{"id":22866,"date":"2021-02-11T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/?p=22866"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T08:57:30","slug":"virginia-fishing-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/virginia-fishing-license\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Fishing License: The Complete Guide for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 5<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>The Commonwealth of <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/destinations\/state\/us\/VA?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=22866\">Virginia<\/a> has a lot to offer, but hardly anything beats a fishing adventure here. Within an hour&rsquo;s drive from anywhere in the state, you&rsquo;ll find many angling opportunities. River fishing, a day on one of Virginia&rsquo;s many lakes, an Atlantic deep sea fishing trip&#8230; There&rsquo;s something here for everyone. All you need is a Virginia fishing license!<\/p><script src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/player.js\" async><\/script><script src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/1xsd0zy1uw.js\" async type=\"module\"><\/script><style>wistia-player[media-id='1xsd0zy1uw']:not(:defined) { background: center \/ contain no-repeat url('https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/medias\/1xsd0zy1uw\/swatch'); display: block; filter: blur(5px); padding-top:56.25%; }<\/style><wistia-player media-id=\"1xsd0zy1uw\" aspect=\"1.7777777777777777\"><div class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_outer_wrapper\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; display:flex; justify-content:center; align-items: center; margin-top:-56.25%;\"><div class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_inner_wrapper\" style=\" overflow: auto;\"><p class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_text\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" style=\"text-align: justify; font-size: 5px !important;\">A fishing trip in Virginia is well worth your&nbsp; time and your dime. Whether you&rsquo;re fishing in&nbsp;&nbsp; the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, or Atlantic&nbsp; Ocean, this state was made for anglers. However,&nbsp;&nbsp; before you set the drag and cast your first line,&nbsp; you&rsquo;ll need to pick up a Virginia fishing license. In this video, we&rsquo;ll address some of your&nbsp; most common questions regarding getting a&nbsp;&nbsp; Virginia fishing license.\r\n\r\nWe&rsquo;ll go over&nbsp; who needs one, which type of license&nbsp;&nbsp; you should get, how to get one, and more. And if you&rsquo;re looking for information on any&nbsp;&nbsp; neighboring states, or anywhere else in the US, be&nbsp; sure to check out our licenses playlist as well.&nbsp; So who needs a fishing license in Virginia?\r\n\r\nThe&nbsp; short answer is everyone who is 16 and older,&nbsp;&nbsp; regardless of whether you are a&nbsp; resident or non-resident.\r\n\r\nHowever,&nbsp;&nbsp; there are some exceptions to this rule.&nbsp;\r\n\r\nYou don&rsquo;t need a license if you&rsquo;re: fishing on a saltwater charter boat,&nbsp; fishing on private lands that you own, or&nbsp; have the owner&rsquo;s permission to fish on,&nbsp; a resident, active-duty member of&nbsp; the armed forces on official leave,&nbsp; a Native American living on a reservation,&nbsp; or a resident member of a recognized tribe,&nbsp;&nbsp; fishing in freshwater, if you are legally blind,&nbsp; aiding a disabled license holder, older than the age of 65, fishing in saltwater,&nbsp; or of course if you are under 16, fishing&nbsp; in either freshwater or saltwater. If you don&rsquo;t fall into at least one of these&nbsp; categories, that means you need to have a&nbsp;&nbsp; fishing license on you at all times while fishing.&nbsp;\r\n\r\nYou can have an electronic copy, printed paper,&nbsp;&nbsp; or annual hard card, and you&rsquo;re required to&nbsp; show it to any officer who may ask to see it.&nbsp; Ok so now you know you need a fishing license,&nbsp; but which one should you get?\r\n\r\nThere are many&nbsp;&nbsp; different types of licenses available based&nbsp; on things like where and how long you want&nbsp;&nbsp; to go fishing. The cost of your license&nbsp; will vary depending on whether you are&nbsp;&nbsp; a Virginia resident or not, as well as the&nbsp; length and type of fishing you wish to do.