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.
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