The GillnetThe Gillnet

Fishing rules·MA

Massachusetts fishing rules

License, gear, and the statewide limits MassWildlife publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.

Official regulationsBuy a Massachusetts licenseMassachusetts news

License

Who needs one
MassWildlife requires a freshwater fishing license for anyone 15 or older. The license must be carried, on paper or on a phone, and shown if asked. Licenses expire December 31. Saltwater finfishing is a separate permit from the Division of Marine Fisheries: anglers 16 and older need an individual Massachusetts recreational saltwater fishing permit, including people 60 and older, who still need the permit even though the fee is waived. Anglers under 16, people fishing on a permitted for-hire vessel, and anglers who meet the disabled-person definition in M.G.L. c. 19C do not need the saltwater permit. A freshwater license does not cover salt water, and there is no combination permit.
Residents
The 2026 freshwater fee table lists a resident fishing license at $40, a free resident license at ages 15–17, $20 for residents 65–69, and a free license at age 70 or for a paraplegic, blind, or intellectually disabled angler. Discounted licenses are only for U.S. citizens, and the first resident license each year also adds a $5 Wildlands Conservation Stamp. The MassWildlife pages checked do not state how long a person must live in Massachusetts before buying the resident license.
Nonresidents
A nonresident freshwater fishing license is $50 in 2026, or $8 for ages 15–17, plus the $5 Wildlands Conservation Stamp on nonresident licenses. A 3-day nonresident fishing license is $30.50. The saltwater permit is the same price for residents and nonresidents: $10 under age 60 and free at 60 and older, though the permit is still required. Nonresidents with a valid Connecticut, New Hampshire, or Rhode Island recreational saltwater permit may fish Massachusetts marine waters only under the reciprocity terms on the DMF permit page.
Free fishing days
MassWildlife’s 2026 Free Freshwater Fishing Weekend is June 6–7. No freshwater license is required on public lakes, ponds, reservoirs, streams, or rivers from 12 a.m. Saturday, June 6, until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 7. Catch limits and every other rule still apply. DMF’s 2026 free saltwater fishing days, as stated in that MassWildlife notice, are May 10 and June 21.

Seasons and closures

  • Inland seasons

    Most listed inland game fish are open January 1–December 31. Trout follow that year-round season under the current statewide bag. Smelt are closed March 1–May 15. Bullfrogs and green frogs for personal use are July 16–September 30. Snapping turtles are closed May 1–July 16. Quabbin Reservoir is generally open from the third Saturday in April through the third Saturday in October, and Wachusett generally from the first Saturday in April through November 30; DCR can move those dates.

  • Catch-and-release waters

    Eight inland areas are artificial-lure, catch-and-release waters, including sections of the Housatonic, Westfield, Deerfield, Swift, Millers, Nissitissit, Red Brook, and Quashnet. The Swift River from Route 9 to Cady Lane allows harvest and bait only January 1–June 3 and is catch-and-release with artificial lures July 1–December 31. Interstate ponds can follow Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, or Vermont rules, as listed on the freshwater page.

  • Where MassWildlife ends and DMF begins

    On the Merrimack River, the upstream, northbound I-495 bridge in Haverhill is the boundary. Downstream of that bridge, DMF rules apply. Upstream, MassWildlife rules apply. Striped bass and herring are DMF species even when an angler is asking MassWildlife.

Legal gear

  • Hooks and barbless rules

    Inland open water is limited to two hooks, and ice fishing to five hooks. MassWildlife defines a hook as an angling device on a line that is designed to take one fish at a time, including a spinner, spoon, bait harness, jig, or plug, so a lure with several treble hooks counts as one hook. There is no statewide barbless rule. Eight named catch-and-release areas allow only artificial lures, and bait may not be possessed there. The Swift River from Winsor Dam to Route 9, and the Nissitissit River, are fly-fishing only. Lead sinkers, lead weights, and lead jigs under 1 ounce are prohibited in inland waters. In salt water, DMF requires inline circle hooks for striped bass taken on whole or cut natural bait, except when that bait is on an artificial lure, and circle hooks are the terminal tackle for shark fishing except with flies or artificial lures.

  • Rods per angler

    The inland rule is written as a hook limit, not a separate statewide rod count: two hooks in open water and five hooks through the ice, in any mix of tip-ups and jig sticks. Each angler must be able to tend their own hooks. Jug, toggle, and trotline fishing are prohibited in inland waters. DMF’s saltwater page does not set a general rod cap; it does ban deploying baited hooks from shore with drones, remote-control boats, or bait cannons.

  • Nets

    Licensed anglers may take listed bait species for personal use with one trap, a rectangular net no larger than 36 square feet, or a circular or ring net no more than 6 feet across. Trap openings may not exceed 1 inch, and nets designed to catch fish by the gills may not be used. The freshwater page does not describe a separate landing-net rule. In salt water, DMF allows dip nets and other actively fished gear for blue crabs and bans taking blue crabs with traps.

  • Snagging

    Snagging is on MassWildlife’s inland prohibition list. The regulation defines snagging as taking fish that were not attracted by bait or a lure, by piercing the body somewhere other than the mouth. The saltwater regulations page checked does not add a separate snagging rule.

