New Hampshire fishing rules
License, gear, and the statewide limits NH Fish and Game publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.
License
- Who needs one
- Anyone 16 or older needs a license to fish in New Hampshire fresh water or salt water. Freshwater licenses cover species in fresh water. A separate recreational saltwater license is required to take, possess, or transport marine finfish for personal use from coastal and estuarine waters, including by spear or other gear, when the fish are not sold. Children under 16, resident or nonresident, do not need either license. An adult who helps a child by baiting a hook, casting, netting, or unhooking is assisting and the department’s FAQ says that adult is not covered by the child’s exemption. Fishing and hunting licenses run January 1 through December 31, except temporary licenses dated at purchase.
- Residents
- The 2026 freshwater digest and the license-price page list a resident freshwater fishing license at $45 for ages 16–67, a resident one-day license at $10, and a senior freshwater license at $7 for residents born in 1948 or later who are at least 68. Residents born in 1947 or earlier can get a free permanent milestone freshwater license, which is void if the holder moves out of state, and saltwater fishing is not included in that free permanent license. A $2 transaction fee is charged per license, or $2.75 online. The price page does not print a days-in-state residency test.
- Nonresidents
- A nonresident freshwater license is $63. Temporary nonresident freshwater licenses are $15 for one day, $28 for three consecutive days, and $35 for seven consecutive days. The recreational saltwater license is $11 for residents and nonresidents. The saltwater FAQ says that $11 includes a $1 agent fee. Nonresidents need the New Hampshire saltwater license unless they are fishing on a licensed charter or party boat. A New Hampshire resident cannot substitute a Massachusetts or Maine saltwater license, registry, or endorsement while fishing in New Hampshire.
- Free fishing days
- The 2026 freshwater digest lists two free fishing days: Saturday, January 17, and Saturday, June 6. Fishing must be by angling only. No license is required for residents or nonresidents, and every other regulation still applies. Anglers in a fishing tournament on those days still need a license. The saltwater FAQ says the first Saturday in June also covers coastal and estuarine waters, so June 6, 2026, is license-free in salt water as well as fresh water.
Seasons and closures
Freshwater opening pattern
Rivers and streams for trout and for most other species run January 1–October 15, and wild trout streams run January 1 through Labor Day. Trout ponds and many other pond seasons open the fourth Saturday in April and close October 15, or Labor Day on wild trout ponds. Lake-trout and salmon waters close to those species on September 30, and from January 1 through March 31 fish on those waters may be taken by ice fishing only. Bass catch-and-release with artificials runs May 15–June 15 on the general rules. Fishing is allowed day or night unless a water says otherwise. In 2026 the fourth Saturday in April is April 25, and Labor Day is September 7; the digest states the rules as the fourth Saturday and Labor Day rather than as those calendar dates.
Special waters and interstate rivers
If a lake is in the special-rules list, that listing replaces the general table. The same is true for rivers. Lake-trout and salmon lakes have their own ice-fishing, trolling, and October closure rules in the digest. Interstate waters with Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts are a separate chapter. Connecticut River walleye, in the interstate notes that were readable, prohibit keeping fish from 16 to 18 inches and set a daily limit of 4 of which only 1 may be larger than 18 inches. That is a river exception, not the statewide 2-fish, 18-inch rule.
Marine boundary
Coastal and estuarine waters are waters within the rise and fall of the tide, and water below any fishway or dam that normally divides tide water from fresh water. Below the Lamprey River dam in Newmarket, the saltwater license applies. Above that dam, the freshwater license applies. State marine waters run to 3 miles; farther offshore is federal water. The Marine Fisheries Division of NH Fish and Game sets those rules.
Legal gear
Hooks and barbless rules
There is no statewide barbless rule. In open water, two hooks may be used for bait on a line, one with a single point and the other with no more than three points, except on certain lake-trout and salmon lakes. Only one artificial bait, one fly, one tandem fly, or one bait may be used per rod on waters where that special rule is posted, and bait on those waters is often limited to one single-point hook. Fly-fishing-only ponds and many wild-trout streams require a single barbless hook and artificial lures or flies. While ice fishing, bait may be used only on a single hook with one point. The FAQ states that a baited treble hook is not legal through the ice. Lead sinkers and lead jigs of 1 ounce or less are prohibited in all fresh water, and selling them in the state is prohibited.
Rods per angler
Open-water fishing allows up to two lines. Ice fishing allows either six lines or two lines, depending on the water, and the digest’s ice-fishing section is the place to check which waters are which. On lakes approved for cusk devices, up to six of those devices may be used in addition to the ice lines. Set lines, including jug fishing, are prohibited in fresh water. A gaff may not be used to take fish in any fresh water. After the daily bag for a species is filled, fishing for that species must stop.
Nets
A net is on the freshwater list of gear that is unlawful to use or possess except where a rule specifically allows it. Personal-use bait traps are allowed: up to six traps, each no longer than 18 inches, with an opening no larger than 1 inch, for approved bait-fish species other than white suckers. Suckers may be taken for personal use with two traps no more than 50 inches long and 30 inches wide. From March 1 through May 31, suckers may also be taken with a hand dip net no more than 18 inches across or a drop net no more than 48 inches across. Traps, nets, and holding boxes in public waters must be marked with the owner’s name and address. Smelt dipping is limited to waters and hours in the digest.
Snagging
Snagging in fresh water is prohibited. A fish snagged by accident must be released immediately.
