License Requirements
All anglers fishing in freshwater must possess a valid Basic Fishing License. (Please check for exceptions here).
A Basic Fishing License is also required to use the following gear:
- Bow and arrow
- Barbed or barbless spear
- Frog gig/catcher
- Scuba gear (when spear fishing)
- Hook and Line
- Cast net (radius not to exceed 8 feet, 6 inches)
All applicable licenses must be in possession of the fisherman.
Freshwater Species you Cannot Harvest
The federally listed threatened and endangered species below cannot be harvested. Civil and criminal penalties may apply for taking the following aquatic species.
- Louisiana pearlshell mussel (Margaritifera hembeli)
- Inflated heelsplitter mussel (Potamilus inflatus)
- Fat pocketbook mussel (Potamilus capax)
- Pink mucket mussel (Lampsilis orbiculata)
- Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi)
- Pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus)
- Shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus)
Prohibited Freshwater Fish
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to possess, sell or transport any of the following species of fish into Louisiana without first obtaining the written permission of the secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
- All species of tilapia
- Carp (except koi or common carp) and Goldfish
- Freshwater electric eel
- Rudd
- All members of the families of Asian swamp eels, snakeheads, walking catfishes and pencil catfishes.
Exotic species of Asian carp (silver, bighead, black and grass) taken from state waters must not be returned to the water and may not be possessed alive.
No person shall have in possession or sell in this state a piranha or Rio Grande cichlid. If an angler catches a Rio Grande cichlid using legal methods, the fish shall not be returned to the water or kept alive while in the possession of the angler
Daily Bag Limit
Recreational anglers must not exceed the daily bag limit for any species while on the water.
Possession Limit
No recreational anglers can have in their possession more than twice the daily bag limit of any species of freshwater recreational fish, EXCEPT that anglers may have up to three times the daily bag limit of black bass (Micropterus spp.) below U.S. Highway 90 in coastal Louisiana. Anglers may have up to 100 crappie in their possession at Toledo Bend Reservoir.
All freshwater game fish caught in any type of recreational or commercial net or trap must be returned immediately to the water from which it was taken without injury. No person shall possess filleted fish while aboard a vessel in freshwater. However, for the purpose of consumption, a person shall have no more than 2 pounds of filleted finfish per person on board a vessel in freshwater.
