District of Columbia fishing rules
License, gear, and the statewide limits DOEE publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.
License
- Who needs one
- Anyone fishing in District of Columbia waters, including Rock Creek Park and other fishable water in the District, must have a valid DC fishing license. The license is required even if the person is fishing from the Virginia shoreline or from National Park land. People under 16 and people 65 and older do not need a license. Licensed anglers must carry a paper or electronic copy. Licenses are sold for the calendar year and are valid from the date of purchase through December 31. Sales are final. Since January 2022, licenses are sold online only, and 14-day licenses are no longer sold. Commercial fishing is prohibited.
- Residents
- The license page lists a District resident fishing license at $10. Residents under 16 and residents 65 and older are exempt. A scientific collection permit for a nonprofit or public institution has no fee. A for-profit research organization pays $50 for a scientific collection permit.
- Nonresidents
- The license page lists a nonresident fishing license at $13. Nonresidents under 16 and nonresidents 65 and older are exempt under the same age rules as residents. The page does not list a short-term nonresident license. The notice on that page says 14-day licenses are no longer sold.
- Free fishing days
- The license page and the regulated-fishing page checked do not list a free fishing day. The exemptions for anglers under 16 and anglers 65 and older are year-round.
Seasons and closures
2026 striped bass season
The DOEE director announced that the 2026 striped bass season opens May 16 and closes December 31, 2026. The creel is 1 fish a day, from 19 to 24 inches total length. Total length is the greatest straight-line length from the front of the jaw or snout to the farthest point of the tail with the fork squeezed together. Outside that season, striped bass and hybrid striped bass may not be taken, caught, or possessed. The Potomac and Anacostia are tidal. This file keeps saltwater as null because the District's rules are one set for District waters, not a separate coastal code, and the striped bass season is recorded here.
Shad, herring, and consumption advice
Possession of American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring, and alewife is prohibited under the ASMFC moratorium. DOEE advises people not to eat eel, carp, striped bass, or largemouth bass from District waters. It says people may eat three servings a month of blue catfish, or one serving a month of brown bullhead, channel catfish, gizzard shad, smallmouth bass, snakehead, sunfish, white perch, or yellow perch, and it encourages keeping smaller legal fish or releasing fish. Catch-and-release is encouraged because of PCBs and other contaminants in the Anacostia, the Potomac, and Rock Creek.
Legal gear
Hooks and barbless rules
Except where another rule allows it, a person may fish only with a rod, hook, and line. No more than three lines may be used, and no line may have more than two hooks. An artificial lure or plug with multiple or gang hooks counts as one unit. There is no statewide barbless rule on the regulated-fishing page. When fishing with bait and a hook of size 2 or larger, a non-offset circle hook is required, including when the target is not striped bass. Bait for that rule includes fresh, frozen, live, cut, and scented moldable offerings, and it does not include artificial lures such as bucktails, crankbaits, or rigged soft plastics. The circle-hook requirement took effect January 1, 2021. DOEE treats an Alabama rig or a sabiki rig as separate lures: any number of hookless baits plus either two single-hook baits or one bait with gang hooks.
Rods per angler
The line limit is three. Each line may have no more than two hooks, with the lure and rig exceptions above. The regulated-fishing page does not add a separate rod limit on top of the three-line rule.
Nets
Cast nets and seine nets are prohibited. A dip net is prohibited except to capture baitfish, gizzard shad, shiners, and other cyprinids, and to land a fish caught by angling. That dip net may not exceed 24 inches in diameter or nine cubic feet. No net of any kind may be used to catch fish in Rock Creek Park, and digging for bait there is prohibited. An angler may run up to five eel traps, and each trap must be marked with the angler's license number.
Snagging
Snagging aquatic organisms is prohibited. The fine schedule lists fishing with a snag hook as a violation of 19 DCMR 1502.5.
Spearing and bow
The regulated-fishing page says fishing is by rod, hook, and line except as the rules otherwise permit. It lists explosives, chemicals, firearms, and electricity as unlawful ways to take fish, except for scientific collection. It does not authorize bowfishing or spearing. A northern snakehead may not be returned to the water. DOEE says a snakehead should be killed by removing the head, removing the vital organs, or removing both gill arches.
Bait and live transport
The page says there are currently no bait restrictions other than the coastwide ban on possessing American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring, and alewife. It is unlawful to introduce any fish or other aquatic organism that is not indigenous to District waters. Digging for bait in Rock Creek Park is prohibited. The page does not print a separate rule on moving live bait between water bodies.
Bag and size limits
These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass
Largemouth and smallmouth share one creel of 5 a day. The minimum is 12 inches, except from March 1 through June 15, when the minimum is 15 inches. The regulated-fishing table prints the 5-fish creel on each species line and then notes that the two species are counted in the aggregate.
Channel catfish, walleye, and yellow perch
Channel catfish: 12-inch minimum, 3 a day. Walleye: 14-inch minimum, 1 a day. Yellow perch: 8-inch minimum, 3 a day. The fish-field guide repeats the channel catfish and largemouth numbers.
American eel and longnose gar
The species table lists American eel at a 6-inch minimum and 10 a day. A later note on the same page, citing the ASMFC eel plan, says the minimum size is 9 inches and that undersized eels may not be possessed. The 9-inch ASMFC note is the later statement on that page. Longnose gar: 24-inch minimum, 1 a day.
Closed species
Alewife, American shad, blueback herring, hickory shad, chain pickerel, northern pike, and sturgeon are prohibited unless a season is posted. The page also lists striped bass as prohibited unless a season is posted. The 2026 season is posted separately and is described under seasons. American eel, carp, striped bass, and largemouth bass are on the do-not-eat list in the consumption advisory even when a fish is legal to keep.