General Freshwater Fishing Regulations

On This Page:

• Definitions

• Taking and Possession of Fish

• Methods of Taking Fish

• Regulations for Harvested Fish

• Purchase and Sale of Fish

• Natural Baits Other than Baitfish

Definitions

Angling means taking fish by hook and line. This includes bait and fly fishing, casting, trolling, and the use of landing nets to complete the catch. Snatching, lifting, hooking, and use of tip-ups are not angling.

Artificial lures or bait means artificial imitations of natural bait, man-made flies, spinners, spoons, plugs, jigs, and other lures, including those that may contain some natural substances such as deer hair and feathers.

Artificial fly means a hook with no more than two points dressed with feathers, hair, thread, tinsel, or any similar material to which no additional hooks, spinners, spoons, or similar devices have been added.

Black bass means both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Blind snatching means the taking of fish by snatching when the fish is not visible to the angler.

Catch and Release means catching and immediately releasing the caught fish without harm. Chumming means depositing in the water any substance, not attached to a hook, which may attract fish.

Closed season means the time during which fish may not legally be taken. View more on closed season restrictions.

Fishing means the taking, killing, netting, capturing, or withdrawal of fish by any means. This includes every attempt to take fish, plus assisting another person in taking or attempting to take fish.

Foul-hooked means not hooked in the mouth.

Hook gap means the distance from the shank to the point of the hook.

Ice fishing means fishing through the ice on frozen waters.

Ice-fishing line means any device used for fishing through the ice, including but not limited to hand line, tip-up, tip down, etc.

Inland trout streams shall mean all rivers and streams inhabited by trout except as follows:

• Great Lakes tributaries to the 1st impassible barrier
• Finger Lakes tributaries to the 1st impassible barrier
• Lake Champlain tributaries to the 1st impassible barrier
• Tidal stream reaches

View the Inland Trout Stream Fishing Regulations for more information.

Marine and coastal district includes waters of the Atlantic Ocean within 3 miles of the coastline and all other tidal waters, including the Hudson River upstream to the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Minimum length means the greatest possible length measured from the tip of the fish's snout to the tip of the tail. The mouth may be open or closed and the tail may be spread or compressed in order to achieve the greatest length.

Natural bait means all baits which entice or might be ingested or swallowed by fish including, but not limited to, fish (dead or alive), fish eggs, worms, shellfish, crustacea, amphibians (frogs and toads), insects (including all stages of development such as larvae, pupae, etc.), pork rinds, liver, meat, corn or other vegetable matter, tapioca, candy, cheese, bread and putty or dough-like scented baits.

Night means ½ hour after sunset to ½ hour before sunrise.

Non-offset (in-line) circle hook means a fishing hook designed and manufactured so that the point and barb of the hook are not offset from the plane of the shank and bend, and the point is turned perpendicularly back towards the shank to form a circular or oval shape.

• Non-offset (inline) circle hooks must be used when recreationally fishing for striped bass or when using baitfish. Exemption: Circle hooks are not required when fishing with an artificial lure, whether or not they are tipped with bait.

Open season means the time during which fish may be legally taken. Snatching means taking fish not attracted by bait or artificial lure with hooks, gangs or similar devices whether or not baited. Snagging, lifting, and single hook snagging are types of snatching.

Spearfishing or "spear" means taking a fish with a hand-propelled single or multiple pronged pike, blade or harpoon. It does not include the mechanically propelled device commonly called a spear gun.

Sunfish means bluegill, pumpkinseed and redbreast sunfish.

Trout means brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and hybrids of these species including splake.

Taking and Possession of Fish

Possession and Daily Limits

• A person may not have in possession, or intentionally kill or injure fish other than the sizes specified and allowed for that species on a given water. Any fish in a vehicle used to access a given water counts towards the number and sizes of fish in possession.
• A person may not possess, kill, or unnecessarily injure fish in excess of the daily limit for that species.
• Any fish an angler catches and immediately releases uninjured will not be counted as part of the daily limit for that species.
• A person may continue to fish for a species while in possession of a daily limit for that species provided all fish of that species subsequently caught are immediately returned to the water. See below for special provisions made for largemouth and smallmouth bass.
• A single, uninjured largemouth bass or smallmouth bass that an angler is landing, measuring, or in the process of releasing from a recirculating or aerated livewell is not considered to be part of the daily limit.

Catch and Release

• Catch and release angling is only permitted during the open season for a particular fish species.
• Measuring, weighing, and photographing the fish are permitted as long as the fish is not removed from the water for an extended period or handled in a manner that could cause harm.
• Fish may not be placed in a bucket, tub, livewell, on a string or any other holding device.
• Catch and release angling for endangered or threatened fish species is prohibited.

