Can you keep a spotted seatrout (speckled trout) in Florida?

A slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 15 inches goes back, and so does longer than 19.

The most generous seatrout bag in Florida: 5 a day, on the same 15-to-19-inch slot every zone shares, with one oversize fish allowed per vessel or person.

FWC source page

A slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 15 inches goes back, and so does longer than 19.

Closes each year Closed every February

3 a day, closed every February — the only Florida zone with a recurring monthly closure for this species.

FWC source page

A slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 15 inches goes back, and so does longer than 19.

Closes each year Closed November and December

The tightest seatrout bag in the state: 2 a day, closed every November and December.

FWC source page

A slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 15 inches goes back, and so does longer than 19.

3 a day, open all year — the baseline rule that six of Florida's nine seatrout zones share.

FWC source page

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.
• Red drum and spotted seatrout were missing entirely until the 2026-08-08 check despite being Florida's two most iconic inshore species. Both are found here grouped by zone rather than listing all nine FWC management zones individually — every zone with an identical rule is combined into one region, so no figure differs from FWC's own breakdown.
• The old FWC 'quickchart.pdf' summary (last modified December 2023) was found during this pass and deliberately not used — it predates the 2025–2026 gag grouper closures and the current red snapper season structure by more than two years.
• Snapper and grouper species beyond what is already carried here — including cubera, schoolmaster and gray triggerfish, tilefish and vermilion snapper — were not individually re-checked on 2026-08-08. Only the species already on this page, plus red drum, spotted seatrout, king mackerel, greater amberjack and hogfish, were verified this pass.