\r\n\r\nTo qualify as a Virginia resident, you&nbsp; must be at least one of the following: &nbsp; a bonafide resident of the state&nbsp; for six consecutive months,&nbsp; a permanent resident of the&nbsp; state for at least two months,&nbsp; a legal voter in Virginia, a member of the US armed forces residing in&nbsp;&nbsp; Virginia on active duty or stationed in the state, a student enrolled in a bonafide Virginia school,&nbsp; or an unnaturalized person who owns real estate&nbsp; and has lived in Virginia for at least five years. As a resident, you have as short as five-day&nbsp; licenses to four-year licenses available,&nbsp;&nbsp; and you can get them for either freshwater&nbsp; or saltwater, or even a combination of&nbsp;&nbsp; both.\r\n\r\nThe cost of course will depend on&nbsp; the length and type of license you get. There&rsquo;s also a variety of special fishing licenses&nbsp; that you can buy if you&rsquo;re a Virginia resident,&nbsp;&nbsp; depending on your specific needs and&nbsp; circumstances. For example, you have: a Sportsman&rsquo;s License that allows&nbsp; you to hunt and fish in freshwater,&nbsp; a Tidal Boat Sportfishing License which is&nbsp; a special combined sportfishing license that&nbsp;&nbsp; gives boat owners a license to fish in saltwater&nbsp; and freshwater within the borders of Virginia,&nbsp; a discounted license for residents over&nbsp; the age of 65, fishing in freshwater,&nbsp; a Trout Fishing License, and more.\r\n\r\nIf you&rsquo;re a non-resident, you still have all&nbsp; the basic fishing licenses available to you&nbsp;&nbsp; as a normal resident, albeit at a higher cost.&nbsp; Additionally, you also have access to a single-day&nbsp;&nbsp; freshwater fishing license, however, if you plan&nbsp; on doing both hunting and fishing, you&rsquo;ll need to&nbsp;&nbsp; buy those separately, as the combination&nbsp; license is reserved only for residents. There are other special types of&nbsp; fishing licenses that are available&nbsp;&nbsp; to both residents and non-residents, such&nbsp; as Lifetime Licenses. Just keep in mind,&nbsp;&nbsp; there are different types to choose from depending&nbsp; on whether you&rsquo;re a resident or a non-resident.\r\n\r\nYou may also want to pay attention to whether&nbsp; or not the specific fishing trip you had in&nbsp;&nbsp; mind requires any additional fees. For example,&nbsp; when fishing on National Forest lands, you&rsquo;ll&nbsp;&nbsp; need to get a National Forest Permit in addition&nbsp; to your fishing license. If you plan on fishing in&nbsp;&nbsp; a state forest, you&rsquo;ll need a State Forest Use&nbsp; Permit. If you plan on keeping Shad, Herring,&nbsp;&nbsp; or Mullet, please note that you&rsquo;ll need a County&nbsp; Dip Net Permit as well.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least,&nbsp;&nbsp; fishing at Clinch Mountain, Crooked Creek,&nbsp; and Douthat State Park will require you to&nbsp;&nbsp; get a Daily Permit in addition to your license. For more information on the different types of&nbsp;&nbsp; licenses available in Virginia, as well as their&nbsp; full price breakdowns, be sure to check out our&nbsp;&nbsp; full blog article linked in the description.&nbsp; Keep in mind that these prices may change&nbsp;&nbsp; from year to year, so it&rsquo;s also a good idea to&nbsp; check on the Virginia Department of Wildlife&nbsp;&nbsp; Resources&rsquo; website before purchasing your license. And\r\n\r\nspeaking of purchasing your fishing license,&nbsp;&nbsp; buying one in Virginia couldn&rsquo;t be easier.\r\n\r\nYou&nbsp; can purchase one online at GoOutdoorsVirginia.com&nbsp;&nbsp; or by downloading the mobile app on your&nbsp; phone. Just create a customer account and&nbsp;&nbsp; you&rsquo;ll see all the different license types&nbsp; that fit your age and residency status. You can also get your license by&nbsp; calling the Virginia Department of&nbsp;&nbsp; Wildlife Resources during their regular&nbsp; business hours or in-person by visiting&nbsp;&nbsp; one of the many licensed agents around the state.\r\n\r\nAnd if you lose your license, you can&nbsp; easily get it replaced. Just head over&nbsp;&nbsp; to GoOutdoorsVirginia.com, select &ldquo;Manage Your&nbsp; Account&rdquo; and &ldquo;Reprint.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s that easy!\r\n\r\nAnother&nbsp;&nbsp; way to do it is by visiting a retail license&nbsp; agent or by calling the Headquarters office.&nbsp;\r\n\r\nA great benefit of having a Virginia fishing&nbsp; license is that there are a number of reciprocal&nbsp;&nbsp; license agreements that the Commonwealth&nbsp; has with a few of its neighboring states.&nbsp;&nbsp; For example, there are certain places&nbsp; along the Virginia-North Carolina border,&nbsp;&nbsp; such as in Buggs Island and&nbsp; Gaston, Blue Ridge Parkway,&nbsp;&nbsp; and New River where both states&rsquo; fishing&nbsp; licenses and permits are honored. Similar reciprocal license agreements exist&nbsp; between both the District of Columbia and&nbsp;&nbsp; Maryland for a number of sections of the Potomac&nbsp; River, including a number of its tributaries.