License Fees
California
Freshwater Fishing
CDFW Offices no longer Accept Cash
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife no longer accepts cash at the License and Revenue Branch and regional license offices. Checks, money orders, or any debit or credit card with the Visa or Mastercard logo are accepted. Cash transactions are available for all items sold at authorized local sales agents. Search for a license agent near you at https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/OutletSearch/FindOutlet.
Purchase Sport Fishing Licenses and Submit Harvest Information Online
You can purchase California sport fishing licenses, report cards and validations online at wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/online-sales. In addition, anglers can submit report card information online. Report cards provide important harvest data critical to helping fishery scientists better manage these fishing programs. Online report card submission makes reporting faster and easier. By providing harvest details more quickly, fishery managers can more promptly put the information to use. Standard mail reporting is still available and can be done through the address printed on the report card. To report online, go to CDFW’s harvest reporting site at wildlife.ca.gov/reportcards. The regulatory deadline to report harvest information is January 31 each year, even if anglers were unsuccessful or did not fish.
| Freshwater Sport Fishing License Fees | |
| Annual Licenses | |
| Resident Sport Fishing License | $48.34 |
| Non-Resident Sport Fishing License | $130.42 |
| Short-Term Licenses | |
| One-Day Sport Fishing License (resident or nonresident) | $15.69 |
| Two-Day Sport Fishing License* (resident or nonresident) | $24.33 |
| Ten-Day Non-Resident Sport Fishing License** | $48.34 |
| Validations | |
| Second-Rod Validation | $15.12 |
| Report Cards | |
| North Coast Salmon Report Card (all waters of Klamath-Trinity System and Smith River) | $6.48 |
| Steelhead Report Card | $7.30 |
| Sturgeon Fishing Report Card | $8.38 |
| Duplicate Fees | |
| Sport Fishing License (Annual) | $10.80 |
| Second-Rod Validation | $3.24 |
| Sturgeon Fishing Report Card (CDFW license sales offices only) | $15.45 |
| Lifetime Sport Fishing Licenses | |
| Age 9 years or younger | $533.25 |
| Age 10 to 39 years | $871.25 |
| Age 40 to 61 years | $785 |
| Age 62 years or older | $533.25 |
| Additional Lifetime Fishing Privileges | $360.75 |