Hawaii fishing rules
License, gear, and the statewide limits DAR publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.
License
- Who needs one
- Hawaii is marine-first. A Freshwater Game Fishing License is required to take introduced freshwater sport fish. A Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License is required for any nonresident 15 or older to fish recreationally in the ocean, except active-duty military and their minor children. The license pages checked do not require residents to buy a marine recreational license. Where a freshwater bag is specified, each licensee may take only one bag a day. The catch of a child under nine who is fishing with a licensed adult counts as part of that adult's catch unless the child has a freshwater license and is taking a separate bag. Introduced freshwater game fish may not be sold. Many shoreline and freshwater sites are private, and the regulations page says landowner permission is required.
- Residents
- The freshwater license fee table lists residents and military 16 and older at $5, minors 9–15 at $3, and seniors 65 and older at no charge. The special-provisions summary says the $5 resident fee also covers active-duty military and their spouses and dependents over 15. Minors under nine may fish without a freshwater license when accompanied by a licensee. A duplicate freshwater license is $1 in that summary. A resident lay-net permit has no fee. Online purchases can add a processing fee. A Wahiawa Public Fishing Area entry permit is free and still requires the freshwater license. Commercial marine licenses are separate and are not a recreational fee.
- Nonresidents
- A nonresident freshwater license is $25. A 7-day tourist freshwater license is $10, and a 30-day tourist license is $20. The nonresident marine recreational license is $20 for one day, $40 for seven days, and $70 for the year. A nonresident lay-net permit is $25. Active-duty military and their minor children are excepted from the nonresident marine license. The pages checked do not extend the senior free freshwater license to nonresidents.
- Free fishing days
- The license, freshwater, marine-species, and May 2025 regulations booklet pages checked do not list a statewide free fishing day. Seniors 65 and older pay no fee for a freshwater game fishing license, and children under nine may fish for freshwater game fish without a license when they are with a licensed adult. Those are standing rules, not a designated free day.
Seasons and closures
Closed seasons that are statewide on the marine page
Moi are closed June through August. Striped mullet are closed December through March. Pākuʻikuʻi may not be taken in the West Hawaiʻi Regional Fishery Management Area through December 17, 2026. Other species on the marine page are listed as open, with size limits and, where printed, bags. Marine life conservation districts, fisheries management areas, and fish replenishment areas close or limit gear by place. The May 2025 booklet says its summary is not the legal text and that official statutes and rules control.
Freshwater openings are limited
Introduced freshwater game fish require a license. Nuʻuanu Reservoir is closed. Wahiawā Public Fishing Area requires a free entry permit plus the freshwater license, and bass and tucunare there are catch-and-release. Rainbow trout at Kōkeʻe are seasonal. Native ʻoʻopu and hinana may not be taken with traps, weirs, or nets other than throw nets, and they may not be sold. Hihiwai, hapawai, and ʻōpae kalaʻole may not be sold or offered for trade.
Legal gear
Hooks and barbless rules
The marine species page does not set a statewide barbless-hook rule. The May 2025 regulations booklet encourages barbless circle hooks and says DAR offices can provide sample barbless hooks. That language is advice in the booklet, not a statewide requirement printed on the marine species page. Hilo Bay, the Wailoa River, and the Wailuku River, in that booklet, limit anglers to no more than two poles with one line each, or two hand lines, and no more than two hooks or lures per line. Waiākea Public Fishing Area allows no more than one line, with one lure or two single hooks in tandem no more than two inches apart. Managed areas replace any general practice.
Rods per angler
The statewide marine species page does not print a single rod cap for all ocean waters. The May 2025 booklet limits Hilo Harbor, the Wailoa River, and the Wailuku River to two poles with one line each or two hand lines. Waiākea Public Fishing Area is one line. The freshwater rules page says rainbow trout have seasonal restrictions at Kōkeʻe and a bag of 10 or as announced. That page does not set a one-line trout rule for every Hawaii water.
Nets
A lay net requires a permit. The May 2025 booklet prohibits more than one lay net per person, lay nets longer than 125 feet or higher than seven feet of stretched height, stretched mesh smaller than 2 3/4 inches (three inches in Kailua Bay Fisheries Management Area), multi-panel nets, and joining nets so the combined length exceeds 250 feet. The net must carry four identification tags with the permit number. Lay-net fishing is prohibited in the West Hawaiʻi fish replenishment and netting-restricted areas named in the booklet, with a handmade natural-fiber exception at Kaloko-Honokōhau. Throw nets are a legal method in some areas and are prohibited in others, including the Wailoa River. For ʻoʻopu and hinana, traps, weirs, and nets other than throw nets are prohibited, and possession of those nets near waters where ʻoʻopu or hinana may be taken is prohibited. Fine-mesh throw nets are not legal under a commercial bait license.
Snagging
Snagging is prohibited at Waiākea Public Fishing Area and in Hilo Harbor, the Wailoa River, and the Wailuku River, as printed in the May 2025 booklet. The statewide marine species page does not add a separate statewide snagging sentence. Those named waters are the snagging bans actually read.