\r\n\r\nIf you&rsquo;re living along the Tennessee border,&nbsp; there&rsquo;s an additional South Holston Reservoir&nbsp;&nbsp; License that you can purchase along with your&nbsp; regular freshwater fishing license that allows&nbsp;&nbsp; you to fish in the Tennessee and Virginia&nbsp; impounded waters of South Holston Reservoir. If you&rsquo;d like more information on reciprocal&nbsp; fishing license agreements, you can head over to&nbsp;&nbsp; the Virginia Department Wildlife Resources&rsquo; main&nbsp; website and search reciprocal license agreements.&nbsp;\r\n\r\nSo, just to quickly recap everything you need to&nbsp; know before you buy your Virginia Fishing License: Everyone 16 and older, resident or&nbsp; non-resident, must have a valid fishing&nbsp;&nbsp; license on them at all times while fishing.\r\n\r\nThere are a number of exemptions that exempt&nbsp;&nbsp; certain individuals from needing a fishing&nbsp; license, such as fishing on a saltwater charter&nbsp;&nbsp; boat or on privately owned land, and many more. There are many different types of fishing licenses&nbsp;&nbsp; available to both residents and non-residents,&nbsp; based on specific needs and requirements,&nbsp;&nbsp; such as where, how long, and the&nbsp; type of fishing you plan on doing.&nbsp; The same types of licenses are cheaper&nbsp; for residents than for non-residents,&nbsp;&nbsp; and residents also have access to hunting&nbsp; and fishing combination licenses that&nbsp;&nbsp; non-residents have to buy separately.\r\n\r\nHowever, non-residents have access to&nbsp;&nbsp; a cheaper, one-day fishing license&nbsp; that isn&rsquo;t available to residents.&nbsp; And last but not least, you can buy&nbsp; a Virginia fishing license online,&nbsp;&nbsp; by phone, in-person, or by downloading the&nbsp; GoOutdoorsVirginia mobile app on your smartphone.&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAnd that&rsquo;s about it. We hope we&nbsp; were able to answer most of your&nbsp;&nbsp; questions regarding getting&nbsp; a Virginia fishing license.&nbsp;&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor even more information on license types as&nbsp; well as full price breakdowns, be sure to check&nbsp;&nbsp; out our full blog article by clicking on the link&nbsp; in the description, or just drop us a line in the&nbsp;&nbsp; comments. And when you&rsquo;re finally ready to start&nbsp; planning your trip, head over to FishingBooker.com&nbsp;&nbsp; or download our app off the Google Play or App&nbsp; Store and book a Virginia fishing charter today!<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/wistia-player><p><\/p><p>So, you&rsquo;ve decided to explore some of the fisheries that the &ldquo;Mother of States&rdquo; has to offer. But you have no idea what you need to make sure you&rsquo;re fishing within the law. Fear not, we&rsquo;ve got you covered! In this guide, we&rsquo;ll tell you everything you need to know about getting the relevant fishing licenses.<\/p><h2 id=\"who-needs-a-fishing-license-in-virginia\">Who needs a fishing license in Virginia?<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"914\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses-1024x914.jpg\" alt=\"An infographic showing the distribution of freshwater and saltwater fishing licenses in the state of Virginia against a blue background\" class=\"wp-image-23046\" style=\"width:508px;height:453px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses-1024x914.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses-300x268.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses-768x685.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144153\/Virginia-Fishing-Licenses.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><p>The short answer is: everyone who&rsquo;s 16 or older. The long answer is, well, more complicated. First of all, there&rsquo;s a difference in fees between residents and non-residents. Furthermore, there are some exceptions where Virginia residents can fish without a fishing license. We&rsquo;ll cover these in the next section.<\/p><h2 id=\"who-can-fish-license-free\">Who can fish license-free?