Spearing and bow
A spear, jack, or jack light is unlawful in fresh water except where a rule allows it. Carp may be taken by bow and arrow with a cord attached, in addition to angling, from the Connecticut River, the Merrimack River, and Mascoma Lake. Suckers taken from March 1 through May 31 may be taken by spear or by bow and arrow with a cord attached, as well as by the nets listed above. Saltwater recreational rules, on the marine license page, include spearfishers among the people who need a saltwater license. The saltwater FAQ says it is illegal to harvest lobster by diving.
Bait and live transport
Only the species named in the digest may be possessed and used as live fish for bait in fresh water. The open-water rules prohibit alewives, carp, and goldfish as live bait, and they prohibit shad or whitefish as bait for cusk. Importing, possessing, or releasing live wildlife or live marine species, or their eggs, requires a permit from the executive director. Live fish may not be possessed except approved bait, or under a bass, aquaculture, or other permit the rule names. Fish must be returned to the water where they were caught unless a permit says otherwise. The personal-use daily limit for bait fish is 2 quarts liquid measure. No person may possess more than two days’ legal bag of wildlife, including fish. Culling is prohibited except during a permitted bass tournament. Releasing bait or bait-bucket water is discouraged in the digest’s hitchhiker guidance, and unwanted bait goes in the trash.
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
On lakes and ponds under the general rules, black bass are 2 a day from January 1 through May 14, catch-and-release only from May 15 through June 15 with artificial lures and flies only, and 5 a day from June 16 through December 31. On rivers and streams the digest sets 2 a day from January 1 through May 14 and 5 a day from June 16 through October 15. The seasons page adds a May 15–June 15 catch-and-release period on rivers and streams. Many named waters replace these numbers.
Trout, lake trout, and salmon
There is no single trout rule for every water. On lakes and ponds that follow the general rules, brook, brown, and rainbow trout and their hybrids are 5 fish or 5 pounds a day, whichever comes first, with no length limit, and 2 a day through the ice. Trout ponds are closed to ice fishing and open from the fourth Saturday in April through October 15, with the same 5-fish or 5-pound daily limit. Wild trout ponds close on Labor Day. Lake trout are 2 a day, 15-inch minimum, January 1–September 30, and from January 1 through March 31 they may be taken by ice fishing only on lake-trout and salmon waters. Landlocked salmon are 2 a day, 15-inch minimum, April 1–September 30. On rivers and streams the general trout limit is also 5 fish or 5 pounds from January 1 through October 15. Designated wild-trout streams are catch-and-release with a single barbless hook.
Pike, pickerel, walleye, and panfish
Under the general lake and river rules, chain pickerel are 10 a day with no length limit. Northern pike are 1 a day at 28 inches. Walleye are 2 a day at 18 inches. The Connecticut River walleye rule is different and is in the interstate chapter. White perch, yellow perch, black crappie, sunfish, and horned pout are 25 a day of each species and no more than 50 fish combined. Rock bass, carp, and cusk have no daily limit on the general tables. Round whitefish have no open season and must be released. American shad are catch-and-release only. River herring have no open season on the lake table.
Smelt and whitefish
Lake whitefish are 2 a day with no length limit, January 1–September 30 on the general lake rule, and January 1–October 15 on the general river rule. Freshwater smelt rules, including which waters are open to dip-netting, are in the digest’s smelt section rather than in the general bag table. The seasons page tells anglers to use that digest section instead of a statewide smelt number.
Marine groundfish rule on file
A fetched copy of Fis 603.09 states recreational minimum lengths and bags for groundfish, including Atlantic cod at 23 inches and 1 fish with an open season of September 1–October 31, haddock at 18 inches and 15 fish with no recreational take in March, winter flounder at 12 inches and 8 fish, and Atlantic halibut at 41 inches with head and tail intact. That rule text does not print a 2026 revision date. The department’s recreational saltwater page, fetched in October 2026, still displays a May 2023 striped bass emergency notice of one fish from 28 inches to less than 31 inches and does not replace it with a 2026 table. Because of that, this summary does not treat the 2023 striped bass sentence as the current limit. The current saltwater sizes are in the NH Saltwater Digest and Fis 600.
Saltwater
Saltwater recreational fishing is regulated by the Marine Fisheries Division of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, not by the freshwater table. Anyone 16 or older who recreationally takes, possesses, or transports marine finfish from coastal or estuarine waters needs a New Hampshire recreational saltwater fishing license, whether fishing from shore, a private boat, or with a spear. The license is $11 for residents and nonresidents. Children under 16 are exempt. Customers on a licensed charter or party boat do not need their own saltwater license. A New Hampshire saltwater license also allows fishing in Massachusetts and Maine coastal and estuarine waters. New Hampshire residents cannot use a Massachusetts or Maine saltwater license to fish in New Hampshire.
- June 6, 2026, the first Saturday in June, is a license-free day for coastal and estuarine waters as well as inland waters. Season, bag, and gear rules still apply. The digest also lists January 17, 2026, as a free fishing day for angling.
- Estuarine water includes tide water and the river below the dam or fishway. Great Bay smelt fished through the ice need the saltwater license, not the freshwater license.
- Seniors pay the same $11 saltwater fee. A free permanent freshwater milestone license does not cover salt water. A lifetime freshwater license bought before 2011 can be paired with a free annual permit limited to saltwater smelt, shad, trout, and salmon, applied for each year in Concord.
- The recreational saltwater web page still shows a 2023 striped bass slot notice and does not print a 2026 species table. Fis 603.09, as fetched, sets groundfish sizes including cod at 23 inches and one fish from September 1 through October 31, and haddock at 18 inches and 15 fish, but that file does not show a 2026 effective date. Confirm the current saltwater digest before keeping marine fish.
- Lobster may not be taken by diving. Only residents may buy clam and oyster licenses. Shellfish closures are on the department’s clam-flat status page.