Oklahoma Proposes Lifetime License And Crappie Rule Changes

There are a couple of fishing rule changes being proposed in Oklahoma, and one of them could make a lifetime fishing license a little more useful.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has opened the public comment period for its proposed 2027 rule changes, and while most of the stuff getting attention in the release is hunting-related, there are two fishing changes that caught my eye.

The first one has nothing to do with fish... technically. I mean, it does only in the sense that it's all about fishing licenses.

Oklahoma Lifetime Fishing License Upgrade Proposal

Right now, if you bought an Oklahoma lifetime fishing license, that's what you've got. A lifetime fishing license. But under the proposed change, Oklahoma residents who already have one would be able to turn it into a lifetime combination fishing and hunting license.

You wouldn't have to go back and buy the entire lifetime combo license from scratch. The proposal would let you pay the current price of the lifetime combination license minus whatever you originally paid for your lifetime fishing license... So it's still expensive, but less than it would be today.

If you've ever looked at the price of a lifetime combination license today, you know why this matters. ODWC currently lists the lifetime hunting/fishing combo license at $1,024. That's a huge chunk of change considering they were $550 when I told myself that was too expensive. Lifetime fishing-only licenses are up to $375 now too.

That doesn't mean you'll only pay $650 to complete your combo license. You'll pay the difference between them based on how much your first license was. I paid $225 for mine, so my price to make it a combo would be $800...

That's still 45 years of 5-year hunting licenses, and I get the argument that they'll go up too over that time... It's the thought that nothing like this will ever be cheaper in the future than it is right now.

Oklahoma Close To Home Crappie Rule Changes

The other proposed fishing change involves crappie, and it's aimed specifically at Oklahoma's "Close to Home" fishing waters. Not quite lakes, but not all are ponds either.

If you're not familiar with it, Close to Home is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of having to load up the truck and drive halfway across Oklahoma to go fishing, the Wildlife Department works with communities around the state to provide stocked ponds and small lakes where people can fish closer to where they live.

There are 45 of these proposed waters around Oklahoma, including several right here in Lawton. Lake Helen at Elmer Thomas Park, Liberty Lake, and Skyline Pond out on the East Side.

And crappie are already treated differently in those waters.

ODWC's current Close to Home regulations don't have a daily limit for crappie, but this proposed change would also remove the size restrictions in the hope to bring fish sizes up a little bit.

These proposed rules are still just proposals. Oklahoma is taking public comments through November 6th, and there's also an in-person public hearing scheduled for November 5th in OKC.

If you have a lifetime fishing license sitting in a drawer somewhere, or you spend a lot of time fishing one of Oklahoma's stocked Close to Home ponds, this is one of those Wildlife Department rule changes worth keeping an eye on.