<\/h2><p>Let&#8217;s first take a look at who can fish the waters of Virginia without a license. You don&#8217;t need to get one if you are:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fishing on saltwater charter boats<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fishing on private lands that you own, or have the owner&#8217;s permission to fish on<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under 16 years old (also non-residents)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A resident, active-duty member of the armed forces on official leave<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Legally blind<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Native American living on a reservation, or a resident member of a recognized tribe fishing in freshwater<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Older than 65 fishing in saltwater<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aiding a disabled license holder<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 id=\"information-for-residents\">Information for Residents<\/h2><p>The first thing you need to know is that anyone who&#8217;s required to have a fishing license in Virginia must have it on them. You can have an electronic copy, printed paper, or annual hard card, and you need to show it to any officer who requires to see it.<\/p><h3 id=\"whos-considered-a-virginia-resident\">Who&#8217;s considered a Virginia resident? <\/h3><p><strong>You qualify as a resident if you are:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A bonafide resident of the state for six consecutive months;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A permanent resident of the state for at least two months;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A legal voter in Virginia;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A member of the US armed forces residing in Virginia on active duty or stationed in the state;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A student enrolled in a bonafide Virginia school.<\/li>\n<\/ul><h3 id=\"costs-for-residents\">Costs for Residents<\/h3><p>There are different license types you can choose from if you&#8217;re a Virginia resident. The license you need will depend on what you&#8217;re looking for. Whether it&#8217;s a day of saltwater angling or a lifetime of access to freshwater fisheries, there&#8217;s an option for everyone. The cost depends on the length and type of license.<\/p><table class=\"table table-bordered table-hover\">\n<thead>\n    <tr>\n        <th>Resident License Type<\/th>\n        <th>Cost<\/th>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n  \n    <tr>\n        <td>5-Day Freshwater Fishing<br><i><small>Not valid in designated stocked Trout waters<\/small><\/i><\/td>\n        <td>$14.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n <tr>\n        <td>5-Day Fresh\/Saltwater Fishing<br><i><small>Not valid in designated stocked Trout waters<\/small><\/i><\/td>\n        <td>$24.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n\n    <tr>\n        <td>10-Day Saltwater Fishing<\/td>\n        <td>$10.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n\n     <tr>\n        <td>State Freshwater Fishing (1-year)<\/td>\n        <td>$23.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n   <tr>\n        <td>Saltwater Fishing License (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$17.50<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>State Freshwater Fishing (2-year)<\/td>\n        <td>$44.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>State Freshwater Fishing (3-year)<\/td>\n        <td>$65.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>State Freshwater Fishing (4-year)<\/td>\n        <td>$86.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><p>There is a variety of special fishing licenses that you can buy in Virginia, depending on your circumstances. A Sportsman&#8217;s License will allow you to hunt and fish in freshwater, while a South Holston Reservoir License will let you fish in both Tennessee and Virginia waters of South Holston Reservoir upstream of the dam.<\/p><table class=\"table table-bordered table-hover\">\n<thead>\n    <tr>\n        <th>Resident License Type<\/th>\n        <th>Cost<\/th>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n <tr>\n        <td>Sportsman&rsquo;s License (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$100.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n  \n    <tr>\n        <td>County\/City Freshwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$16.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>State Fresh\/Saltwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$39.50<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n  <tr>\n        <td>South Holston Reservoir Fishing License (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$21.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n<tr>\n        <td>Tidal Boat Sportfishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$126.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n    \n        <td>65 and Over Freshwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$9.