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Rules, in the code’s own words
These are quotes, not legal advice. Each rule is shown with the effective date its page on codes.ohio.gov prints. ODNR’s booklet is dated Effective March 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027
(ODNR regulations (PDF)).
ODNR’s one-paragraph summary of the general ice rules:
“Ice anglers may use holes no larger than 12 inches in diameter. On Lake Erie, ice anglers may use holes no larger than 12 inches in width. Ice anglers may not use more than six tip‑ups and three rods per person. All shelters and tip‑ups must display the name and address or customer identification number of the owner or user.”
Those are the general rules. Some waters have their own: Pymatuning Lake’s are quoted under lines and tip-ups and hole size below, and park districts add terms or ban ice fishing.
Do you need a license to ice fish in Ohio?
Ohio Revised Code 1533.32 (Effective: September 30, 2025
(codes.ohio.gov)): no person, including nonresidents, shall take or catch any fish by angling in any of the waters in the state or engage in fishing in those waters without a license.
(codes.ohio.gov) The sentence begins with exceptions and the section lists more; read section 1533.32 in full.
ODNR’s booklet: A fishing license is required to engage in fishing in Ohio waters.
(ODNR regulations (PDF)) Persons under 16 years of age are not required to purchase a fishing license.
(ODNR regulations (PDF)) Persons must have their license in their possession while fishing and must show the license to anyone on request. Licenses may be displayed using a mobile device.
(ODNR regulations (PDF))
What does a license cost?
From the cost table in the same booklet, for the license year it prints (Effective March 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027
(ODNR regulations (PDF))):
Resident 1-Day License $14.00
(ODNR regulations (PDF))Resident 1-Year License $25.00
(ODNR regulations (PDF))Nonresident 1-Day License $27.04
(ODNR regulations (PDF))Nonresident 1-Year License $76.96
(ODNR regulations (PDF))
A transaction fee may apply for online and in-app license sales.
(ODNR regulations (PDF)) A one-day fishing license may be applied as credit toward the purchase of an annual license.
(ODNR regulations (PDF)) One-year fishing licenses are valid for 365 days from the date of purchase.
(ODNR regulations (PDF))
Where to buy: the booklet says FISHING LICENSES ARE AVAILABLE AT ALL AUTHORIZED LICENSE SALES AGENTS, ON THE HUNTFISH OH MOBILE APP, AND AT WILDOHIO.GOV.
(ODNR regulations (PDF)) That site is wildohio.gov.
Is there a separate Lake Erie permit?
We didn’t find one. The license table in ODNR’s booklet lists no Lake Erie permit. We also looked up Revised Code section 1533.38, a number we had seen cited for such a permit, and codes.ohio.gov answered: No Ohio Revised Code section number corresponds to "1533.38".
(codes.ohio.gov) That is what we found, not a legal opinion. If you’re coming from out of state, confirm with ODNR when you buy.
How many lines and tip-ups can you use?
Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-13-01 (Effective: January 1, 2026
(codes.ohio.gov)): fish may be taken with not more than three hand lines, three units of rod and line, or a combination of up to three hand lines or units of rod and line in the aggregate.
(codes.ohio.gov)
“Throughout the state, it shall be unlawful for any person to use more than six tip-ups while fishing through the ice.”
ODNR defines the device: A tip-up means a device consisting of a hook and line attached to a spring or other device which is capable of raising a small flag or other signaling device when a fish is biting or is hooked.
(ODNR regulations (PDF))
Pymatuning Lake is different. Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-13-07 (Effective: June 30, 2023
(codes.ohio.gov)) makes it unlawful there to: Set, use, or maintain more than five tip-ups or other legal devices when fishing through holes in the ice.
(codes.ohio.gov)
Park districts can be stricter. Medina County Park District, for one: ICE FISHING - Ice anglers may use holes no larger than 12 inches in diameter and no more than six tip-ups and two rods per person. Ice fishing shelters must display the full name and address of the owner or user in English lettering.
(Medina County Park District)
How big can the hole be?
“In the inland fishing district it shall be unlawful for any person to cut or fish through a hole in the ice which has a diameter that exceeds twelve inches.”
“In the lake Erie fishing district, it shall be unlawful for any person to cut or fish through a hole in the ice which has a width that exceeds twelve inches.”
State parks have their own rule, Ohio Administrative Code 1501:46-15-02 (Effective: July 16, 2021
(codes.ohio.gov)): No person shall cut or cut and fish through a hole in ice which has a diameter that exceeds twelve inches in any of the waters of the division.
