[thmyorke1]

From what I know it's January 1st to December 31st. So a 2019 license is valid 1/1/19 - 12/31/19, it covers no dates outsides the year.

Any day in 2020 needs a 2020 license. Trout stamps/fishing is no exception I believe.

Ive seen someone get a ticket for no fishing license in early March. You often see CO around this time of the year; those unseasonably fair weather and warm days of early spring. Anglers who havent bought a license yet typically get busted.

On topic with license dates:

PA has it work a bit differently, where you can by next year's license December 1st of the current year. So I bought my first PA license December 1st 2019, which made it effective for the last 31 days of 2019 and all 366 days of 2020.

NY has it work where the day you buy it, you are granted 365 days from that date. So if I bought my NY license April 8th 2019, it would be effective til April 8th 2020.

Im not sure which of the three works out best.

I like NJ's model because it's simple, buy the license of the year you are fishing in.
The PA one is nice if you wanted to pick up your first PA license and can fish a month free. Would be better if it was changed from December to October tho. A new PA angler could start fishing the fall season for free for paying for next year's license.

if you buy each of the three every year, there's no real difference in effectiveness i guess.