ADFG mobile app for iOS
The new Alaska Fish and Game App was released recently, which has led to some client questions and confusion about how it works.
The prior way to purchase a fishing license online before the release of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game App was by using their online store. You could buy your license online by either logging into your account or checking out as a guest. Once the license was purchased, you were able to download a PDF of your license. The license had to be signed to be valid. This meant either you had to print out the paper license, sign it and carry it with you, or you had to e-sign the document to carry it on your device.
You can now buy your license online through the new Alaska Department of Fish and Game App, which can be e-signed, displayed in the app, and is instantly valid as an electronic copy of your fishing license. Each person must buy their own license in the app on their own device.
Here is where it gets confusing. You can still buy your license in the online store, which will require the additional step of manually e-signing the pdf copy of the license to validate it for displaying on your device. Licenses purchased in the online store and outside of the app are not available for display in the app unless you call ADFG licensing at 907-465-2376, and ask them to manually link your previously purchased license with the app on the back end so you can see your license in-app.
Otherwise, you can still buy your license in their e-store and go old school and print it out and sign it. If you want to carry a valid digital copy without the app, take a screenshot of your license PDF, open it up in your phone’s picture editor, use the magical pencil tool and sign it on your phone, save the signed copy, and viola! you have a valid digital license.
Hope that helps clear things up out there! And as always, we cannot and do not fish for King Salmon on the Upper Kenai River, so you do not ever need to purchase a King Salmon Stamp for your fishing trips with us. If you have any other questions about this, reach out to us as we are always glad to help.
Here are the links:
To download the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Mobile App and purchase your Alaska Fishing license in-app for display on your device, CLICK HERE.
To buy your license online outside of the app, either to print out and sign or to e-sign a PDF copy, CLICK HERE.