Austria
Fishing License & Exam
Fishing law in Austria is state-level: each of the 9 federal states regulates its own fishing card, exam and guest cards. The principle everywhere: an official state fishing card plus a permit from the water manager. In 7 of 9 states tourists can fish on a guest card without any exam.
All 9 states
9 statesAll 9 states
Quick comparison
| State | Exam / course | Guest card without exam | Exam fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burgenland | Exam mandatory since 2023 (multiple-choice 'fishing aptitude'); optional course €50 | Only WITH an existing fishing card/EU qualification: €15, 2 months – unqualified tourists cannot legally fish | €50 |
| Carinthia | NO exam (only Austrian state!) – just an 8-h instruction session (attendance, €30–40); exam introduction decided but delayed | Yes, without course/exam: 1 week €4 / 4 weeks €10 – Austria's cheapest guest solution | none (instruction €30–40) |
| Lower Austria | One-day mandatory course (~4 h in person) with integrated exam (20 questions); no online completion | Yes: €16, 30 days (max. 30 days/year); 'plausible knowledge' suffices, no formal exam | included in course price €149.85 |
| Salzburg | Exam mandatory (60 questions, 4 subjects, 3 h, 60% + 9/15 per subject); no course obligation, certified online course | Yes, without exam: 1 day €10 / 1 week €25 / 2 weeks €34 (uncertain), state-wide, from 12; online via hejfish | €50 (youth €30); 10–14 dates per year |
| Styria | Exam mandatory (40 questions, 30 correct, max. 4 errors per subject, 2 h); no mandatory course, self-study common | Yes, no prerequisites: 4 weeks, district-bound (price varies, often included in permit) | €71.40 (reduced €52.90) + €6.20 certificate; only 2 dates per year (April/October) |
| Tyrol | Mandatory 14-h classroom course + exam (4 subjects × 20 questions); no online course; package €200 (youth €100) | Only WITH proof of qualification (e.g. German fishing license): €25, 14 days – beginners cannot legally fish | in course package; + €27 certificate fees |
| Upper Austria | Instruction (10 h, online course replaces classroom since 2020) + exam (27 questions, 17 correct) | Yes, without exam: €20, 3 weeks, max. 2×/year, from age 12 | included in first-issue package €135 |
| Vienna | Exam mandatory (multiple-choice, 5 subjects × 10 questions, 2 h); no mandatory course – officially recommended online course (€99) | Yes, without exam: €4.72, 30 days, from age 14 | €50 (under 18: €25) |
| Vorarlberg | For the license card: exam (course incl. exam €235, classroom OR online); free youth instruction from ~10 | Not needed: permits up to 2 weeks entirely WITHOUT card/exam – Austria's most liberal rule | in course package €235 (retake €35) |
How it works
Two documents
Unlike Germany, you always need two papers in Austria: the official fishing card of the state (one-off, usually after an exam) and a permit from the water manager for the specific water (day to annual tickets).
01
Fishing card
Official state document — usually after a passed exam or instruction course, valid per year or multi-year.
02
Permit / license
Permission from the fishing-rights holder for a specific water — via clubs, managers or platforms like hejfish.
03
Guest card
Time-limited fishing card for tourists — available without any exam in 7 states.
Foreign licenses
All 9 states recognize the German fishing exam in some form — from a direct fishing card (Vienna, Lower Austria) to a guest-card prerequisite (Burgenland, Tyrol). Details on the state pages.