Maine Fishing License
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW)
Contact
- Address
- 41 State House Station (street: 353 Water Street)
Augusta, ME 04333-0041 - Main office
- 207-287-8000
- Website
- maine.gov/ifw
At a glance
- Licences and permits
- 18
- Of which specialty
- 1
- Cheapest listed licence
- $2.00
- Free fishing days
- February 14-15, 2026 and May 30-31, 2026 - anyone whose licence is not suspended or revoked may fish without a licence
- Fees verified
- 4 Sep 2026
Who does not need one
Complimentary MDIFW licences are available to blind Maine residents, enrolled members of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Micmac tribes, war veterans with a 50 percent or greater service-connected disability, people who have lost both lower extremities, people with developmental disabilities, people with head injuries, and Maine residents aged 16-17 in state custody. Saltwater angling is administered separately by the Maine Department of Marine Resources through its registry.
Specialty licences 1
Extra items an angler must hold on top of the base licence. These are the ones most often missed — a base licence alone does not cover them.
| Licence | Type | Who needs it | Applies to | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry1.00 when registered online through Maine DMR or by mail; 2.00 when registered through an MDIFW licence agent. Exempt: anglers under 16, holders of a valid non-lifetime Maine freshwater fishing licence, DMR commercial licence holders, Maine residents fishing only on Memorial Day, 4 July or Labor Day weekends, members of specified Maine tribes, passengers on a licensed for-hire vessel, anglers on a licensed smelt wharf or renting a licensed smelt camp, and anglers registered in another state or the National Registry. | Permit | Anyone fishing recreationally in Maine salt water who is not otherwise exempt - issued by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, NOT MDIFW | Any · annual · 16+ | $1.00 |
Every licence and fee 18
| Licence | Residency | Term | Ages | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base licence 11 | ||||
| Duplicate Licence Replacing a lost licence | Any | season | all | $2.00 |
| Serviceman Dependent Fishing Licence Dependents of resident servicemembers who fish only | Resident | season | 16+ | $10.00 |
| Nonresident 1-Day Fishing Licence Nonresidents fishing for a single day | Non-resident | 1-day | 16+ | $18.00 |
| Resident 1-Day Fishing Licence Residents fishing for a single day | Resident | 1-day | 16+ | $18.00 |
| Nonresident 3-Day Fishing Licence Nonresidents fishing for three days | Non-resident | 3-day | 16+ | $30.00 |
| Resident Season Fishing Licence Maine residents age 16 and older fishing inland waters | Resident | season | 16+ | $30.00 |
| Nonresident 7-Day Fishing Licence Nonresidents fishing for seven days | Non-resident | 7-day | 16+ | $62.00 |
| Nonresident 15-Day Fishing Licence Nonresidents fishing for fifteen days Fifteen days. | Non-resident | short-term | 16+ | $66.00 |
| Nonresident Season Fishing Licence Nonresidents age 16 and older fishing Maine inland waters | Non-resident | season | 16+ | $83.00 |
| Nonresident Lifetime Fishing Licence Nonresidents buying lifetime fishing privileges Price varies by age and by which activities are combined; MDIFW's nonresident lifetime range is 450.00 to 2400.00. Per-age figures were not itemised in the loaded page, so no single price is asserted. | Non-resident | lifetime | all | Not published |
| Resident Lifetime Fishing Licence Residents buying lifetime fishing privileges Price varies by the buyer's age at purchase. MDIFW's published resident lifetime table runs from 8.00 at age 70 and over up to 400.00 for a child age 5 and under for the combined fishing/hunting/archery package; the individual per-age fishing-only figures were not itemised in the version of the page loaded, so no single price is asserted here. | Resident | lifetime | all | Not published |
| Combination licence 6 | ||||
| Resident Serviceman Combination Licence Resident members of the armed services on leave | Resident | season | 16+ | $3.00 |
| Serviceman Dependent Combination Licence Dependents of resident servicemembers | Resident | season | 16+ | $20.00 |
| Resident Combination Fishing & Archery Licence Residents who fish and bowhunt | Resident | season | 16+ | $48.00 |
| Resident Combination Fishing & Hunting Licence Residents who fish and hunt | Resident | season | 16+ | $48.00 |
| Nonresident Combination Fishing & Hunting Licence Nonresidents who fish and hunt | Non-resident | season | 16+ | $169.00 |
| Resident Super Pack Licence Residents wanting all game and fish privileges in one package Includes the fishing licence along with hunting privileges and permits. | Resident | season | 16+ | $212.00 |
| Permit 1 | ||||
| Maine Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry Anyone fishing recreationally in Maine salt water who is not otherwise exempt - issued by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, NOT MDIFW 1.00 when registered online through Maine DMR or by mail; 2.00 when registered through an MDIFW licence agent. Exempt: anglers under 16, holders of a valid non-lifetime Maine freshwater fishing licence, DMR commercial licence holders, Maine residents fishing only on Memorial Day, 4 July or Labor Day weekends, members of specified Maine tribes, passengers on a licensed for-hire vessel, anglers on a licensed smelt wharf or renting a licensed smelt camp, and anglers registered in another state or the National Registry. | Any | annual | 16+ | $1.00 |
Fees as published by Maine IF&W and read on 4 September 2026. Agencies change fees without notice and vendors add issuing charges, so confirm the current price at the point of sale. We do not reproduce seasons, limits or gear rules — see the agency's regulations page for those.
Notes on this listing
Inland fees from maine.gov/ifw licence-requirements page (loaded 2026-09-04); these reflect the 2026 resident fee increase. Lifetime licence prices are left null because MDIFW publishes them as an age-banded table that did not render itemised in the fetched page - only the overall ranges (resident 8.00 to 400.00, nonresident 450.00 to 2400.00) were readable, and the schema forbids guessing. MDIFW publishes no general email address or office hours on the licence page; both left null. Social handles were not confirmed from an official page and are left blank. Maine has no trout stamp, second-rod permit or aquatic-invasive-species angling surcharge; the AIS sticker in Maine is a boat-registration requirement, not an angling licence, so it is not listed. The under-16 licence exemption is standard Maine practice but was not quoted verbatim on either loaded page, so it is not asserted in license_exempt_notes.
About Maine IF&W
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is the agency that issues fishing licences in Maine and sets what every angler on its water has to carry.
Base and combination licences run from $2.00 to $212.00 depending on residency, term and age.
Beyond the base licence there is 1 specialty item to watch for, including the Maine Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry. These are separate purchases and a base licence does not cover them.
Free fishing days: February 14-15, 2026 and May 30-31, 2026 – anyone whose licence is not suspended or revoked may fish without a licence.
The fee table below was read from official sources on 4 September 2026. We list what each item is called, who needs it and what it costs, and link out for the rules themselves — seasons, limits and gear regulations live on the agency’s own page and change too often to mirror.