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No fish of any species from outside of the state of Louisiana shall be liberated within the state except upon written permission of the Secretary of LDWF.

License Requirements

All anglers over 17 years of age fishing in freshwater must possess a valid Basic Recreational Fishing License, a Hook and Line License, or one of the other licenses that covers these activities (LA Sportsman Paradise, Senior Hunt/Fish, Disabled Hunt/Fish, Disabled Veterans Hunt/Fish).

Applicable licenses must be in possession of the angler.

Freshwater Species You Cannot Harvest

The federally listed threatened and endangered, or prohibited species listed below are off limits for recreational take. Civil and criminal penalties may apply for taking the following aquatic species.

Pink Mucket Mussel (Lampsilis abrupta)
Louisiana Pearlshell Mussel (Margaritifera hembeli)
Louisiana Pigtoe Mussel (Pleurobema riddellii)
Texas Heelsplitter Mussel (Potamilus amphichaenus)
Inflated Heelsplitter Mussel (Potamilus inflatus)
Fat Pocketbook Mussel (Potamilus capax)
Rabbitsfoot Mussel (Theliderma cylindrica)
Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi)
Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus)
Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus)

Prohibited Freshwater Species

It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to possess, sell, or transport any of the following species of fish into Louisiana without first obtaining the written permission of the secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

All species of tilapia
Carp (except koi, common carp and goldfish)
Freshwater electric eel
Rudd
All members of the families of Asian swamp eels, snakeheads, walking catfishes, and pencil catfishes

Exotic species of Asian carp (silver, bighead, black and grass) taken from state waters must not be returned to the water alive and may not be possessed alive.

No person shall have in possession or sell in this state a piranha, Rio Grande cichlid or apple snail. If an angler catches a Rio Grande cichlid using legal methods, the fish shall not be returned to the water or kept alive while in the possession of the angler.

Aquatic Plants

It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to possess, import, or transport any of the following species of aquatic plants into Louisiana without first obtaining the written permission of the secretary of LDWF.

African Elodea
Aquatic Soda Apple
Asian Marshweed
Australian Pine
Brazilian Elodea
Crested Floating Heart
Duck Lettuce
Elodea
Eurasian Watermilfoil
False Pickerelweeds
Giant Duckweed
Giant Sensitive Fern
Hydrilla
Indian Swampweed
Kapok Tree
Marine Naiad and Slender Naiad
Paragrass
Purple Loosestrife
Roundleaf Toothcup
Salvinia species
Torpedograss
Water Chestnut
Water Clovers
Water Hyacinth
Water Lettuce
Water Snowflake
Water Spinach
Yellow Floating Heart

Daily Bag Limit

Recreational anglers must not exceed the daily bag limit for any species while on the water.

Possession Limit

No recreational anglers can have in their possession more than twice the daily bag limit of any species of freshwater fish. Exceptions to this rule are in the state creel and size limits table.

All freshwater game fish caught in any type of recreational or commercial net or trap must be returned immediately to the water from which it was taken without injury, with the exception of bream caught in a legal bream trap not exceeding 24” in length and having a throat no larger than 1 inch by 3 inches. See tips for safely releasing fish at www.wlf.la.gov/page/best-fishing-practices.

No person shall possess filleted fish while aboard a vessel in freshwater. However, for the purpose of consumption, a person shall have no more than 2 pounds of filleted finfish per person on board a vessel in freshwater, provided that the vessel is equipped to cook such finfish and such finfish does not exceed the applicable take limit.

There are many ways to catch fish and other aquatic species in Louisiana’s beautiful rivers, lakes, bayous, ponds and streams. The headings below define the legal and illegal methods of take, and certain exceptions that are allowable by species, methods and locations.

Always check with an LDWF Enforcement Office if you have questions. See Department of Wildlife & Fisheries for contact information.

Illegal Methods for Fishing or Taking All Fish

It is unlawful to possess any of the prohibited instruments, weapons, substances or devices described below with the intent to take fish.

Poisons
Stupefying substances or devices
Explosives
Guns
Any instrument or device capable of producing electric current to shock fish

You may not use any aircraft including fixed-wing, dirigibles, balloons, helicopters, drones or any other form of aerial surveillance to assist in harvesting finfish, except menhaden and herring-like fish.

