Fishing License

A freshwater, saltwater, or all-water license package is required to bow fish in Texas public waters. No additional stamp or license is required.

You don’t need a fishing license if you are:

• Under 17 years of age
• A Texas resident born before January 1, 1931

A hunting license is required to take turtles and frogs. You may elect to purchase a Combination or Super Combo license, which covers both fishing and hunting.

Legal Equipment

Fish may be taken with longbow, recurved bow, compound bow, or crossbow.

What to Catch

Bows are legal for taking non-game fishes such as gar, buffalo, mullet and sheepshead. A bow may be used to take any species of fish that is:

• NOT listed as a game fish and
• NOT listed as an endangered or threatened species

No minimum lengths or daily bag limits apply to non-game fishes in fresh water, except:

• For alligator gar, there is a limit of one (1) per day. On portions of Lake Texoma, harvest of alligator gar is prohibited during the spawning season in May.
• For Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, there is a daily limit of one (1) trophy-sized common carp, defined as a carp measuring 33 inches or more. No limits apply to smaller carp.

Limits exist on some non-game fishes in salt water. See saltwater limits.

Any fish that is edible or can be used for bait (includes all gar species, common carp and buffalo) may not be released back into the water after being taken with lawful archery equipment.

Please note, there is a 50% non refundable deposit included with your payment when booking.