  • Spearing and bow

    The freshwater prohibitions page does not list spearing or bowfishing as a legal method, and it does not state a statewide bow rule. Snapping turtles may be taken by hand, hand-held dip net, or gaff, and listed frogs by hand or hand-held dip net, with a fishing license. DMF allows spearfishing in marine waters if size, season, and bag limits are followed, and it prohibits taking striped bass or lobster by spear.

  • Bait and live transport

    Personal bait, dead or alive, is limited to banded killifish, fallfish, fathead minnow, golden shiner, mummichog, pumpkinseed, rainbow smelt, yellow perch, and white sucker. Smelt may be taken only by hook and line, and only during the smelt season. Selling fish taken from inland waters as bait is unlawful, and only one bait trap may be used. Frogs other than leopard frogs, 2.5 inches or less, may be used as bait at 10 a day and 10 in possession and may not be sold. Releasing live fish or spawn into inland waters, and transporting live fish other than personal-use bait, requires a permit. DMF also restricts Pacific lugworms and certain shore-shark bait rigs; those details are on the saltwater regulations page.

Bag and size limits

These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.

  • Trout

    MassWildlife’s current statewide trout rule is 6 fish a day, year-round, and no more than 3 of those may be brook, brown, or tiger trout in any combination. Trout here means brook, brown, rainbow, and tiger trout. The Housatonic River, from the East and West Branch confluence to the Connecticut line, is 1 trout a day at a 20-inch minimum, outside the catch-and-release sections where no trout may be kept. South Pond in Brookfield allows only 1 brown trout, and it must be at least 15 inches. A May 2026 hearing proposed this simpler trout rule; the regulations page fetched in October 2026 already shows it as the limit in force.

  • Black bass, pickerel, pike, and walleye

    Black bass, largemouth and smallmouth combined, are 5 a day with a 12-inch minimum, open all year. Chain pickerel are 5 a day at 15 inches. Northern pike and tiger muskellunge are each 1 a day at 28 inches. Walleye are 5 a day at 14 inches. These are statewide inland limits; Quabbin, Wachusett, and posted waters can differ.

  • Landlocked salmon, shad, and eel

    Landlocked salmon are 2 a day at 15 inches, and harvest is allowed only in Quabbin Reservoir and its tributaries, the Swift River below Quabbin, and Wachusett Reservoir and its tributaries. Sea-run Atlantic salmon may not be kept in other inland waters. American shad are 3 a day on the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers and their tributaries, and catch-and-release only everywhere else. American eel are 25 a day at 9 inches in inland waters. DMF uses the same 25-fish, 9-inch eel limit in marine waters, with a higher for-hire allowance stated on the saltwater page.

  • Striped bass and other marine fish

    DMF’s recreational table, last updated April 28, 2026, sets striped bass at 1 fish from 28 inches to less than 31 inches, measured with the mouth closed and the tail squeezed. Black sea bass are 16 inches minimum, 4 fish from May 16 through August 31 and 2 fish from September 1 through October 14. Bluefish are 5 for shore and private boats and 7 on for-hire vessels. Haddock in the Gulf of Maine are 17 inches and 15 fish from April 1 through February 28. Western Gulf of Maine cod on that same table are 23 inches, 1 fish, September 1 through October 31, and Southern New England cod may not be kept. Those cod dates can change in season; the page itself says rules are subject to change.

  • Protected freshwater species

    Possession is illegal for all sturgeon, American brook lamprey, bridle shiner, burbot, eastern silvery minnow, lake chub, longnose sucker, and northern redbelly dace. If one is caught it must be released immediately, without photos, a stringer, or a net. Smelt taken by hook and line are open January 1–February 28 and May 16–December 31, and the freshwater table does not print a creel for them.

Saltwater

Marine recreational fishing is set by the Division of Marine Fisheries, not MassWildlife. Anyone 16 or older finfishing in Massachusetts marine waters needs a recreational saltwater fishing permit, which also covers federal waters from 3 to 200 nautical miles. Marine waters run to the first upstream bridge, with listed boundary exceptions, out to 3 nautical miles. The 2026 permit is $10 under age 60 and free at 60 and older for both residents and nonresidents. Permits expire December 31.

  • 2026 free saltwater fishing days listed in the MassWildlife free-weekend notice are May 10 and June 21. Other saltwater rules still apply.
  • Striped bass must stay whole, except gutting, bleeding, and scaling, until the angler is ashore and gear is stowed. Gaffing striped bass is prohibited. Dead legal-sized striped bass may not be discarded, and high-grading is unlawful.
  • A Massachusetts saltwater permit lets the holder fish Maine regardless of residency, New Hampshire if the holder is not a New Hampshire resident, Rhode Island regardless of residency, and Connecticut if the holder is a Massachusetts resident. The reverse reciprocity list is shorter and is printed on the DMF who-needs-a-permit page.
  • Recreational lobstering is a separate permit. The Gulf of Maine carapace slot on the April 28, 2026 table is 3 1/4 inches to 5 inches, with a 15-lobster daily bag and a 10-trap maximum. V-notched and egg-bearing lobsters may not be kept.

Sources