Louisiana fishing rules
License, gear, and the statewide limits LDWF publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.
License
- Who needs one
- If you are 18 or older, you must have a Basic Fishing License to fish recreationally in Louisiana waters. That license includes legal recreational freshwater gear. South of the saltwater line, a Saltwater License is also required unless you are targeting and possessing freshwater fish only. Residents and nonresidents under 18 do not need a Basic or Saltwater license. Annual recreational licenses are valid for 365 days from the date of purchase.
- Residents
- A bona fide resident has lived in Louisiana continuously for the six months immediately before applying and has established Louisiana as their legal domicile, including Louisiana voter registration, a Louisiana driver’s license, Louisiana vehicle registration, and a Louisiana income-tax return when those apply. A resident license from another state or country disqualifies someone from a Louisiana resident license. The license page lists a resident Basic Fishing License at $17 and a resident Saltwater License at $15. A resident 60 or older needs a Senior Hunting/Fishing License at $5, which replaces the basic and saltwater fishing licenses. That senior license is free for residents born before June 1, 1940, and a copy must be in possession. A cane-pole Hook and Line License is $5 and covers a pole or hook and line without a reel and without artificial bait.
- Nonresidents
- Anyone who does not meet the bona fide resident test pays nonresident fees. The license page lists a nonresident Basic Fishing License at $68 and a nonresident Saltwater License at $60, with a nonresident 5-day basic license at $30 and a 5-day saltwater license at $30. Nonresidents under 18 are exempt from both licenses. Louisiana and Texas honor each other’s resident licenses on listed border waters, including Caddo Lake, Toledo Bend, the Sabine River, Sabine Lake, and Sabine Pass, but not the Gulf. Texas residents 65 or older may fish any Louisiana public water with a valid Texas senior resident license and must follow Louisiana law.
- Free fishing days
- The 2026 recreational fishing regulations designate Free Fishing Weekend as June 6–7. The booklet says anglers may enjoy a weekend of fishing in Louisiana without having to purchase a license. The passage checked does not list bag, size, or gear exemptions for that weekend.
Seasons and closures
Freshwater season
The 2026 recreational booklet, updated July 10, 2026, does not print a statewide closed season for black bass, crappie, catfish, or sunfish. Daily creels and size limits apply year-round unless a water or a future effective date in the table says otherwise. The Lower Atchafalaya black bass and crappie changes take effect August 1, 2026. Possession is twice the daily creel unless a species line sets a different possession limit. A water listed in the creel table replaces the statewide default.
Saltwater line and offshore permits
North of the saltwater-freshwater line is legally fresh water. South of that line, plus Lakes Maurepas, Pontchartrain, and St. Catherine and the passes named in the booklet, is legally salt water. A saltwater license is required to fish for or possess saltwater fish in those areas, in addition to the basic license. Freshwater fish in a saltwater area do not require the saltwater license. Private recreational anglers 18 and older need a free Recreational Offshore Landing Permit to possess tunas, billfish, swordfish, amberjacks, groupers, hinds, snappers, dolphinfish, wahoo, cobia, and gray triggerfish. Charter clients are covered by the captain’s charter permit. Highly migratory species in federal waters also need the federal HMS angling permit.
Legal gear
Hooks and barbless rules
Legal recreational methods include hook and line, trolling line, handline, bait casting, fly casting, and yo-yos or trigger devices. The 2026 booklet does not set a statewide freshwater barbless-hook rule. In the Gulf of America EEZ, non-stainless-steel circle hooks are required when fishing with natural bait for reef fish, and a dehooking device must be on board and used. A descending device or venting tool was required while fishing for Gulf reef fish in the EEZ under the booklet note that was effective until January 14, 2026. The booklet does not restate a circle-hook rule for every inshore species.
Rods per angler
The 2026 recreational booklet does not print a statewide cap on the number of rods. A basic recreational fishing license includes recreational slat traps, hoop nets, and wire nets, with a limit of five of each per licensed angler. Recreational crawfish traps must meet the mesh size in the methods section. Yo-yos are a legal method. Unattended commercial-style gear is not covered by the recreational license. Charter passengers use the charter passenger license described on the license page rather than a private basic license for that trip.
Nets
Dip nets are a legal method. A dip net used for bait must be on a fixed frame no larger than 3 feet in diameter, worked by hand by one person, without mechanical help. Cast nets are legal for bait species, including minnows, shad, crawfish, and shrimp, but not for game fish. A bait seine may have mesh no larger than 1/4-inch bar and 1/2-inch stretch and may be no longer than 30 feet, and it must be operated on foot and by hand. Gill nets are an illegal method for taking fish. Recreational trawls are allowed in state waters only when and where shrimp season is open. Landing nets are distinguished from harvest nets in the license definitions for the cane-pole license.
Snagging
Snagging devices are an illegal method. Paddlefish cannot be harvested by snagging. The daily paddlefish limit is 2, fish may not be retained alive, and there is a 30-inch maximum lower-jaw fork length. There is no legal harvest or possession of paddlefish in boundary waters with Texas or below the saltwater line. The booklet’s illegal-methods list also includes poisons, explosives, guns, and tree-topping devices, and possessing those with intent to take fish is unlawful.
