Alabama’s fishing licenses can be a little confusing.
First off did you know if you are under 16 or over 65 do not need a license to participate in fishing on public waterways in Alabama? Also, you might not know that you do not need to go buy a license every year!
You can buy a lifetime license. This license is not cheap but it really costs less in the long run. Let's look at it this way, you may want to just be a angler and nothing else, from age 16-64 and you must have a license in the state of Alabama to legally fish in public lakes and waterways. So in that time you will need to buy 48 $12.00 license. Let's do the math.. 48X $12.00 = $576.00. Sounds like a lot doesn't it? Well look at what Alabama has for sale, a Lifetime Fishing license starting at $150.00! That's right- that's a little over 12 years cost for a lifetime of fishing!
Now the catch to that is it has to be for a child under 2 to get that price. When they are 2-11 years old it becomes $200.00 then 12-49 is $250.00, but even if you have made it to 44 years old its a break even for the rest of your life. That is assuming that they always stay at $12.00. The kicker to all of this is that you never have to make that trip to the store or even worse- have your local water patrol officer let you know that you forgot to buy your license this year! You really don't want that guy handing you a little slip of paper.
With all of this being said I myself have a lifetime license and it's always good to know I have a little green card in my pocket that will always allow me to fish in the fresh waters of this beautiful state. I put some links that may help you decide on what license is best for you and maybe for your child or grandchild.
