Fishing in Germany and Austria as a visitor: licences, guest cards and local rules
A visitor can fish legally in Germany and Austria without the local exam in most states, but not everywhere: each of the 16 German and 9 Austrian states sets its own route, price and conditions. This guide puts the 25 states side by side, in English, with the official fees, the local rules and the source of every line.
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Format: 29-page A4 PDF, to print or keep on your phone, plus the online version.
What the guide contains
- Every visitor route in the 25 states in one table: what you buy, for how long, the official fees, who can have it
- Germany state by state: tourist, holiday and guest licences, and what your licence or exam from home is worth
- Austria state by state: the guest cards, including the Burgenland and Tyrol traps
- Worked examples of the official fees (Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, Upper Austria, Salzburg…) and how to buy and read the water permit
- Rules at the water, catch-and-release in Germany, children, and pike, zander, trout and grayling at a glance
- One sheet per state with closed seasons, minimum sizes and dated sources, a German–English glossary and a checklist
Delivery: instant access, right after payment.
For anglers from abroad who want to fish in Germany or Austria legally, on holiday or on a short stay.
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The reference guide to freshwater fishing rules, zone by zone
- 279regulated zones
- 22countries covered
- 1,069sources cited, line by line
- 32species followed
- 7languages
Figures for the whole site (all countries, all zones), counted in our data when it is built. Texts last checked: 22 October 2026. Our method
Checked51 automated checks on every site update, texts last checked on 22 October 2026
Method
- Primary sources: official texts of fishing authorities
- Every rule linked to its source, line by line
- Check date shown on every page
SourcesThe whole site: 1,069 cited sources, in 22 countries
This guide: official texts checked on 22 October 2026 (the date above is for the whole site).
In pictures
Illustrative photos, published by their authors under free licences.
Contents
- Germany and Austria in one minute
- Without an exam: every visitor route in the 25 states
- Germany: the visitor licences state by state
- Austria: the guest cards state by state
- What the official fees add up to
- The water permit: day tickets, Lizenz, Erlaubnisschein
- At the water: papers, banned practices, releasing fish
- Children and teenagers
- Pike, zander, brown trout and grayling at a glance
- The 16 German states in detail
- The 9 Austrian states in detail
- German–English glossary
- Checklist before you travel
- Sources and method
Free extract: the Austria visitor table and the Upper Austria sheet
The visitor table for the 9 Austrian states (chapter 2) and a complete state sheet (chapter 11), as they appear in the guide.
| State | What a visitor buys | How long | Official fees | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgenland | Fischereigastkarte | 2 months | levy €15.20 (final price not set) | only with a card from another Austrian state or an EU authorisation |
| Carinthia (Kärnten) | Fischergastkarte | 1 or 4 weeks | €8 / €17 | no exam |
| Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) | Fischergastkarte | 30 days a year | not set by law | credibly show your knowledge |
| Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) | Gastfischerkarte | 3 weeks, at most 2 a year | €20 | no exam, from 12 |
| Salzburg | Gastfischerkarte | 24 hours / 7 / 14 days | €10 / €25 / €34 | no exam, from 12 |
| Styria (Steiermark) | Fischergastkarte | 4 weeks | not set by law | no exam |
| Tyrol (Tirol) | Gastfischerkarte | 14 days | €25 | only with a qualification (e.g. German Angelschein, Swiss SaNa) |
| Vorarlberg | permit of the fishery only | up to 2 weeks | set by the fishery | no exam and no state card |
| Vienna (Wien) | Fischergastkarte | 30 days | not published | no exam, from 14 |
Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)
Visitor route at a glance: Gastfischerkarte · 3 weeks, at most 2 a year · €20 · no exam, from 12
- Without the local exam
- Guest card (Gastfischerkarte) for €20 (given by the LFV as “currently”), 3 weeks, in the whole state, from 12, at most 2 per calendar year; the fishery fills it in and hands it over. Valid only with official photo ID and the permit.
- Your licence or exam from home
- If you live abroad, your foreign fishing card counts as an annual card once you pay the card levy (€32).
- The state licence or card
- Annual fishing card (plastic card with photo) from the Oö. Landesfischereiverband (LFV), from 12, after instruction and exam. Card levy €32 a year (given by the LFV as “currently”). First issue: €21 stamp duty + €35 administrative fee. Cards from other Austrian states (and foreign ones if you live abroad) count as an annual card in Upper Austria once the levy is paid. Always plus the permit.
- Exam
- Instruction of at least 10 hours (in person or online course) followed by an exam at the Oö. LFV (law, water ecology, aquatic animals, tackle), pass with at least 60% correct, from 12. Total cost according to the LFV since 1 January 2023: €135 for course, guide, exam, fees and card.
- Children and teenagers
- Children under 12 fish accompanied by an authorised adult within the permit.
- At the water
- Live vertebrates as bait, unattended rods, artificial light and competitions banned. Local fishery rules may set stricter closed seasons and minimum sizes. Species not listed (e.g. eel) have no closed season and no minimum size.
- Not published by the authority
- The €32 and €20 amounts are published as “currently”, without the date of the decision; permit prices set freely by each fishery.