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Trout Fishing (October 1&ndash;June 15)<br><i><small>Required in addition to other resident licenses if fishing in stocked waters.<\/small><\/i><\/td>\n        <td>$23.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><p>A Tidal Boat Sportfishing license is what you need if you own a boat. It will allow you to fish in the fresh and saltwater of Virginia from your boat, and it covers all passengers on board in saltwater and tidal waters (to river Fall Lines).<\/p><h2 id=\"information-for-non-residents\">Information for Non-Residents<\/h2><p>If you&#8217;re visiting Virginian waters and looking for the best way to spend your vacation, you have many options. However, you&#8217;ll need a non-resident license in order to fish here &ndash; unless you&#8217;re under the age of 16.<\/p><p>What&#8217;s different when you&#8217;re not a resident? Well, not that much. For example, if you&#8217;re planning on doing both hunting and fishing, you&#8217;ll need to buy these licenses separately, as the combination license is reserved only for residents.<\/p><h3 id=\"costs-for-non-residents\">Costs for Non-Residents<\/h3><p>When it comes to non-resident licenses, it&#8217;s pretty much the same deal as for residents &ndash; prices differ depending on the length and type:<\/p><table class=\"table table-bordered table-hover\">\n<thead>\n    <tr>\n        <th>Non-Resident License Type<\/th>\n        <th>Cost<\/th>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident 1-Day Freshwater Fishing<\/td>\n        <td>$8.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n   <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident 5-Day Freshwater Fishing<\/td>\n        <td>$21.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident 5-Day Fresh\/Saltwater Fishing<\/td>\n        <td>$31.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident 10-Day Saltwater Fishing<\/td>\n        <td>$10.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident State Freshwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$47.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n     <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident Saltwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$25.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident State Fresh\/Saltwater Fishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$71.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident Tidal Boat Sportfishing (1 year)<\/td>\n        <td>$201.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n        <td>Non-Resident Trout Fishing (October 1&ndash;June 15)<br><i><small>Required in addition to other non-resident licenses if fishing in stocked waters.<\/small><\/i><\/td>\n        <td>$23.00<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><h2 id=\"lifetime-licenses\">Lifetime Licenses<\/h2><p>For those of you who plan on spending a long time fishing the waters of Virginia, a lifetime license might be a good choice. There are different lifetime licenses to choose from depending on whether you&#8217;re a resident or a non-resident.<\/p><p>You can apply for your own lifetime license by filling out the appropriate form on the <a href=\"https:\/\/dwr.virginia.gov\/licenses\/lifetime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DWR Virginia website<\/a>.<\/p><h2 id=\"additional-fees\">Additional Fees<\/h2><p>If you have a special type of adventure in mind, check out if it involves any sort of additional fees. When fishing on National Forest lands, in most cases you&#8217;ll need to get a <strong>National Forest Permit<\/strong> ($4) in addition to your fishing license. If you plan on fishing in a state forest, you&#8217;ll need a <strong>State Forest Use Permit<\/strong> ($16).<\/p><p>Note that you&#8217;ll need a <strong>County Dip Net Permit<\/strong> ($4.50) in order to take shad, herring, and mullet. Fishing at Clinch Mountain, Crooked Creek, and Douthat State Park will require you to get a <strong>Daily Permit<\/strong> ($8) in addition to your license.<\/p><h2 id=\"where-to-buy-a-virginia-fishing-license\">Where to Buy a Virginia Fishing License<\/h2><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1011\" height=\"758\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14134835\/Virginia-license.jpg\" alt='An infographic with the state flag of Virginia, a vector of a boat, and the FishingBooker logo, and text that reads: \"Buying a Virginia Fishing License: What You Need to Know\" against a blue background' class=\"wp-image-46207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14134835\/Virginia-license.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14134835\/Virginia-license-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14134835\/Virginia-license-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14134835\/Virginia-license-150x112.