Arizona Fishing License: Cost, Requirements & How to Buy
A Arizona fishing license costs $37 for a resident adult and $55 for a non-resident adult (fees verified 2026-09-12).
Arizona's general fishing license is a straightforward annual product, priced well below the hunting combo, with a genuinely useful day-pass option for visitors who only need a license for a weekend at a reservoir or on the Colorado River.
- Combination hunt + fish license, resident $57
- Combination hunt + fish license, non-resident $160
Youth ages 10-17 can get a combo hunt/fish license for $5 regardless of residency; anglers under 10 and legally blind residents do not need a license at all. Short-term combo option is $15/day resident, $20/day non-resident, useful for a short visit.
Fee last verified 2026-09-12.
Heading out for Arizona fishing? Game wardens require carrying physical or digital license proof and valid tags. Equip yourself with a waterproof license and tag pouch, rechargeable wide-beam LED headlamp, and corrosion-resistant multi-tool pliers before your trip.
What an Arizona fishing license costs
The annual general fishing license is $37 for residents and $55 for non-residents, valid 365 days from purchase. A combo hunt-and-fish license is $57 resident/$160 non-resident if hunting is also on the agenda. Short-term day passes run $15/day resident, $20/day non-resident, which usually beats the annual for a trip of three days or less.
Who needs a license
Anglers under age 10 and legally blind residents can fish without a license. Youth ages 10-17 can buy a combo hunt/fish license for just $5 regardless of residency, which is a genuinely good deal for a family fishing trip that might also involve small-game hunting.
How to buy your Arizona fishing license
license.azgfd.com is the official AZGFD portal for licenses, day passes and combo purchases. Licenses are also sold at AZGFD offices, sporting goods stores and bait shops near the state's major lakes and rivers.
Fishing in Arizona: what to expect
Arizona's reservoir fishing is better than its desert reputation suggests: Lake Powell, Roosevelt Lake and Lake Pleasant hold serious bass and striper populations, and the White Mountains around Show Low and Pinetop offer genuine high-elevation trout fishing in stocked lakes and streams that feels nothing like the desert floor an hour away. The Colorado River corridor, especially Lake Havasu and the tailwater below Glen Canyon Dam at Lees Ferry, adds striped bass, largemouth and a blue-ribbon rainbow trout fishery respectively.
Best times to fish in Arizona
Desert reservoir bass fishing (Roosevelt, Pleasant, Havasu) is best in spring before the summer heat pushes fish deep, with a secondary fall window. White Mountain trout lakes fish well from late spring stocking through fall, with summer offering an escape from the desert heat that draws Phoenix and Tucson anglers upcountry on weekends. Lees Ferry's rainbow trout fishery below Glen Canyon Dam runs cold and fishable essentially year-round because of the dam's bottom-release water.
Reservoirs, tailwaters and where Arizona anglers actually go
The $37 resident or $55 non-resident annual license covers the whole state, from desert reservoirs to alpine lakes, with no separate stamps for trout or bass the way some states require. Lees Ferry is the outlier worth knowing about: guided drift trips are common there and a license is still required even fishing from a guide's boat. Urban anglers in Phoenix and Tucson also have community fishing lakes stocked by AZGFD specifically for easy weekend access, a program worth checking if a full day trip to Roosevelt or Powell isn't in the cards.
How to renew a Arizona fishing license
There is no separate renewal process in Arizona. A fishing license is not extended in place; when it expires you buy a new one for the next license year through the same system you used the first time, and your customer profile, hunter or angler ID and any saved payment details carry over so the second purchase takes a couple of minutes. Valid 365 days from the date of purchase, not a calendar year.
The fastest route is the official Arizona online licensing portal, which also lets you print or download the new license and add any stamps, tags or endorsements in one transaction. In-person license agents (sporting goods stores, bait shops and, in many states, county clerks) sell the same license at the same price, so use whichever is closer. Buying before the old license lapses is not required, but it avoids an accidental gap if a season opens before you get round to it.
Planning more than one? See the Arizona hunting license page too, see how much a fishing license costs in every state, compare non-resident fishing fees across states, browse every state, or use the state license finder.