Closed Season Restriction

A person may not fish for a species (even if immediately released) during the closed season for that species on a given water. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose.

Endangered and Threatened Fish

It is illegal to fish for, or possess fish that are officially listed by DEC as endangered or threatened:

• Endangered: silver chub, bluebreast darter, deepwater sculpin, gilt darter, pugnose shiner, round whitefish, shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, and spoonhead sculpin.
• Threatened: eastern sand darter, lake chubsucker, lake sturgeon, northern (longear) sunfish, mooneye, gravel chub, banded sunfish, longhead darter, swamp darter, spotted darter, and mud sunfish.

Any unintentionally caught threatened or endangered fish species must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any purpose other than removing the hook and placing them back into the water.

View more information on endangered and threatened fish and wildlife species, including species status assessments and other facts and information.

Snakehead

Any snakehead caught while angling cannot be released back into the water. They must be immediately killed and reported to DEC.

View more information on the invasive Northern snakehead, including identification, known locations, and how to report.

Foul Hooking

All foul-hooked trout, lake trout, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, pink salmon, and Atlantic salmon must be released without unnecessary injury to the fish.

Use of Gaffs

Use or possession of gaffs or gaff hooks is prohibited when fishing in freshwater, including the Hudson River upstream of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, except when ice fishing or while bowfishing.

Methods of Taking Fish

Angling

Angling means taking fish by hook and line. This includes bait and fly fishing, casting, trolling, and the use of landing nets to complete the catch. Snatching, lifting, hooking, and use of tip-ups are not angling.

• Anglers must be in immediate attendance when their lines are in the water.
  • The use of set lines where the angler is not in immediate attendance is prohibited.
• An angler may operate no more than 3 lines with or without a rod.
  • Each line is limited to not more than 5 lures or baits or a combination of both.
  • Each line shall not exceed 15 hook points in any combination of single, double or treble hooks.

Ice Fishing

• General Ice Fishing Regulations
  • Ice fishing is permitted for most waters in New York, except for those waters where Special Regulations specifically prohibit this activity and for waters within Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties.
  • Ice fishing may be permitted in prohibited counties within certain inland trout stream waters - see inland trout stream regulations

• Ice-Fishing Line Regulations
  See definition of ice-fishing line

  • No more than 7 ice-fishing lines in any combination of devices may be used, unless otherwise noted in Special Regulations.
  • No person shall operate an ice fishing line that has more than 5 lures or baits in total or has more than 15 hook points in total.
  • The operator must be in immediate attendance when ice-fishing lines are in the water.
  • Between May 1 and November 14, only hand lines (including rod and reels) may be used while ice fishing.
• Ice Shanties Regulations
  Note: for the purposes of this regulation, portable shelters used and removed from the ice on a daily basis are not considered ice shanties.
  • Ice shanties must be marked on the outside with the owner's name and address in letters at least 3 inches high.
  • Shanties must be removed from all waters by March 15 to prevent them from falling through the ice and becoming hazards to navigation.

Bowfishing

• Carp may be taken by a longbow (recurve or compound) in any number or size from May 15-September 30 from any water where fishing and the discharge of a bow is permitted.
• A person must have either a fishing license, a hunting license, or is entitled to fish without a fishing license to take carp with a longbow.
• No other fish may be taken with a bow.
• Taking fish by a crossbow is prohibited at all times.
• The Fish Carcass Disposal Law must be followed.

Taking Baitfish

See Baitfish Regulations

Use of Fish Traps

Fish (minnow) traps may only be used to take baitfish. See Baitfish Regulations for minnow trap specifications.

Use of Nets

Nets may only be used to take fish as follows:

• The use of a landing net to complete the catch while angling is permitted.
• Personally harvested baitfish may be collected with the various nets as described within the Baitfish Regulations.
• Smelt, suckers, alewives, and blueback herring may be collected by dip nets as described below.
• No other use of nets to collect fish is permitted.

Dip Nets

Any person who has a fishing license, or is entitled to fish without a license, may operate one dip net as specified in the tables below. These are the only circumstances where dip-netting is permitted unless a commercial license has been obtained. Smelt, suckers, alewives, and blueback herring are the only fish that may be taken with a dip net.

• Statewide dip net regulations for smelt and suckers can be found in the tables below.
• For dip net regulations on alewife and blueback herring, see Tidal Hudson River Regulations.