Legal/Illegal Gear By Species

Freshwater Game Fish

Game fish are defined as largemouth bass, spotted bass, shadow bass, yellow bass, white bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, black crappie, white crappie, and bream.

Silver Carp & Bighead Carp

Legal Bait Species

Including minnows, shad, crawfish, and shrimp (does not include game fish¹)

Nongame Species Not Listed In Chart

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices
Bream (Lepomis spp.) may also be taken as bait for sportfishing purposes (non-commercial bait) using a trap not exceeding 24 inches in length and having a throat no larger than 1 inch by 3 inches; bream traps must be marked with the user’s recreational license number

Not Legal

Standard spearing equipment used by recreational skin divers
Bow and arrow
Slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets
Pipes, buckets, drums, tires or cans
Spears
Hand-grabbing (noodling)
Seines
Dip nets
Snagging devices
Possession of game fish while using a bow and arrow, or using or possessing nets or traps, including recreational hoop nets, recreational slat traps, recreational pipes, recreational buckets, recreational drums, recreational tires, and recreational cans

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices Recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets (limit of five of each per licensed angler)
Pipes, buckets, drums, tires or cans
Bow and arrow
Boats
Dip nets
Spears
Snagging devices
Seines

Legal

Cast nets
Minnow traps
Dip nets (net must be on a fixed frame no larger than 3 feet in diameter worked exclusively by hand, by no more than one person, without any mechanical assistance)
Recreational trawls
Bait seines (with a maximum mesh size not exceeding 1/4 inch bar, 1/2 inch stretched and 30 feet in length; must be operated solely on foot and by hand, without any pulley, mechanical device or assistance whatsoever)
Bream (Lepomis spp.) may be taken as bait for sportfishing purposes (non-commercial bait) using a trap not exceeding 24 inches in length and having a throat no larger than 1 inch by 3 inches
Gamefish may be taken as bait for sportfishing purposes (non-commercial bait) using hook and line or Yo-yos or trigger devices

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices
Recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets (limit of five of each per licensed angler)
Dip nets (net must be on a fixed frame no larger than 3 feet in diameter worked exclusively by hand, by no more than one person, without any mechanical assistance)
Pipes, buckets, drums, tires or cans
Bait seines (with a maximum mesh size not exceeding 1/4 inch bar, 1/2 inch stretched and 30 feet in length; must be operated solely on foot and by hand, without any pulley, mechanical device or assistance whatsoever)
Snagging devices
Spears
Bow and arrow

Catfish

Garfish

Paddlefish

commonly called “spoonbill catfish,” but are not catfish

Crawfish

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices
Recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets (limit of five of each per licensed angler)
Pipes, buckets, drums, tires or cans
Snagging devices
Hand-grabbing (noodling)
Spears
Bow and arrow

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices
Recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets (limit of five of each per licensed angler)
Pipes, buckets, drums, tires or cans
Snagging devices
Spears
Bow and arrow

Legal

Hook and line including rod and reel, fishing pole, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting apparatus, trotline, limb line, jug, or noodle
Yo-yos or trigger devices
Recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets (limit of five of each per licensed angler)

Not Legal

Snagging devices
Bow and arrow
Spears
Hand-grabbing (noodling)

Legal

Recreational crawfish traps (must have a minimum mesh size of a hexagon of 3/4 by 11/16 of 1 inch from wire to wire not including any coating on the wire, limit of 35 per licensed angler)
Dip nets (net must be on a fixed frame no larger than 3 feet in diameter worked exclusively by hand, by no more than one person, without any mechanical assistance)
Crawfish nets

¹With the exception of bream caught in a legal bream trap not exceeding 24 inches in length and having a throat no larger than 1 inch by 3 inches.

Restrictions and Exceptions by Method

Hoop Nets, Wire Nets, Slat Traps, Cans, Barrels & Bream Traps

Must be marked with user’s recreational fishing license number on a waterproof tag attached directly to the device or line of cans.

