Florida · Common snook
Can you keep a common snook in Florida?
Closed to harvest today
atlantic
Closed todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 28 inches goes back, and so does longer than 32.
June 1 to August 31 Reopens after August 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Also needed: Snook permit, on top of a saltwater fishing licence
Hook and line only. The fish must stay whole until you are ashore. No commercial harvest, and for-hire captain and crew may not keep one.
gulf
Closed todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 28 inches goes back, and so does longer than 33.
May 1 to August 31 Reopens after August 31. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Also needed: Snook permit, on top of a saltwater fishing licence
Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay regions. Charlotte Harbour and the southwest Gulf share the same slot but close on September 30 instead of August 31 — see the Monroe entry, which follows that southwest rule.
monroe
Closed todayA slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 28 inches goes back, and so does longer than 33.
May 1 to September 30 Reopens after September 30. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Also needed: Snook permit, on top of a saltwater fishing licence
FWC's southwest Gulf zone runs through the Keys to the Monroe county line and takes in Everglades National Park, so all of Monroe follows this rule on both the Gulf and Atlantic sides.
What we left out on purpose
- Atlantic red snapper is deliberately left unstated. FWC's dedicated season page and its general snapper table give different size and bag figures, and a federal court ruling on May 21, 2026 postponed the state management season. Publishing either number would be a guess.
- Gag grouper is in flux on both coasts: the Gulf is closed through August 31, 2026 after a quota overage, and the Atlantic and Monroe closed by executive order effective August 2, 2026 with no stated reopening. The dates here are what FWC published; the daily rebuild re-evaluates them.
- The Gulf red snapper weekend and holiday schedule was read from a summarised page fetch rather than a raw table. The dates are reproduced as published, but this is the entry most worth re-reading at the agency before a trip.
- Several species carry separate rules inside Biscayne National Park. Those figures are not captured here.
- Mutton snapper spawning-area closures around the Dry Tortugas are referenced in angling literature but did not appear on the FWC page read, so none is listed.