Closed seasons and minimum sizes in state law (the water permit can be stricter)
| Species (German name) | Closed season | Minimum size | Note in the regulation (German original) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pike Hecht | 1 Feb – 30 Apr | 60 cm | — |
| Zander Zander / Schill | 1 Mar – 30 Apr | 50 cm | — |
| Volga zander Wolgazander | 1 Mar – 30 Apr | 35 cm | — |
| Perch Flussbarsch | 1 Mar – 30 Apr | 10 cm | — |
| Brown trout Bachforelle | 16 Sep – 15 Mar | 22 cm | — |
| Rainbow trout Regenbogenforelle | 1 Dec – 15 Mar | 22 cm | — |
| Grayling Äsche | 1 Mar – 30 Apr | 30 cm | — |
| Lake trout Seeforelle | 16 Sep – 15 Mar | 50 cm | — |
| Huchen (Danube salmon) Huchen | 16 Feb – 31 May | 85 cm | — |
| Carp Karpfen | 1 May – 31 May | 35 cm | — |
| Wels catfish Wels / Waller | 1 Jun – 30 Jun | 80 cm | — |
| Tench Schleie | 1 May – 30 Jun | 25 cm | — |
| Brook trout Bachsaibling | 16 Sep – 15 Mar | 22 cm | — |
| Arctic char Seesaibling | 16 Sep – 15 Mar | 22 cm | — |
| Whitefish Maräne / Reinanke | 16 Oct – 31 Dec | 30 cm | — |
| Burbot Aalrutte | 16 Nov – 28 Feb | 40 cm | — |
| Barbel Barbe | 16 Apr – 31 May | 35 cm | — |
| Nase Nase | 16 Mar – 31 May | 35 cm | — |
| Asp Schied / Rapfen | 16 Apr – 31 May | 45 cm | — |
| Chub Aitel | 16 Mar – 31 May | 25 cm | — |
| Bream Brachse | 1 May – 31 May | 25 cm | — |
| Danube bleak Seelaube / Mairenke | 16 May – 30 Jun | 20 cm | — |
| Noble crayfish – male Edelkrebs | 1 Oct – 31 Dec | 12 cm | — |
| Sterlet Sterlet | protected all year | — | — |
| Noble crayfish – female Edelkrebs | protected all year | — | — |
Sources (this sheet checked on 23 September 2026): Oö. Fischereigesetz 2020, LGBl. Nr. 41/2020, geltende Fassung (RIS) · Oö. Fischereiverordnung, LGBl. Nr. 85/2020 idF LGBl. Nr. 113/2024 (Schonzeiten, Brittelmaße, Unterweisung) (RIS) · Oö. Landesfischereiverband – Was benötige ich zur Ausübung der Fischerei in Oberösterreich? · Oö. Landesfischereiverband – Fischerprüfung · Land Oberösterreich – BH Linz-Land, Jahresfischerkarte (Kosten) · ris.bka.gv.at
Who it is for
- The angler from the UK, Ireland, North America or elsewhere who plans a fishing holiday in Bavaria, the Baltic coast, Tyrol, Salzburg or Upper Austria and does not read German law
- The angler who fishes on both sides of a border (Lake Constance area, the Inn, the Danube) and needs the two systems side by side
- Expats who have just moved and want to know what they can do before passing the exam
- Guides, hotels and tour organisers who answer “do I need a licence?” every week
Who it is not for
- Anglers looking for spots, day-ticket waters or prices of day tickets: those are set by each club or fishery and published by no authority
- German-speaking anglers who want to pass the German exam: our German guides “Angelschein in Deutschland” and “Angeln in Österreich” go further on the exam
- Sea anglers: coastal and sea fishing are not covered, apart from the lines of state law that mention the coast
How to use the guide
The guide is not an official document: the state law in force and the permit of the water prevail, and the permit is often stricter. Amounts are copied as published for 2026; where an authority publishes nothing (often the price of a guest card or a municipal fee), the guide says so and gives no estimate. Notes of the regulations are quoted in German, word for word, next to the English figures.
Frequently asked questions
Can a tourist fish in Germany without the German fishing exam?
In most states, yes: Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia sell a time-limited licence without the exam, Lower Saxony needs no state licence in inland waters, and Brandenburg lets competent visitors fish for a short stay. Berlin and Hamburg ask for your fishing licence from home, Bremen accepts licences from EU countries, and Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt ask for proof of competence. A water permit is always needed too.
Do I need a fishing licence in Austria?
Yes: a card from the Bundesland (an annual card or a guest card) plus the permit of the water. Guest cards with no exam exist in Carinthia, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria and Vienna, Vorarlberg needs only the fishery’s permit for up to 2 weeks, Lower Austria asks you to show your knowledge, and Burgenland and Tyrol sell their guest card only to anglers with a recognised card or qualification.
How much does a guest card cost in Austria?
Published prices include €8 for a week in Carinthia, €20 for three weeks in Upper Austria, €25 for 7 days in Salzburg and €25 for 14 days in Tyrol. Lower Austria, Styria and Vienna do not set or publish the price paid by the angler. The water permit comes on top.
How current is the information?
Checked on 22 October 2026 with the 2026 fees, including the 2026 reforms in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein. Every state sheet gives its sources and the date.
Further reading
- Fishing regulations in Germany, state by state
- Fishing regulations in Austria, state by state
- Upper Austria: seasons, sizes and licences
€29.00 · $32.90 VAT included, one-off payment
Get my Germany & Austria guide — €29.00
Instant access after payment · card, Apple Pay or Google Pay on Stripe’s secure page, your card details never touch our servers.
For €60.00 more, the bundle: 5 PDF guides, €17.80 per guide. →