Fishing at Liptovská Mara: Permits, Prices, Rules and Catfish

Who manages the Liptovská Mara fishery

Liptovská Mara is a separate fishery called VN Liptovská Mara, with the number 3-5340-1-1. It is managed directly by the Slovak Anglers’ Union (Slovenský rybársky zväz, SRZ), Council in Žilina, not by the local branch in Liptovský Mikuláš. It is a carp fishery, so the rules for carp waters and reservoirs apply.

According to the fishing rules, the fishery covers 2,160 ha. It starts at the dam and ends at the railway bridge where the Váh flows into the reservoir.

For the current situation on the water, you can ask the fishery warden. The SRZ Council publishes the address vnliptovskamara@srzrada.sk for contacting the warden.

Fishing permit: 2026 prices

To fish you need two things: a fishing permit for this fishery and a fishing licence. Without either one you may not fish, and during an inspection you must have both on you.

According to the SRZ Council price list for 2026, a guest permit for VN Liptovská Mara costs:

• adult non-member of the SRZ: €40 a day, €150 a week
• adult SRZ member: €15 a day, €40 a week

Children pay less according to the price list. If you are an SRZ member with the national carp permit, Mara is on the list of fisheries where you can fish with it without any further permit.

The fishing licence is issued by a municipality or town on request. The administrative fee is:

• €3 for a weekly licence
• €5 for a monthly licence
• €10 for an annual licence
• €25 for a three-year licence

Where to buy a permit, including as a foreigner

The SRZ Council also offers the guest permit online through the eSRZ system. Once you log in with your ID you can buy it from home, and anyone without an ID gets one when registering. How registration works for anglers from the Czech Republic, Poland and other countries, check when buying your permit on esrz.sk.

The second option is the sellers. On its Guest permits page, the SRZ Council lists two sellers with phone numbers for the VN Liptovská Mara fishery; it is worth calling them in advance.

The one-day permit by SMS to 8877 only works for SRZ members with a valid fishing licence. It does not apply to non-members.

Sort out your fishing licence before you get to the water. Check with the municipal office in advance whether they will issue it while you wait and what document you need to bring.

Closed seasons: when fishing is banned on Mara

Liptovská Mara is a reservoir in carp waters. Under the Fisheries Act, fishing for all species is therefore banned here from 15 March to 31 May.

On top of that, the main predators and carp have their own protection periods:

• wels catfish and zander: protected from 1 January to 15 June
• northern pike: protected from 1 January to 31 May
• common carp: protected from 15 March to 31 May

In practice, then, you can fish on Mara from 1 January to 14 March and from 1 June to the end of the year, and for catfish and zander only from 16 June. Fishing under the ice is not allowed on reservoirs at all.

Size limits and how many fish you can keep

The law sets minimum size limits. For Mara, the SRZ Council fishing rules add maximum size limits for carp and zander, and bigger fish must be released carefully.

Fish	Minimum	Maximum on Mara
Common carp	40 cm	70 cm
Zander	50 cm	80 cm
Northern pike	60 cm	no limit
Wels catfish	70 cm	no limit

The rules for Mara also have a special rule for perch. Look it up in the permit you are given.

In one day you may keep at most two game fish, for example carp, zander or pike, or one catfish. In total that should be at most 5 kg. If it is only the last fish that takes you over the limit, you may keep it, but that ends your fishing for the day. If the first fish you keep weighs more than 5 kg, that is your whole daily catch.

Do not eat asp from Mara. Monitoring in 2017 found raised mercury levels in it, and the rules ban eating it.

Catfish at Liptovská Mara

A wels catfish must be at least 70 cm, it is protected until 15 June and you may keep one a day. The rules for Mara set no maximum size limit for it.

On its fishing page, Marina Liptov in Bobrovník describes Mara as well-stocked carp water. It mentions zander, carp, tench, pike, perch and asp, and writes that you only come across catfish or eel here now and then.

Where and on what the catfish are biting at the moment is best answered by the fishery warden or the permit seller.

Night fishing

• From June to October, carp waters have daily fishing hours of 0:00 - 24:00, so you can fish on Mara through the night too.
• In November, December and from January to 14 March you may only fish 6:00 - 21:00.

