Arizona fishing rules
License, gear, and the statewide limits AZGFD publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.
License
- Who needs one
- A valid Arizona fishing license, or a combination hunt-and-fish license, is required for resident and nonresident anglers 10 and older who fish any publicly accessible water in Arizona. Youth under 10 and blind residents do not need a state fishing license. Licenses are valid 365 days from the date of purchase and are not refundable or exchangeable. Special-use stamps that used to be required, including a trout stamp, a two-pole stamp, and Colorado River stamps, are no longer required. A fishing or combo license is enough. Unlicensed children under 10 and unlicensed blind residents may take their own daily bag and may use two poles.
- Residents
- The licenses page lists a general fishing license at $37 for a resident. A resident combo hunt-and-fish license is $57. A youth combo hunt-and-fish license is $5. A short-term combo hunt-and-fish license is $15 per day. The 2025–26 regulations booklet says the general fishing license allows the take of all fish species statewide, including Community Fishing waters. Lost licenses bought from a dealer may be replaced for an $8 fee. Licenses bought online can be reprinted at no charge.
- Nonresidents
- The licenses page lists a general fishing license at $55 for a nonresident. A nonresident combo hunt-and-fish license is $160. A nonresident youth combo hunt-and-fish license is $5, the same price as the resident youth combo. A short-term combo hunt-and-fish license is $20 per day. The same age rule applies: nonresidents 10 and older need a license, and nonresidents under 10 do not.
- Free fishing days
- The 2025–26 regulations booklet says a license is not required on free fishing day, which usually falls on the first Saturday of National Fishing and Boating Week. The booklet prints the next two dates as June 7, 2025, and June 6, 2026. Bag limits and other fishing regulations still apply on that day. Fishing a private tank or pond with the owner's permission also does not require a license.
Seasons and closures
Statewide season through 2026
The general sport-fish season in the 2025–26 booklet is open statewide from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026. If a water is not listed with its own bag, length, season, or method, the statewide daily bags and the general season apply. Special regulations on pages of that booklet replace the default on the waters they name. Daily bags run from midnight to midnight. Fishing more than one water in a day does not raise the statewide daily bag.
After the bag is kept
Once an angler keeps a daily bag of a species, including fish given away, that angler may not keep fishing for that species the same day. A fish that is not released unharmed counts toward the bag. Possession is twice the daily bag unless a water says otherwise, and that possession limit follows the angler in the field, in camp, in transit, and at home until fish are consumed or given away. An angler who already holds a possession limit may not keep fishing for that species on later days until some of that limit is consumed or given away.
Legal gear
Hooks and barbless rules
Angling means one line with no more than two hooks, or one line and one artificial lure that may have more than one hook, or one line and no more than two artificial flies or lures. The hook, fly, or lure must be used so the fish voluntarily tries to take it in the mouth. Lines must be constantly attended and in immediate control. A single-pointed barbless hook is a hook with one point, made without a barb or with the barb fully closed or removed. It does not include a treble hook. There is no statewide barbless rule. Waters posted for artificial flies and lures, and some special regulations, require single-pointed barbless hooks. Those restrictions do not remove the option to fish two lines where two lines are allowed.
Rods per angler
All new fishing and combo licenses allow two poles or lines at the same time. More than two lines at once is not allowed. Unlicensed anglers under 10 and unlicensed blind residents may also use two poles. An angler may use one line with no more than two single hooks, such as a primary hook and a dropper.
Nets
Live bait may be taken by minnow trap, dip net, cast net, pole and line, hand line, crayfish net, or seine. A cast net may not exceed a 4-foot radius, which the booklet also describes as an 8-foot diameter. A seine may not exceed 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. A landing net or dip net may be used to land a legally hooked fish or to capture legal baitfish or crayfish. Game fish and other aquatic wildlife taken while catching live bait must be returned immediately and unharmed. Unattended traps or devices used to catch or hold aquatic wildlife must carry a water-resistant tag with the user's name, address, and fishing license number.
Snagging
It is illegal to snag or attempt to snag except where Commission rule R12-4-313 allows it. The booklet lists snagging as a valid method, along with bow and arrow, crossbow, snare, gig, spear, or spear gun, for common carp, buffalofish, mullet, tilapia, goldfish, and shad statewide, unless a closure or special regulation says otherwise.
Spearing and bow
Bow and arrow, crossbow, snare, gig, spear, or spear gun may be used for common carp, buffalofish, mullet, tilapia, goldfish, and shad statewide unless a closure or special regulation restricts it. Bow-and-arrow fishing for catfish is allowed at Apache, Canyon, and Saguaro lakes, with a daily bag of 5 catfish in any combination. Spear or spear-gun fishing for striped bass is allowed at Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave between Hoover Dam and Cottonwood Landing, and Lake Pleasant. Those waters have their own striped bass bags. The January 2026 booklet amendment for Lake Mohave and Willow Beach sets striped bass at unlimited and allows spear or spear gun between Hoover Dam and Cottonwood Landing.
Bait and live transport
It is illegal to transport live fish, including in a live well, away from the water. Fish must be killed or released before they are transported, except some live baitfish bought from a licensed dealer. Live baitfish and crayfish caught on site may not be transported and must be used on the water where they were caught. They are for personal use and may not be sold. No live baitfish may be used or possessed on any water in Coconino, Apache, Navajo, Pima, or Cochise counties. Licensed dealers may sell fathead minnows, golden shiners, and goldfish for the legal areas in the booklet. Releasing live baitfish or other live fish into any Arizona water is illegal. Except for sunfish of the genus Lepomis, the flesh of game fish may not be used as bait. Live bait may not be used or possessed where fishing is restricted to artificial flies and lures.
Bag and size limits
These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.
Trout
Statewide daily bag is 4 in any combination of rainbow, cutthroat, brown, brook, tiger, Gila, and Apache trout, plus grayling. Possession is twice the daily bag unless a water sets a different possession limit. Community Fishing Program waters: 4 trout at lakes and 2 at ponds. Named special-regulation waters replace this default, including catch-and-release, artificial-fly-and-lure, and barbless stretches such as the ones listed for Becker Lake and for Bear Wallow, Hayground, and Stinky creeks.
Bass
Largemouth and smallmouth bass share a statewide daily bag of 6 in any combination. Striped bass are a separate statewide daily bag of 10. Community Fishing waters: bass minimum 13 inches, 2 at lakes and 1 at ponds. Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, under the out-of-cycle change posted for the 2025–26 booklet, are unlimited for striped bass. Lake Pleasant is also unlimited for striped bass. Possession statewide is twice the daily bag unless the water says otherwise.
Catfish
Channel and flathead catfish share a statewide daily bag of 10 in any combination. Community Fishing waters: 4 at lakes and 2 at ponds. Lake Mead and Lake Mohave are 25 catfish under the 2026 amendment in the regulations booklet. Bowfishing catfish at Apache, Canyon, and Saguaro lakes is a separate daily bag of 5 in any combination.
Walleye, crappie, sunfish, and pike
Walleye: statewide daily bag 6. Crappie, white and black: unlimited statewide, except special waters. The booklet amendments set crappie at 15 on Lake Mohave, Willow Beach, and Lake Pleasant. Sunfish, including bluegill, redear, green sunfish, and hybrid sunfish: unlimited statewide. Community Fishing sunfish: 10 at lakes and 5 at ponds. Northern pike: unlimited, and the fish must be killed immediately or released. Roundtail chub: catch and release only. White amur (grass carp): 1, and it must be at least 30 inches.