Spearing and bow
Spearing rules are area-specific. The booklet prohibits possessing or using a spear in the Wailoa River, and it prohibits spearing crabs. Several invertebrate rules say no spearing. Uku has a one-pound minimum for spearing and for sale. The marine species page makes it unlawful to intentionally or knowingly capture, entangle, or kill any shark or ray in state marine waters. The pages checked do not describe a recreational bowfishing season. Night spearing and scuba restrictions apply inside individual marine life conservation districts and are not a statewide night ban.
Bait and live transport
Nehu for home consumption has a bag of one gallon. Selling or trading dried or cured nehu is unlawful, and a bait license is required for commercial use. ʻIao is commercial bait use only. It is unlawful to sell or trade dried or cured ʻiao. South Kona has a ban on using animal bait for ʻōpelu except with hook and line, between the boundaries named on the marine page. The freshwater rules do not print a wild-baitfish transport limit. Introduced freshwater game fish may not be sold. Releasing aquatic life into a marine life conservation district, other than as a permitted catch method, is prohibited in the districts whose rules were read.
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
Both species have a 9-inch minimum. The bag is 10 for largemouth and smallmouth combined. Wahiawā Public Fishing Area is catch-and-release only for bass. Wailua Reservoir Public Fishing Area has special provisions that the freshwater page flags but does not print as a separate number. A freshwater game fishing license is required.
Tucunare, oscar, channel catfish, and bluegill
Tucunare: 12-inch minimum, bag 3, and catch-and-release only in Wahiawā Public Fishing Area. Oscar: 10-inch minimum, bag 3, with special provisions at Wahiawā. Channel catfish: bag 3, with seasonal restrictions at Nuʻuanu Reservoir. The freshwater page says Nuʻuanu Reservoir is now closed to fishing. Bluegill: no size or bag restriction on the statewide line, but a freshwater license is still required, and Wailua Reservoir has special provisions.
Rainbow trout
The freshwater page lists a bag of 10, or as announced, and seasonal restrictions at Kōkeʻe on Kauaʻi. It does not print the 2026 season dates or a revised bag. A freshwater license is required. The freshwater page does not print a separate 2026 daily bag, so none is added here.
Ulua, moi, and uhu
Ulua and pāpio: 10-inch minimum, 16 inches if the fish will be sold, and a noncommercial bag of 20 for all those species combined. Moi: closed June through August, 11-inch minimum, bag 15. Uhu, except the species called out separately: 10-inch minimum, bag 2 for all uhu species combined, and sale is prohibited at that general line. Uhu ʻeleʻele and uhu uliuli: no take on Maui; elsewhere a 14-inch minimum, and they count toward the 2-fish uhu bag. Commercial uhu permit holders may take more than two of the permitted species. Managed areas, including West Hawaiʻi, replace these statewide lines.
Mullet, kala, and Deep 7 bottomfish
Striped mullet (ʻamaʻama): closed December through March, 11-inch minimum, and the marine page does not print a separate daily bag. Kala: 14-inch minimum, bag 4, and commercial fishers with a permit may take more. Noncommercial Deep 7 bottomfish — onaga, ʻōpakapaka, ehu, kalekale, lehi, gindai, and hāpuʻu — share a bag of 5 for all of those species combined. Onaga and ʻōpakapaka have a one-pound minimum for sale. Any vessel used to take or possess Deep 7 bottomfish must be registered with DAR. Pākuʻikuʻi take is prohibited in the West Hawaiʻi Regional Fishery Management Area through December 17, 2026.
Saltwater
Nonresidents 15 and older need a Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License to fish recreationally in the ocean, except active-duty military and their minor children. Residents are not listed as needing that marine license. Statewide size and bag limits are on the marine fishes page and are replaced inside marine life conservation districts, fisheries management areas, and other managed areas. Sharks and rays may not be captured, entangled, or killed in state marine waters. Sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seals are closed. The May 2025 booklet is DAR's summary and says it is not a legal document.
- Ulua and pāpio: 10-inch minimum, noncommercial bag 20 combined. Moi: bag 15, 11-inch minimum, closed June–August. Uhu: bag 2 combined, with larger minimums and a Maui closure for uhu ʻeleʻele and uhu uliuli.
- Kala: bag 4, 14-inch minimum. Noncommercial Deep 7 bottomfish: bag 5 combined, and the vessel must be registered.
- Striped mullet: 11-inch minimum, closed December–March. The marine page does not print a daily bag for mullet.
- Lay nets need a permit and must meet the length, height, and mesh limits in the May 2025 booklet. Some West Hawaiʻi areas prohibit lay nets.
- Hilo Harbor, Wailoa River, and Wailuku River add a local bag of no more than 20 mullet, moi, and ulua combined, including no more than 15 moi or 10 mullet, plus a two-pole limit. Those are area rules, not the statewide ulua bag.
- Goatfish minimums differ on Maui. Kūmū are 10 inches statewide except Maui, where the minimum is 12 inches and the bag is 1. ʻOama bags are 50, and on Maui ʻoama may be taken only by hook and line.