Yo-Yos, Trigger Devices, Trotlines, Limb Lines, Jug Lines And All Passive Devices Containing A Hook Or Hooks

No more than 50 yo-yos, trigger devices, limb lines, or floating devices containing a hook or hooks are allowed per person.
At any given time, no person shall set more than 150 hooks on all trotlines, combined.
All passive hooked gear shall be clearly tagged with the recreational fishing license number of the owner or user. Information must be attached with a waterproof tag or written directly on the device in indelible ink.
Each hook shall be rebaited at least once every 24 hours, and all fish and any other animal caught, entangled, ensnared or hooked, shall be immediately removed from the device.
Except for those devices that are attached to a privately owned pier, boathouse, seawall or dock, gear must be removed from the waterbody immediately by the owner or user when not in use.
Where allowed and when not in use, objects sourced from another location used to anchor passive hooked gear which are driven into or attached to the lake bottom, a stump, tree, or the shoreline must be removed from the waterbody along with the passive devices by the user.
No driven or attached objects used to attach passive hooked gear shall be larger than 2 inches by 2 inches or 2 inches in diameter.
No metal object which is driven into or attached to the lake bottom, a stump, tree, or the shoreline shall be used to anchor a passive hooked gear, except for a metal object used strictly in the construction of a pier, boathouse, seawall, dock or a retrievable anchor not attached to the bottom.
All trotlines shall have a cotton leader on each end of the trotline.

Divers

Legal

Standard spearing equipment is the only legal method of take for non-game species that can be used by a skin diver submerged in water

Not Legal

The taking of gamefish with standard spearing equipment is prohibited.

Mobility Impaired Individuals

Mobility impaired persons that are bona fide residents of Louisiana in possession of valid identification, and over 60 years of age, must purchase the applicable license.

Restrictions by Location

Some Louisiana waterbodies have specific gear restrictions and are listed below.

Trotlines and Yo-yos
Black Lake, Clear Lake and Prairie Lake (Natchitoches Parish), Caddo Lake (Caddo Parish), Chicot Lake (Evangeline Parish), D’Arbonne Lake (Union Parish), Lake St. Joseph (Tensas Parish), and Lake Bruin, including the portion known as Brushy Lake (Tensas Parish)	Except for an object used strictly in the construction of a pier, boathouse, seawall, or dock, no object which is driven into the lake bottom, a stump, tree, or the shoreline shall be used to anchor a yo-yo or trigger device.
Poverty Point Lake and Bussey Brake Reservoir	No trotlines or yo-yos.
Nets
Anacoco Lake, Lake Vernon and the portion of Anacoco Bayou between the lakes, Lake Bartholomew, Lake Bistineau, Bundick Lake, Caney Creek Reservoir, Cross Lake, and Chicot Lake	No fish seines, gill nets, hoop nets or trammel nets.
Caddo Lake, Lake Claiborne, Lake Concordia, and D’Arbonne Lake	No fish seines, gill nets or trammel nets.
Bogue Chitto River	No seines, nets or webbing in the Bogue Chitto River from where it enters the state in northern Washington Parish to where it enters the Pearl River in St. Tammany Parish. No hand grabbing to take fish from logs, buckets, barrels, drums or natural or artificial nesting areas.
Lake Charles, Moss Lake, and Prien Lake	No butterfly nets or shrimp trawls longer than 16 feet, fish seines, gill nets, strike nets or trammel nets.
Cypress Lake and Black Bayou Reservoir	No fish seines, gill nets or trammel nets. No hoop nets, slat traps or wire nets from March 1 - Oct. 31.
Fool River	No fish seines.
Lacassine Bayou	No gill nets, hoop nets or trammel nets from March 1 - Nov. 30 (in the portion that flows through Lacassine National Refuge).
Nantachie Lake, Poverty Point Reservoir and Bussey Brake Reservoir	No nets allowed.
Tchefuncte River	No seines, nets or webbing in this river or its tributaries, from its origin in Washington Parish to where it empties into Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish.
Toledo Bend Reservoir	No gill nets, trammel nets, flag webbing or fish seines. No hoop nets from March 1 to May 15 (only in that portion of the reservoir from a point north of Logansport where the lake enters Texas and south to a point on the lake where the Texas Duck Refuge Canal intersects the Old Channel of the Sabine River).
Traps
Poverty Point Lake and Bussey Brake Reservoir	No slat traps.
Tchefuncte River	No traps in this river or its tributaries, from its origin in Washington Parish to where it empties into Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish.

Freshwater Fishing