From an hour after sunset your fishing spot must be lit so that it can be seen. Attracting fish with light is banned.

Fishing from a boat

On reservoirs, fishing from a boat is banned from 1 January to 31 May. The Slovak Anglers’ Union has explicitly confirmed that this also applies to VN Liptovská Mara. So you can fish from a boat from 1 June to 31 December.

Boating on Mara is governed by a navigation order of the Transport Authority (Dopravný úrad). The points that matter for anglers:

• Children under 15 and non-swimmers must wear a fastened life jacket in a boat.
• Fishing gear must not be placed in the navigation channel or in places designated for mooring boats.
• Boating is banned in the Ratkovie bay.

If you do not have your own boat, Marina Liptov in Bobrovník hires out a Linder rowing boat, which it describes as suitable for fishing too. The hire runs from May to September, and the 2026 season has already ended.

In March 2026 the Slovak Anglers’ Union started building a free 57-metre boat launch ramp in the Ondrašová bay. It was due to be finished by 1 June 2026. Check with the SRZ Council before your trip whether it is already in use.

How many rods and how to fish

In carp waters you may fish with at most two rods. When ledgering or float fishing you may have at most two hooks on one rod. When spinning you fish with only one rod and one lure.

Keep at least 5 metres from other anglers, or 20 metres when spinning, unless you agree otherwise with your neighbour. Children aged 6 to 15 may only fish when accompanied by an adult holding a fishing licence or permit, and with one rod.

Where fishing is banned on Mara

The SRZ Council fishing rules ban fishing on Mara:

• from the dam and the area around it marked by signs
• within 100 m of fish cages
• all year from the bird island, the small artificial island and the whole shoreline of the Ratkovie peninsula
• from 1 January to 30 June in the Ratkovie bay, where there is a spawning ground marked by signs

Ratkovie is by Liptovský Trnovec, so these restrictions apply right around the village. Take the signs by the water seriously.

Across the whole reservoir, cars and caravans must not enter or stand in the flood zone below the 564.89 m above sea level mark. When the water level drops, the exposed bed is not a car park.

Neighbouring fisheries with different rules

Not every stretch of water around Mara belongs to fishery 3-5340-1-1. The SRZ town branch in Liptovský Mikuláš manages its own fisheries, where the Mara permit is not valid:

• Galovanská zátoka bay (3-0810-1-1), a carp fishery from the railway embankment to the mouth of the Palúdžanka
• the Petruška stream (3-2850-4-1), a trout fishery from its mouth into Mara near Liptovský Trnovec up to its source
• Váh no. 20 (3-4710-4-4), a grayling fishery above the railway bridge at the mouth into Mara, catch and release only

The MsO SRZ Liptovský Mikuláš publishes the prices of local permits on its website. Its office is at Kmeťova 7 in Liptovský Mikuláš, with office hours on Wednesdays 15:00 - 16:00.

Fishing outside the summer

A group of anglers does not have to wait for summer. Until the end of October you may fish on Mara round the clock, in November and December during the day 6:00 - 21:00, and from January to 14 March as well, as long as it is not frozen. What is open in Liptov outside the season is covered in our guide to Liptov in autumn.

How to get to Mara from the Czech Republic, Poland or Bratislava is in our guide to getting to Liptovský Trnovec. What lies beneath the surface of the reservoir is in our article on the history of Liptovská Mara, and we write about the beaches and water temperature in our guide to swimming at Liptovská Mara.

Accommodation by Liptovská Mara for anglers

Bosorka Zrub stands in Liptovský Trnovec, a few steps from the shore of Liptovská Mara.

• You rent the whole log cabin for 8 to 10 people, with 4 bedrooms, a fireplace, an infrared sauna and a garden with a barbecue.
• It is in a gated settlement and there is parking for 2 cars.

If you want to ask about anything an angler needs to sort out, such as where to put your tackle or your catch, write to us via a no-obligation enquiry. The host will reply, and you can check available dates through the same enquiry. We are a local host and nobody pays us for our recommendations.