Management Zones

Spotted seatrout has five management zones and the recreational bag limit is three fish in the western panhandle region, five fish in the big bend region, three fish in the south region, two fish in the central east region and five fish in the northeast region.

For red drum, there are nine management zones. The daily bag limit is one fish in all the Florida state waters, except for the Indian River Lagoon region where red drum are catch-and-release only. Zero bag limit for captain and crew.

Snook Regional Management

• FWC has implemented a regional management approach for snook that brings a holistic view to management decisions using multiple metrics to evaluate the fishery on a smaller regional scale.
• There are seven metrics used in the evaluation: spawning potential ratio (SPR), habitat, harmful algal blooms (HABs), relative abundance, fishing effort, temperature, and stakeholder feedback.
• FWC staff will annually evaluate the snook fishery in each region using the metrics, and key findings will be summarized in Annual Review publications.
• The management regions extend inland, as shown on the map, and into adjacent federal waters.
• To see the latest snook annual reviews for each management region, visit MyFWC.com/Snook.

Regional Regulations

Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay
Open season: March – April, September – November
Bag limit: one fish
Slot limit: 28–33 inches

Charlotte Harbor, Southwest
Open season: March – April, October – November
Bag limit: one fish
Slot limit: 28–33 inches

Southeast, Indian River Lagoon, Northeast
Open season: February – May, September – Dec. 14
Bag limit: one fish
Slot limit: 28–32 inches