Freshwater package
about $30 / about $58 non-resident
Lakes, rivers, and ponds.
Fishing / Get legal
Get legal before you cast.
Texas sells fishing licenses as packages that bundle the license with the right endorsement and tags. Pick yours by where you'll fish - lakes, the coast, or both.
You fish free if...
- You're under 17 (resident or not).
- You're fishing inside a Texas State Park - even from a boat, if the lake sits entirely within the park.
- You're fishing your own private, fully enclosed water that doesn't connect to public water.
- You were born before January 1, 1931.
- It's Free Fishing Day - the first Saturday in June - when anyone can fish public water for free.
Packages and what they cost
Prices are resident / non-resident for the 2025-2026 license year.
Saltwater package
about $35 / about $63 non-resident
Bays, jetties, surf, and the Gulf. Includes the red drum and spotted seatrout tags.
Covers both
All-Water package
about $40 / about $68 non-resident
Covers both - the cleanest choice if you fish lakes and the coast.
One-Day All-Water
about $11 / about $16 non-resident
Great for a single trip or a visitor. Includes the red drum and seatrout tags; no endorsement needed for the day.
Texas residents 65 and older (born on or after Jan. 1, 1931) get a discount: about $12 freshwater, $17 saltwater, and $22 all-water. There's also a Year-from-Purchase All-Water package that runs a full year from the day you buy it.
Endorsements and tags
An endorsement says which water your license covers. If you buy a package above, the right one is already included.
Freshwater Endorsement
about $5Covers lakes, rivers, and ponds (already included in the freshwater and all-water packages).
Saltwater Endorsement
about $10Covers the coast, and comes with a Red Drum Tag and a Spotted Seatrout Tag built in.
How the trophy-tag system works
Redfish and spotted seatrout have a normal daily limit plus a once-a-year 'trophy' allowance for a big one. When you catch one over 28 inches, you use your tag - cut the date on the paper tag and attach it to the fish, or log it in the Texas Hunt & Fish app for a digital tag.
- Red Drum Tag: keep one redfish over 28 inches per license year, on top of your daily limit.
- Spotted Seatrout Tag: keep one seatrout over 28 inches per license year.
- Want a second trophy? Buy a Bonus Red Drum Tag or Bonus Spotted Seatrout Tag (about $3 each).
A special case
Lake Texoma
Lake Texoma sits on the Texas-Oklahoma border and has its own rules. To fish the whole lake you either need both a Texas and an Oklahoma license, or the special Lake Texoma License (about $12). That license is valid through December 31 after you buy it - not the usual Aug. 31 license year. Striped bass have their own Texoma limits, too.
What changed lately
- Spotted seatrout (2024): Limits tightened to a 15-20 inch slot and 3 fish per day after deadly winter freezes. This is the rule that changed most recently - confirm the exact inches before you keep one.
- Catfish (2021): Channel and blue catfish became 25 per day combined (only 10 of 20 inches or longer), with no minimum length, statewide.
- Flounder: There's a yearly closed season from November 1 to December 14 when you can't keep any flounder.
- Red snapper: The federal-water (offshore) season is reset every year by the federal government, so the dates move.
Want the full picture?
This page covers fishing. For the cross-cutting license guide - the Super Combo for people who hunt and fish, every exemption, the add-ons people forget, and how tags and digital licenses work - see the licenses hub.
Open the licenses hub ->Next: what's biting
Official sources
License rules, prices, and tags come from Texas Parks & Wildlife. Confirm the current price before you buy.
- Data vintage:
- Built on the 2025-2026 license year
- Last reviewed:
- June 15, 2026
- TPWD Fishing Licenses & Packages - Packages, prices, endorsements, and tags
- TPWD Buy a License
- TPWD General Fishing Regulations
Caution: License prices and packages can change. The official TPWD license pages are the final word.
Spot something that needs a Texas check?
This first pass is built to be polished over time. Send the page name, county, parcel context if relevant, and the official source you are looking at.
Email Texas Porch.