Creel Quick answer: About $430 to $485 in total bail, depending on the county. The base fine for fishing without a license (Fish and Game Code §7145(a)) is only $100, but eight separate assessments are stacked on top of it and two of them are set county by county, which is why the same offence costs a different amount in San Diego than in Shasta. If you actually held a valid licence and simply did not have it on you, bringing proof to court can drop the same charge to roughly $176 to $192.
The number nobody quotes correctly
Search for what a California fishing citation costs and you will find “$100” or “about $485” or “up to $1,000,” all of them presented with equal confidence. The reason they disagree is that they are describing different things.
The Judicial Council of California publishes a Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule each year, and its Fish and Game section lists a base fine for every offence. For fishing without a license — Fish and Game Code §7145(a) — the base fine is $100.
That is not what you pay. Eight separate assessments are added on top:
| Assessment | Authority | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base fine | — | $100 |
| State penalty assessment | PC §1464 | $10 per $10 of base |
| County penalty assessment | GC §76000 | $3.50–$7 per $10 of base (county sets it) |
| DNA identification penalty | GC §76104 | $5 per $10 of base |
| Court construction penalty | GC §70372 | $5 per $10 of base |
| State surcharge | PC §1465.7 | 20% of base |
| EMS penalty | GC §76000.5 | $0–$2 per $10 of base (county sets it) |
| Court operations assessment | PC §1465.8 | $40 flat |
| Criminal conviction assessment | GC §70373 | $35 flat (infraction) |
Total bail: $430 to $485.
The range is not vagueness. Two of those assessments are set county by county, so the identical offence is genuinely a different number depending on where the citation is filed. Ventura and San Diego are not the same as Shasta. Any source giving you one exact figure has quietly picked one county’s edition and not told you.
What the common citations cost
| Offence | Infraction | Misdemeanor |
|---|---|---|
| Fishing without a license (FGC §7145(a)) | $430–$485 | — |
| …with a valid licence shown to the court | $176–$192 | — |
| Failure to show licence, equipment or game (FGC §2012) | — | $425–$480 |
| Undersize fish (14 CCR §1.62) | $430–$485 + $71–$82 each | $958–$1,095 + $71–$82 each |
| Excess of bag limit (14 CCR §1.17) | $430–$485 + $71–$82 each | $958–$1,095 + $71–$82 each |
| Invertebrates — general (14 CCR §29.05, §29.10) | $430–$485 | $958–$1,095 |
| Report card and tagging (14 CCR §1.74) | $430–$485 | $1,135–$1,300 |
| Fishing inside an MPA (14 CCR §632) | $430–$485 | $958–$1,095 |
The per-animal amounts are the part that surprises people. An over-limit charge is not one flat fine. It is the offence, plus a separate $71 to $82 for every single fish or lobster over the line. Seven extra lobsters is the citation plus roughly $500 to $575 again.
The two ways it comes down
Both live in Fish and Game Code §12002.2, and neither is well known.
§12002.2(b) — you had a licence, you just did not have it on you. The court may reduce the base fine to $25. The schedule prints that reduction as its own line: about $176 to $192 total instead of $430 to $485. You have to produce the licence to the court; explaining it to the warden on the beach does not trigger it.
§12002.2(c) — a lifetime licence. If you produce a lifetime sport fishing licence issued in your name under §7149.2, and the taking was otherwise lawful in season, limit, time and area, the court may dismiss the charge outright.
What the schedule leaves out
The “Total Bail” column is not the whole bill. Two real costs sit outside it:
- Fish and Game Preservation Fund penalty (FGC §12021) — $15, on top.
- Minimum restitution fine (PC §1202.4) — $150 on a misdemeanor conviction, on top.
Counties can also add their own fees. Treat every number here as the floor of what a citation costs, not the ceiling.
Why this is in a fishing app
CDFW publishes the rules. It does not publish what breaking them costs — that lives in a Judicial Council PDF that no angler has ever opened on a boat ramp.
Creel carries all 120 offences from the schedule, both levels of each, with the county range shown rather than one misleading number, and the per-animal surcharge spelled out. They are attached to the species, so the spiny lobster screen shows the 7-lobster limit and, directly underneath, what the eighth one costs.
When does lobster season open? → · Do you need a licence on a pier? →
Bail schedules are updated annually and adopted county by county. The figures here are read from the 2026 schedule and are a guide, not legal advice. Your court’s current edition governs.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a ticket for fishing without a license in California?
Roughly $430 to $485 in total bail. The Judicial Council’s uniform bail and penalty schedule lists a $100 base fine for Fish and Game Code §7145(a), and then adds the state penalty assessment, county penalty assessment, DNA identification penalty, court construction penalty, state surcharge, EMS penalty, court operations assessment and criminal conviction assessment. Those assessments are most of the number.
How much is a fishing citation in California?
It depends on the offence, but the shape is always the same: a small base fine plus eight assessments that dwarf it. Fishing without a licence is about $430 to $485. An undersize fish or an over-limit is the same $430 to $485 plus $71 to $82 for every individual fish. A report card offence charged as a misdemeanor is $1,135 to $1,300. Every one of those is a range because two of the assessments are set county by county.
How much is a poaching fine in California?
"Poaching" is not a single charge in the bail schedule — it is whichever Fish and Game section the warden writes. In practice that is take without a licence, over the limit, undersize, taking in a closed season, or taking inside a Marine Protected Area, and those run $430 to $485 as infractions or $958 to $1,095 as misdemeanors, with the per-animal surcharge on top where the offence involves a count. Commercial-scale cases and species with their own statutes sit outside the schedule entirely.
Why is the fine a range and not one number?
Two of the assessments — the county penalty assessment under Government Code §76000 and the emergency medical services penalty under §76000.5 — are set by each county, not by the state. The low end of the range uses the lowest county rates on record and the high end uses the statutory maximum. Anyone quoting you a single exact figure for a California fishing fine is quoting one county’s edition of the schedule.
What happens if I had a license but forgot it at home?
Fish and Game Code §12002.2(b) lets the court reduce the base fine to $25 if you held a valid sport fishing licence at the time and simply did not have it with you. The schedule prints that as its own line: about $176 to $192 in total rather than $430 to $485. You have to actually produce the licence to the court — telling the warden at the water does not do it.
Can a California fishing charge be dismissed?
Fish and Game Code §12002.2(c) says that if you produce a lifetime sport fishing licence issued in your name under §7149.2, and the taking was otherwise lawful in season, limit, time and area, the court may dismiss the charge outright. That is the one place in this schedule where the number goes to zero.
How much is the fine for being over the limit in California?
An excess-of-bag-limit charge starts at about $430 to $485 as an infraction, and then adds roughly $71 to $82 for every single over-limit fish on top of that. Charged as a misdemeanor instead, the base part alone runs about $958 to $1,095. The per-fish amount is why a cooler with four extra fish is a very different citation from one with a single extra fish.
Is fishing without a license a misdemeanor in California?
It can be. Most Fish and Game offences are written so the prosecutor can file them as an infraction or a misdemeanor, and that choice is theirs, not the warden’s. The misdemeanor version of an over-limit or undersize charge is roughly $958 to $1,095, and a misdemeanor conviction also brings a minimum restitution fine of $150 under Penal Code §1202.4 that the bail schedule does not include in its own total.