Every price Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 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.
Tennessee 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 later. The ordinary resident annual licence is $10.00, sold as County of Residence Fishing - No Trout ages 13 and over. The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Buy a licence at Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency The agency page this was read from
Read September 23, 2026.
Tennessee 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 Tennessee annual licence runs 365 days from the day it is bought, so the month you buy in does not cost you anything.
License Expiration Dates: Annual licenses and permits are valid 365 days from the date of purchase unless otherwise noted. Example: If you purchase an annual license on February 1, that license expires on February 1 the following year. Some items, such as Migratory Bird Permits, Captive Wildlife Permits, Slat Basket Tags, and the Federal Duck Stamp, have fixed expiration dates regardless of the date of purchase.Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state rarely sells one licence. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 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.
$10.00
County of Residence Fishing - No Trout ages 13 and over Allows an angler to fish their county of residence with natural bait (worms, crickets, corn, etc.), but not minnows. No artificial lures can be used. A supplemental license is required to fish for trout. | $10.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$33.00
Combination Hunt/Fish Annual (ages 16-64) Minimum license required to fish and/or hunt small game - Supplemental Licenses are required in order to hunt deer, bear, boar (feral hog), turkey, and waterfowl. | $33.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$49.00
Annual Fishing - No Trout , age 16 and over | $49.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$98.00
Annual Fishing - All Species, including Trout, age 16 and over | $98.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$6.00
1-Day Fishing - No Trout (ages 13-64) | $6.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$20.00
3-Day Fishing - No Trout, age 16 and over | $20.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$4.00
Annual Senior Citizen Hunt/Fish/Trap Can only be purchased when 65th birthday is reached. A valid Tennessee driver's license or proof of age and residency is required. No supplemental licenses are required, but WMA permits will need to be purchased in addition to this license. Fees apply when applying for quota hunt permits as well as "left over" permits. | $4.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$9.00
Junior Hunt, Fish & Trap (Ages 13-15) Valid for hunting, trapping, and sport fishing. Must be purchased before 16th birthday. No supplemental licenses are required, but WMA permits will need to be purchased in addition to this license. | $9.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$49.00
Permanent Senior Citizen Hunt/Fish/Trap Can only be purchased when the 65th birthday is reached. A valid Tennessee driver's license or proof of age and residency is required. No supplemental licenses are required, but WMA permits will need to be purchased in addition to this license. Fees apply when applying for quota hunt permits and "leftover" permits. | $49.00Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, 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 Tennessee a licence is needed from 13. The commonest threshold in the country is 16, so Tennessee is not one of the ordinary ones here. There is a senior rate from 65.
Junior Hunt, Fish & Trap (Ages 13-15) Valid for hunting, trapping, and sport fishing. Must be purchased before 16th birthday.Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, 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, Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day
It's Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day! June 12, 2027.Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
children aged 15 and younger, Free Fishing Week
It's Free Fishing Week! All children, ages 15 and younger, can fish for free between June 12-18, 2027.Fishing Licenses, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Trout Supplemental | $21.00 | resident anglers fishing for trout |
| TWRA Lake Fishing Permit - Annual | $48.00 | anglers on TWRA state lakes, on top of a base licence |
| South Holston Reservoir Supplemental ages 13 and over | $20.00 | Tennessee anglers fishing the Virginia part of South Holston Reservoir |
Tennessee 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.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 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.