Fish For Free And Try To Nab A Golden Rainbow Trout This Weekend In RI

RHODE ISLAND — Want to do some freshwater fishing in Rhode Island but not thrilled about the cost of getting a fishing license? This weekend is your chance to reel them in for free!

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announced Tuesday that it will hold its annual Free Fishing Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, allowing residents and visitors to fish for all species of freshwater fish without a fishing license — which normally costs $21 for residents and $38 for non-residents — or a trout conservation stamp, which costs $5.50.

Established in 1995, the Free Fishing Weekend program "provides an opportunity to encourage people to experience freshwater fishing as a new outdoor experience and highlight some of state’s premier freshwater fishing areas," the DEM said in a news release Tuesday.

Want a bonus thrill and some bragging rights? Anglers who catch a golden rainbow trout through May 6 will be eligible to receive a golden trout pin. Simply take a picture and email it to dem.fishri@dem.ri.gov for verification by May 6.

Free Fishing Weekend does not apply to saltwater fishing or saltwater licenses, and freshwater fishing posession regulations on size and creel still apply this weekend, officials said.

The daily creel and possession limit for trout is five from April 13 through Nov. 30, and two from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28. The creel and possession limit for trout taken in the Wood River between Route 165 and Barberville Dam at Arcadia Road is two fish from the second Saturday in May 2024 through the last day of Feb. 2025.

Information about stocked freshwaters, size and creel limits for all freshwater fish species is available in the 2024-25 Freshwater Fishing Abstract, or by calling DEM's Great Swamp Field Office at 401-789-0281, or DEM’s Aquatic Resource Education office at 401-539-0019.

A complete list of stocked waters can be found here.