Division of Fish & Wildlife

Title
Fisheries Section

The Fisheries Section works to enhance and protect Delaware’s fish and aquatic resources and habitats. There are abundant fishing areas in the state; dozens of warm water ponds, streams, marshes, swamps and two ponds stocked seasonally with trout. Delaware also offers 22 fishing and boating sites providing access to vast populations of striped bass, summer flounder and black drum, as well as 11 artificial reef sites, which host and can teem with black sea bass, tautog and other species.

This page directs you to specific information – from fishing and boat licenses, access areas and trout maps, to key fisheries and aquatic resources, and conservation and education initiatives, including DNREC's Aquatic Resources Education Center and the stateTrout Stamp program.

ALERT: The Division of Fish & Wildlife has received a number of calls recently from anglers who thought they were buying a Delaware fishing license from the website fishinglicense.org when they made a purchase from the site. This private unaffiliated website does NOT sell licenses, but sells information about fishing and how to obtain fishing licenses for $19.99 - the same information that is readily available on the Division of Fish & Wildlife's website. Delaware fishing licenses, meanwhile, are sold online ONLY on the Division of Fish & Wildlife website, www.fw.delaware.gov, at the licensing desk in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, and by authorized license agents statewide. ONLY the Division of Fish & Wildlife's website is authorized to sell Delaware fishing and hunting licenses online. For additional information on Delaware fishing and hunting licenses, please call 302-739-9918.

Pending Regulatory Actions

Latest News & Events

Delaware Fish Facts for Recreational Anglers interactive website

New in the Delaware Fishing Guide for 2019:

- Five Delaware Elite Anglers Named.

- Youth Division Added to Sport Fishing Tournament.

- New State Record Cobia.

- Start time change for trout streams.

- Terrapin Excluder Device for Recreational Carb Pots - Click here

Related topics:

Buy a fishing license online
Get a FIN

ADVISORY: If you purchased a Delaware fishing license (with the exception of the Non-Resident Boat Fishing License) your FIN number was automatically generated and appears on your license, with no further FIN registration necessary.