Spearing and bow
Standard spearing equipment may be used by a skin diver submerged in salt water or fresh water. With the exception of freshwater game fish, that is the only legal method for a skin diver to take fish. A barbless spear or multi-pronged barbed gig may be used in salt water for flounder only. Spears are listed among illegal methods except those allowed uses. Bow and arrow is a legal alternative only for red drum among saltwater game fish; other saltwater game fish may not be taken that way. Bow and arrow is also listed among legal saltwater methods in the methods section. Anglers 18 and older who take or attempt to take saltwater fish with bowfishing gear south of the saltwater line need a free Recreational Saltwater Bowfishing Permit. Charter clients who pay for the trip do not need it; the captain does.
Bait and live transport
Legal bait species include minnows, shad, crawfish, and shrimp, and do not include game fish. It is illegal to buy, sell, or trade any game fish. Recreational catch is for personal use. All species of tilapia, and carp other than koi, common carp, and goldfish, may not be possessed, sold, or transported into Louisiana without written permission from the secretary. Saltwater finfish in a recreational angler’s possession must have the head and caudal fin intact until set on shore, with the gar and tuna exceptions in the booklet. Fillets generally may not be possessed on the water except for the at-sea consumption limits and the multi-day red drum, spotted seatrout, and southern flounder fillet exception for anglers who launched south of U.S. 90.
Bag and size limits
These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.
Black bass
Largemouth and spotted bass have no statewide minimum and a daily creel of 10, except the waters the freshwater table lists. Effective August 1, 2026, the Lower Atchafalaya Basin, Grassy Lake, Lake Palourde, Lake Verrett, and the associated waterbodies inside the boundary in the booklet have a 12-inch minimum and a daily creel of 5. Toledo Bend and the Sabine River above it have a 14-inch minimum for largemouth, no minimum for spotted bass, and 8 a day in combination. False River has a 14-inch minimum and 5 a day. Possession is twice the daily creel unless the table says otherwise. Below U.S. Highway 90 in coastal Louisiana, anglers may possess up to three times the daily black bass limit if the fish are kept whole or whole-gutted in dated, labeled bags. A spotted bass, for enforcement, is a black bass with a tooth patch on the tongue.
Crappie and sunfish
Crappie have no statewide minimum and a daily creel of 50, with a possession limit of 100. The Lower Atchafalaya Basin waters described for the August 1, 2026 change have an 8-inch minimum and 25 a day. Caddo Lake, Poverty Point, and the Sabine River are 25 a day with possession of 50. Toledo Bend is 25 a day with possession of 100. Sunfish have no statewide size or creel limit except Bussey Brake, which is 50 a day in the aggregate. Named waters replace the statewide crappie numbers.
Catfish
Statewide, blue catfish have a 12-inch minimum, channel catfish 11 inches, and flathead catfish 14 inches. The daily creel is 100 in the aggregate, and an angler may possess up to 25 undersized catfish of the three species combined. Caddo Lake, the Sabine River, and Toledo Bend have no minimum for blue and channel catfish, 50 a day in the aggregate with no more than five over 30 inches, and flathead catfish at 18 inches with 10 a day. Bowfin have a 16-inch minimum and no creel limit.
Striped bass and white bass
Striped bass and hybrid striped bass, in any combination, have no statewide minimum, a daily creel of 5, and no more than two over 30 inches. White bass have no minimum and a daily creel of 50, except 25 a day on Caddo Lake, the Sabine River, and Toledo Bend. Yellow bass are 50 a day except no limit on those same waters. Freshwater drum have a 12-inch minimum and 25 a day. Sturgeon have no legal harvest or possession.
Red drum and spotted seatrout
These saltwater limits apply whether the fish are caught in fresh water or salt water. Red drum must be at least 18 inches and no longer than 27 inches total length, with 4 a day and none over 27 inches. Captain and crew on a charter or headboat may not keep a red drum limit while on a for-hire trip. Spotted seatrout must be at least 13 inches and the daily bag is 15, with no more than 2 over 20 inches. The same charter captain-and-crew retention ban applies. Southern flounder have no size limit, 10 a day, and possession is not allowed from October 15 through November 30.
Saltwater
South of the saltwater line, saltwater species require a Saltwater License in addition to the Basic Fishing License unless the angler is exempt. The 2026 saltwater creel table sets size and bag limits that apply in fresh water and salt water. State waters extend 9 nautical miles seaward for the reef-fish boundary described in the booklet, while other measures still use the 3-nautical-mile line. Federal waters beyond the state boundary are managed by the Gulf Council, and a federal season can be more restrictive for a federally permitted charter.
- Red drum: 18-inch minimum and 27-inch maximum total length, 4 a day, none over 27 inches. Spotted seatrout: 13-inch minimum, 15 a day, no more than 2 over 20 inches. Black drum: 16-inch minimum and 27-inch maximum, 5 a day, no more than one over 27 inches.
- Southern flounder may not be possessed from October 15 through November 30. The daily bag outside that closure is 10 with no size limit.
- Cobia: 36-inch minimum fork length, 1 a day, no more than 2 per vessel. King mackerel: 24-inch minimum fork length, 3 a day. Spanish mackerel: 12-inch minimum fork length, 15 a day.
- Unless a species line says otherwise, possession limits for saltwater fish equal the daily bag. Fish not listed have no size limit.
- Gulf reef fish in the EEZ require non-stainless circle hooks with natural bait, a dehooking device, and the descending-device or venting rule printed in the 2026 booklet.