Every price Montana Fish, Wildlife & 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.
Montana runs to a fixed date on the agency’s own calendar, so a licence bought on the first of December is worth about 3 months. It stops on the end of February of the following year. The ordinary resident annual licence is $21, sold as Base Fishing License, Full Season. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Buy a licence at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks The agency page this was read from
Read September 23, 2026.
Montana 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.
89 days
What an annual licence bought on 1 December 2026 still has in it, which is about 3 months.
Drawn against 395 days, the longest in the country.
Montana runs a licence year from 1 March to the end of February, so a licence bought in January is good for only a few weeks and one bought in March is good for a full twelve months.
A Fishing License allows a person to fish for and possess any fish or aquatic invertebrate authorized by the state's fishing regulations. It is nontransferable and nonrefundable. The license enables one to fish from March 1 through the end of February of the following year.Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state rarely sells one licence. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks prices 7 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.
$21
Base Fishing License Full Season The Full Season Fishing license enables you to fish from March 1 through the end of February of the following year. Resident Cost: $21Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$100
Base Fishing License Full Season ... Nonresident Cost: $100Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$5
Short-Term Resident License for 2 Consecutive Calendar Days Resident Cost: $5Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$14
1 Day Nonresident License Nonresident Cost: $14Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$56
Short-Term Nonresident License for 5 Consecutive Calendar Days Nonresident Cost: $56Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$10.50
Base Fishing License Full Season ... Senior 62+ Resident Cost: $10.50Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$10.50
Base Fishing License Full Season ... Youth 12-17 Resident Cost: $10.50Fishing Licenses & Permits, Montana Fish, Wildlife & 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 Montana a licence is needed from 12. The commonest threshold in the country is 16, so Montana is not one of the ordinary ones here. There is a senior rate from 62.
A valid fishing license is required for all types of fishing on state waters for anyone 12 or older. ... Anyone 11 years old or younger is not required to have a fishing license, including a Conservation or AIS Prevention Pass.Montana Fish, Wildlife & 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.
residents and nonresidents, any fish except paddlefish and bull trout
By Montana law, each year on Mother's Day and Father's Day weekends any person (resident or nonresident) may fish for any fish within this state without obtaining a Fishing License as long as they abide by the seasons, restrictions, and bag limits listed in these Fishing Regulations.2026 Montana Fishing Regulations, page 13, Montana Fish, Wildlife & 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation License | $8 resident, $10 nonresident | required before any fishing licence can be bought |
| Angler Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Pass (AISPP) | $2 resident, $7.50 nonresident | everyone who fishes in Montana |
| Paddlefish tag | $6.50 resident, $15 nonresident | fishing for paddlefish |
Montana 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.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & 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.