(codes.ohio.gov)
Pymatuning Lake is different. The same rule 1501:31-13-07 makes it unlawful there to: Cut or use a hole in the ice for fishing purposes that is larger than ten inches between the farthest points as measured in any direction.
(codes.ohio.gov)
What has to be on a shanty or tip-up?
“Throughout the state, it shall be unlawful for any person to set, use, or maintain tipups, float lines, trotlines, set lines, bank lines, turtle traps, minnow traps or bait fish traps, or an ice fishing shelter which does not have attached thereon the name and address of the owner or user in legible letters in the English language or the unique division of wildlife customer identification number of the owner or user legible at all times.”
The same rule, about shelters: it shall be unlawful to use an ice fishing shelter that does not have the owner or user's name and address or their unique division of wildlife customer identification number exhibited on the outer part of the structure of an ice fishing shelter.
(codes.ohio.gov)
The state park rule: No person shall use an ice fishing shelter which does not have exhibited on the outside of the structure, the name and address of the owner or user shown in legible letters. An ice fishing shelter is a temporary shelter taken to or used on a frozen body of water as a protection or cover from the weather.
(codes.ohio.gov)
When does a shanty have to come off the ice?
The state rules quoted on this page set no removal date. Park districts set their own terms. Summit Metro Parks: You may ice fish at your own risk, dawn to dusk, as conditions allow. Users may not light fires, take motorized vehicles onto the ice or build/leave structures and shelters on park property. Temporary shanties may be moved only by hand from the parking lot to the lake, and must be removed daily.
(Summit Metro Parks) Geauga Park District: Equipment cannot be left unattended or overnight on the ice.
(Geauga Park District) Ask whoever manages the water.
What are the daily limits?
Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-13-08 (Effective: July 6, 2026
(codes.ohio.gov)).
Walleye, saugeye and sauger
“Throughout the state it shall be unlawful for any person to take or possess more than six saugeyes, six sauger, or six walleyes, singly or in the aggregate in any one day”
The rule continues, excepting therefrom the lake Erie sport fishing district in accordance with rule 1501:31-13-14 of the Administrative Code
(codes.ohio.gov). On Lake Erie the limit is set year by year under rule 1501:31-13-14 (Effective: July 6, 2026
(codes.ohio.gov)): Bag limits for walleye, sauger or saugeye and yellow perch will take effect on May first each year.
(codes.ohio.gov) The bag limits will be posted on the Ohio division of wildlife website at wildohio.gov, in a statewide news release, and in a printed pamphlet prior to May first.
(codes.ohio.gov) For the months after May first, ODNR’s booklet prints to be announced late April
(ODNR regulations (PDF)), so check ODNR for the limit in force when you fish.
Length, Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-13-09 (Effective: March 1, 2025
(codes.ohio.gov)): It shall be unlawful for any person to take or possess a walleye, sauger, or saugeye less than fifteen inches in length while on the following bodies of water:
(codes.ohio.gov) The waters listed include Lake Erie sport fishing district;
(codes.ohio.gov)
Yellow perch
“It shall be unlawful for any person to take or possess more than thirty yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in any one day statewide, except in the eastern and western fishing units of the Ohio river, in accordance with the rule 1501:31-13-11 of the Administrative Code, Pymatuning lake, in accordance with paragraph (Q) of rule 1501:31-13-07 of the Administrative Code, and the lake Erie sport fishing district, in accordance with rule 1501:31-13-14 of the Administrative Code.”
Crappie
It shall be unlawful for any person to take or possess more than thirty crappie in the aggregate in any one day from each of the following areas:
(codes.ohio.gov) The rule then lists lakes by name, among them Mosquito lake in Trumbull county;
(codes.ohio.gov) Read the full list in rule 1501:31-13-08.
Other fish and other waters
We quote only the limits above, and they aren’t the whole of the law. Other species, other waters and other rules have their own limits; start with rule 1501:31-13-08 and ODNR’s regulations booklet (PDF), and check ODNR for the water you fish.
Do Lake Erie fishing guides need a license?
Ohio Revised Code 1533.51 (Effective: December 29, 2023
(codes.ohio.gov)): No person shall be or serve as a fishing guide in the Lake Erie fishing district without a license from the chief of the division of wildlife.
(codes.ohio.gov) Fishing guide licenses shall expire each year on the fifteenth day of April.
(codes.ohio.gov)
Do park districts have extra rules?
The ones we could quote do, and two of them ban ice fishing. See park district waters.