 6 and 7, 2026 have been designated as "Free Fishing Days," allowing all Mississippi residents to participate in sport fishing without a license. Also, fishing permits are not required for state fishing lakes and state park lakes on those two days.”
A licence is not always the whole bill. Mississippi sells 2 further stamps and endorsements on top of it, each covering water or a species the ordinary licence does not. Wildlife Management Area User Permit costs $15.00 and covers residents fishing or hunting on a Wildlife Management Area. 44 states sell something like it.
$68.00 for Freshwater Fishing, against $10.00 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.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks sells licences through its own online counter. Every price and rule here was read off Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks'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 Mississippi 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.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, 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.
