I also have a life time license. To show how old I am, it includes the trout stamp also for a life time. As far back as I can remember, it has always been 3 rods. It has only been a short while back that the number of hooks became unlimited, I believe they were 3 also. Just as a side note, in New Jersey fishing from a boat the rods are unlimited but fishing from shore you are limited to 3 rods. I would like to see the rod number increased to 4 in Pa. I spider rig and would be nice to fish 2 rods on each pole holder set up. Pop