Regulations for Harvested Fish

Fish Cleaning

• All legally harvested fish may be gilled or gutted while on the water.
• Possession of the following fish that have been cut, dismembered, filleted, skinned, or otherwise altered so that the species and total length of such fish cannot be easily determined is prohibited:
  • Walleye,
  • Black Bass,
  • Brook trout,
  • Lake trout, and
  • Atlantic salmon.
• Other species of fish may be filleted provided that the skin is not removed from the fillets.

Fish Carcass Disposal

It is illegal to discard any fish carcass, or parts thereof, into the freshwaters of the state within 100 feet of shore or upon any public or private lands contiguous to and within 100 feet of such water, except:

• On private lands by owners of such lands;
• If properly disposing into suitable garbage or refuse collection systems or by burial;
• Where incidental cleaning of fish for consumption is permitted. However, resulting waste may not be disposed of within 100 feet of any public launching or docking site unless into a suitable refuse collection system; and
• Fish required to be returned to the water by regulation or law.

Transportation

Transportation of fish is permitted as follows:

• Fish caught in New York State
  • Salable fish may be transported in any number.
  • No more than two days' legal take of non-salable fish may be transported unless a permit is obtained from a DEC Regional Office, or the fish are frozen, processed, and packaged for storage.
  • Smelt, suckers, alewives, and blueback herring taken for human consumption purposes only may be transported at any time.
  • Also see Baitfish Transportation Regulations.
• Fish caught outside of New York State
  Fish caught outside of New York may be transported into the State in any manner, except parcel post, in the number that may be legally exported from the place of taking.
• Non-salable fish transported by carrier
  A tag must be attached showing name and address of both taker and consignee, and contents of the package.

Purchase and Sale of Fish

Salable Fish

A baitfish license is required to sell baitfish in NY.

Fish that are salable at any time include those species in the Statewide Seasons and Limits table for which there is no closed season and no minimum length.

• Exceptions: the following fish are not salable if taken outside of New York State:
  • Coho, Chinook, and pink salmon
  • Atlantic salmon
  • Lake trout
  • Pickerel
  • Crappie
  • Northern pike
  • Walleye
  • Additional regulations may apply to the sale of these imported fish; contact a DEC Regional Office for more information.
  • Exception: American eel is the only fish taken from the Quebec portion of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River that may be transported into and sold in New York State.

Non-salable Fish

Fish that are non-salable are fish in the Statewide Seasons and Limits table that have a minimum length or a closed season.

• Exceptions:
  • Black bass, Atlantic salmon, muskellunge, and trout taken on a licensed fishing preserve or private hatchery and properly tagged or documented may be sold
  • Sale of catfish taken in Lake Ontario and its tributaries upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish and in the St. Lawrence River is prohibited.
  • Sale of American eel from the Hudson, Harlem, and East rivers is prohibited, except for use as bait.
  • Eggs taken from Chinook salmon and coho salmon caught in Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, or their tributaries upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish may be sold for use as bait only.

Natural Baits Other than Baitfish

Salamanders and Snakes

Native salamanders and snakes cannot be collected or used as bait. View a list of native species on the Herp Atlas Project page.

Aquatic Insects

No aquatic insect (or any insect that lives in the water during any of its life stages) shall be taken from waters inhabited by trout, or from the banks of those waters at any time.

Rusty Crayfish

• Rusty crayfish may not be purchased and/or transported to a waterbody for use as bait or to be released (See definition of waterbody for baitfish purposes).
• Rusty crayfish may not be transported away from or within a waterbody (See definition of waterbody for baitfish purposes).

Fish Eggs

• No person shall possess more than one quart total of fish eggs from trout, lake trout, or Atlantic salmon while on the waters of the state or the shores thereof. Fish eggs which are still inside the carcass of an intact, legally caught and possessed fish shall not be counted towards the one-quart total.
• No person shall take or attempt to take any fish by means of chumming (see Definitions) with fish eggs.
• Commercially packaged trout eggs produced in a hatchery under permit from the department may be used as bait. The trout eggs must be packaged in a container that clearly indicates the name of the producer and name of the hatchery where the trout eggs were produced.

Frogs

• Any person who has a hunting or fishing license or is entitled to fish without a license may take frogs with a spear, club, hook, or by hand.
• A small game hunting license is required to take frogs with a gun or a longbow.
• Frogs may be taken in any number and at any time from June 15-September 30, except that no person shall use a gun to take frogs between sunset to sunrise.
• Frogs may be imported, bought, and sold at any time. An importer must keep a record of names and addresses of buyers and sellers.

Exceptions:

• Leopard frogs may not be taken in NYC, Nassau, or Suffolk counties.
• Northern cricket frogs or Eastern spadefoot toads may not be taken anywhere in New York State.