Every price Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 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.
Washington 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 $39.95, sold as Freshwater (includes a Vehicle Access Pass). The same purchase on the same day buys about 13 months in Pennsylvania and about 4 weeks in West Virginia.
Buy a licence at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife The agency page this was read from
Read September 23, 2026.
Washington 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.
Washington runs a licence year from 1 April to 31 March, so an annual licence bought in February runs out at the end of March however little it has been used.
Annual Fishing Licenses (Valid April 1, 2026 - March 31, 2027)Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state rarely sells one licence. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 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.
$39.95
Freshwater (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $39.95 | $115.85 | $9.59 | - | - | -Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$74.37
Combination (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $74.37 | $170.00 | $28.83 | - | $12.89 | $74.37Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$115.85
Freshwater (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $39.95 | $115.85 | $9.59 | - | - | -Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$170.00
Combination (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $74.37 | $170.00 | $28.83 | - | $12.89 | $74.37Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$14.90
1 Day Combination | $14.90 | $27.05 | $14.90 | - | - | $14.90Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$48.30
3 Day Combination | $25.53 | $48.30 | $25.53 | - | - | $25.53Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$28.83
Combination (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $74.37 | $170.00 | $28.83 | - | $12.89 | $74.37Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
$12.89
Combination (includes a Vehicle Access Pass) | $74.37 | $170.00 | $28.83 | - | $12.89 | $74.37Fishing license types and fees, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 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 Washington a licence is needed from 16. That is the commonest threshold in the country, shared by 29 states. There is a senior rate from 70.
Residents and non-residents alike must have a license to fish or shellfish in Washington waters. All fishers age 16 and older need a fishing license.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 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, residents and non-residents, for some fish only; shellfish and anything needing a catch record card still need a licence
Free Fishing Weekend: is on June 12-13, 2027. Free Fishing Weekend is open to everyone, including residents and non-residents. On these days, fishing licenses, endorsements and parking passes are not required for some fish. All shellfish, and fish requiring a catch record card (including sturgeon, salmon, steelhead, and halibut) require a license to be harvested on Free Fishing Weekend. All other rules still apply, including seasons, area, lure or bait restrictions, size and catch limits. Each year, the Free Fishing Weekend will be the first weekend in June after the first Monday in June.License Information, Washington Sport Fishing Rules, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two-Pole Endorsement | $20.23 | fishing with two poles where it is allowed |
| Columbia River salmon and steelhead endorsement | $8.75 | salmon or steelhead on the Columbia River and its tributaries |
| Puget Sound Crab Endorsement to use with an annual license | $11.89 | Puget Sound Dungeness crab |
Washington 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.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 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.