US fishing statistics 2026
Numbers you can actually cite: every figure below is computed directly from our open, linked datasets - not scraped from other roundups. Free to use in articles, newsletters and reports with a link to this page. Data checked: license prices October 2026, the other datasets July 2026.
$27average resident annual fishing license across the 49 states with a confirmed agency price (non-resident: $70)
2.8xhow much more the average state charges non-residents than residents
$5cheapest resident license in the US (Hawaii); the most expensive is California at $64.54
$20-$174.14the full non-resident price spread (Delaware to California)
12states where residents fish a full year for under $20
53freshwater species in our spawning-temperature dataset
33°Fthe coldest spawner we track (Burbot) starts spawning at this water temperature; Channel Catfish runs to 84°F
62%of tracked freshwater species spawn in spring - the biologist's reason spring fishing is so good
140US sport-fish species profiled in our library, fresh and salt
17knots and rigs in our tying guide, and 10 core techniques in the technique library
Where these numbers come from (and how to verify)
- License figures are computed from our 50-state license directory - annual resident and non-resident prices taken from each state agency on 10 October 2026, each row linked to the agency's fee page. Prices change every year; the directory says which license each figure is for and which figures we could read on the agency page itself.
- Spawning temperatures come from our spawning temperature chart (53 species, curated from state agency and extension sources).
- Species, knots and techniques counts reflect the current species library, knots & rigs guide and technique library.
Primary sources for the bigger picture
For national participation and economics data - beyond what we compute ourselves - the primary sources journalists use are the USFWS National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, the RBFF Special Report on Fishing, and NOAA Fisheries of the United States. We deliberately do not re-quote their numbers here - cite them at the source.
📎 Cite this page
Attribution makes more of these datasets possible. Suggested credit: