Maine Fishing Licenses

Did you know that in Maine any area within 150 feet of any operational fishway is closed to fishing? Well if you didn’t, don’t feel bad, just embarrass the guy who didn’t read this article and is fishing within 150 feet of an operational fishway, BTW this article has all the information you need to know about Maine fishing licenses. If you don’t want to be the guy getting embarrassed, I highly suggest reading the rest of this article.

Maine Fishing Regulations

The State of Maine states:

Any fish killed becomes part of the daily bag limit
If you’re fly fishing you may not use more than 3 unbaited artificial flies individually attached to a line
It is unlawful to keep bass, landlocked salmon, togue (lake trout), or trout at any sporting camp, hotel, public lodging place or any place other than a person’s residence without attaching the name and address of the person who caught the fish
You may not deposit any meat, bones, dead fish, or other food material in inland waters to lure fish
Any fish, except baitfish and smelts, taken from inland waters shall must be released alive into the water from which it was taken, or killed at once
The area within 150 feet of any operational fishway is closed to fishing
It is illegal to fish other that with a single baited hook and line, artificial flies or artificial lures and spinners (there are some exceptions)
You may not possess any grapnel, trawl, weir, seine, gill net, trap, set line or drop net on or adjacent to any of the inland waters of this State
You may not fish with a grapnel, spear, spear gun, trawl, weir, gaff, seine, gill net, trap, or set lines
An angler may fish with up to two lines at any one time while open water fishing
You may only snag suckers
You may not take or destroy any fish by use of an explosive, poisonous or stunning substance

Fishing License Period

Maine fishing licenses are available as:

Daily fishing licenses
Annual fishing licenses
Lifetime fishing licenses

Free or Reduced Fee Maine Fishing Licenses

The State of Maine offers free fishing licenses or reduced fishing licenses for :

Any Maine resident who is blind
Any Maine Native American who is a member of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, or Micmac Tribe
A resident or nonresident, if reciprocal privileges exist in the home state of the nonresident, who is a war veteran and has a service-connected disability of 50%
Any Maine resident (or nonresident, if reciprocal privileges exist in the home state of the nonresident) who is suffering from the loss, or loss of use, of both lower extremities
Any person with a developmental disability
Any person with a head injury
Any resident 16 or 17 years old in the custody of the Dept. of Health and Human Services
Any person or entity that allows a group of persons with disabilities to fish in a location for a period of time as specified on the license