We need a National Fishing License for those over 65. I've been on the road for four months and have been in some 15 states. $50 here and $50 there just to fish in two different states. Have a one time fee and be done with it.

The individual states manage their own fisheries and one country wide license would be tough to do and also unfair to certain states (unless it was subsidized by the federal gov't - which I am not in favor of). What I do is purchase weekend licenses that are a little less expensive.

There are several moves afoot for a national fishing license. Many of us retirees are in the same boat- kids and grandkids in multiple states-other friends and relatives who want us to "come on down,and go fishing," or when traveling we just want to wet a line,where we've never fished before. I know about 3 day or "weekend license in some states", but when I visit the kids in Florida I'm there a lot longer. (last year 1 month in Feb. and 1 month in June.)
O.K., nobrainer-non- resident annual. Same for New York, Mass, N.C, Idaho,
and California. AND THAT'S JUST FAMILY! As many retirees are finding out, it gets expensive to take your grandson fishing for crappies. If you understand the problem, you can go online and type in National fishing license and a bunch of site will pop up. One site even has a petition that can be signed ,and another a form letter to send to politicians.

We are new full time RVers. We have been in 2 different states for the past 2 1/2 months. The first state we bought 1 day licenses for each of us but we would have fished much more if we could have but the cost put us off. The 2nd state we finally decided to purchase 1-1 year fishing license so that one of us could fish anytime during the 4 weeks we are going to be in the state. Unfortunately, that means both of us cannot fish.
We plan to travel the entire US. We would love to be able to fish in any state we visit. Having a national fishing license for people who travel would be extremely advantageous. The cost of purchasing a fishing license for each state is prohibitive, especially when you have to pay a higher price for not being a citizen of the state.

I guess I'd have to ask, why over 65? We seniors get a lot of breaks. Seems like this idea is appropriate for everyone.

And, Korbe, this idea should be managed by the feds, not subsidized. A fee would be charged that could be sufficient to avoid tax payer participation. This is the way the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) used to operate before being absorbed by HUD. And, believe me, FHA was (and still is) a whole lot bigger then any federal entity would be for managing such a program. Perhaps using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be the way to go. It could mostly be automated thus, except for managing the system, involve minimal human interface.

I have to admit getting the states to cooperate would be daunting, especially given the political climate, today. This is to say nothing of the challenge in getting the Native American groups to agree. We have been to some fishing areas where one has to get two licenses - one from the state and the other from the Native American entity.

Everyone is dancing around the real problem which is... fishing licenses cost too much. Make sure your state representatives know how you feel about this tax.

It would be difficult to manage on a state to state level. National would be better. Unfortunately there would need to be another bureaucracy created in the Federal government. How long would that take. We are probably stuck with what we have.