How to get your PA fishing license online and how voluntary permits make a difference

With trout season opening statewide April 2, there are many licensing options to consider.

Licenses can be bought online at huntfish.pa.gov or through about 700 vendors found at sports shops, department stores and county treasurers offices across the state.

How much are fishing licenses in Pa?

A valid Pennsylvania fishing license is required of persons age 16 and over to fish for any species of fish. For state residents, the cost is $22.97 and nonresidents pay $52.97 for an annual license. If you are fishing for trout, you also need a trout permit that costs $9.97. For those who also fish for steelhead in Erie, you can opt for a trout/Lake Erie combo permit for $15.97.

A license is also needed to take fishbait or baitfish. Casting and/or retrieving whether by rod, reel and line, or by handline, for oneself or another person, requires a current license unless specifically exempted by law.

Those who are passionate about fishing might want to consider helping the fish habitat by buying voluntary permits that are sold with Pennsylvania fishing licenses.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission started offering voluntary permits for bass, musky and wild trout preservation efforts about four years ago.

Anglers who buy their annual license and trout stamp at huntfish.pa.gov or from any license vendor could consider these voluntary permits that start at $11.97 for one year and go up to $101.97 for 10 years for bass.

The voluntary Wild Trout and Enhanced Water Permit is $26.97.

With the cost of almost everything rising in the past year, you may be thinking why would someone volunteer to pay more to go fishing? The answer is simple, they want their sport to be better for future generations to enjoy.

The standard fishing license of $22.97 has been the same price since 2005. To put that in perspective for football fans, that was when Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was just getting his starting role in the NFL. When you add on the $9.97 trout permit, you can go fishing every day of the year somewhere in Pennsylvania for less than $3 a month.

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That’s quite a bargain for the memories people made on the water. If future costs are a concern, you are able to purchase a 3-year, 5-year or 10-year license at today’s rates. It would protect you in the event the cost of licenses does go up in coming years.

The voluntary permits are providing the fish and boat commission extra revenue to fund a variety of projects.

Michael Parker, communications director for the commission, said in a telephone interview the money is spread out across where there is a need. He said 18 projects in 11 counties were funded last year. During the 2019 fishing license sales year, the commission reported, anglers purchased $129,000 in voluntary permits that funded 14 projects.

“It’s really a product for the most passionate anglers among us,” he said about the type of person seeing the value of these voluntary permits. “It’s an investment in the type of fishing they already love."

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For example, part of the musky permit proceeds are used to help offset the cost of buying minnows to raise these large fish. Parker said part of the money helps the agency grow the fish to a larger size before releasing them into public waters.

The goal is to have the musky close to 12 to 14 inches long before placing them in lakes. The larger the fish are, the better chance they have to survive on their own and avoid predation. Keep in mind, the minimum size to keep a muskellunge is 40 inches long.

In 2020, donations through the voluntary permit program raised to $289,940. That includes $115,750 for the Wild Trout and Enhanced Waters permit, $88,360 for bass, $53,000 habitat/waterways conservation and $32,830 for musky.

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The agency has used the funds to purchase wooden habitat structures for lakes and performed a variety of stream improvement projects. For example, the bass fisheries at Lake Wallenpaupack in Pike and Wayne counties, Lake Arthur in Butler County, and Lake Marburg in York County each received $10,000 to have manmade wooden structures built and placed in the lakes.

The structures, that look similar to pallets, help smaller fish have habitat to hide from larger predatorial fish. The work also involves cutting and cabling trees along Lake Marburg. Habitat projects of $5,000 each went to Blue Marsh Reservoir in Berks County and Woodcock Creek Lake in Crawford County.

Somerset Lake in Somerset County received $20,000 for submerged habitat work that included efforts by the Somerset County Sportsmen’s League, the Somerset Lake Action Committee, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and Shaffer Block. The lake is starting to refill after the breast and spillway were just replaced.

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A similar $15,000 submerged lake habitat project was done at Donegal Lake in Westmoreland County. The lake was refilled in 2020 after a rehabilitation project.

At Ott Fork, Tiadaghton State Forest in Lycoming County, $10,000 was awarded to remove five culverts on the stream that produces wild brook trout and brown trout.

The funds were also used along Buffalo Creek in Mifflinburg, Union County, to help fund a 2,200-foot section of stream to make a children’s/disabled fishing area in partnership with the Union County Conservation District, Mifflinburg Borough and private landowners.

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These are just a sampling of the variety of improvements funded by the voluntary permit program.

It’s clear the people who are buying these voluntary permits are making a difference in the quality of fishing in coming years. While they are not affordable for everyone’s budget, it makes sense to donate a little extra to make public fishing areas better than in the past.

Good luck fishing.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter emailon your website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA fishing season 2022: How to get your license online; what it costs