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\" \/><\/figure><p>There are different ways of getting a Virginia fishing license, whether you&#8217;re a resident or a non-resident. You can do it online, by phone, or in person. Just use one of the simple ways below and you&#8217;re all set:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Online:<\/strong> You can get a Virginia fishing license online on the <a href=\"https:\/\/license.gooutdoorsvirginia.com\/Licensing\/CustomerLookup.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GoOutdoorsVirginia<\/a> website. It&#8217;s a quick and easy process &ndash; just create your customer account and you&#8217;ll see all license types that fit your age and residency status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>By Phone:<\/strong> You can get a license by calling <strong>(804) 367-1000<\/strong> during regular business hours. However, you can also do it by using your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dwr.virginia.gov\/app\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GoOutdoorsVirginia mobile app<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In-Person:<\/strong> If you prefer getting your license in person, you can get it from some clerks of the Circuit Court. Also, there are hundreds of license agents around the state.<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 id=\"what-happens-if-i-lose-my-license\">What happens if I lose my license?<\/h2><p>Not to worry! If you lose your license, you can easily replace it in a few steps. Just head over to the GoOutdoorsVirginia website, select &#8220;Manage Your Account&#8221; and reprint it. It&#8217;s that easy! Another way to do it is by visiting a retail license agent, and you can always call the Headquarters office at <strong>(804) 367-1000<\/strong>.<\/p><p><em>We&#8217;ve tried to cover all the information you&#8217;ll need. However, if you still have questions about getting your Virginia fishing license, get in touch with your local DNR office. Also, feel free to drop us a comment below. Otherwise, get your license, find a guide near you, and start your Virginia fishing adventure<\/em>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Commonwealth of Virginia has a lot to offer, but hardly anything beats a fishing adventure here. Within an hour&rsquo;s drive from anywhere in the state, you&rsquo;ll find many angling opportunities. River fishing, a day on one of Virginia&rsquo;s many lakes, an Atlantic deep sea fishing trip&#8230; There&rsquo;s something here for everyone. All you need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":22954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1474],"tags":[358,419,586,764],"class_list":["post-22866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-licenses-regulations","tag-beginners-advice","tag-fishing-licenses","tag-virginia","tag-virginia-beach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virginia Fishing License: The Complete Guide for 2026 - FishingBooker Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/virginia-fishing-license\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Fishing License: The Complete Guide for 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your simple guide to getting a Virginia fishing license, including the different license types, costs, and where to buy them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/virginia-fishing-license\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FishingBooker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FishingBooker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-11T14:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T08:57:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2021\/02\/14144156\/Virginia-State-Flag.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vule\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vule\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video\" content=\"http:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/iframe\/1xsd0zy1uw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:type\" content=\"text\/html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:duration\" content=\"508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:adult\" content=\"false\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:upload_date\" content=\"2021-02-11T14:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:allow_embed\" content=\"true\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Fishing License: The Complete Guide for 2026 - 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