Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Florida Snook Season Opens in SW Estuaries

The recreational harvest season for?snook?starts Oct. 1 in the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest management regions. The harvest season in these two management regions will remain open through Nov. 30. This includes all Florida state and inland waters within each management region.

The management regions are part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) holistic management approach for Florida’s most popular inshore fisheries. Through this approach, seven metrics are used to evaluate the fishery by region, allowing the FWC to be more responsive to local concerns. To learn more, visit MyFWC.com/Snook.

Charlotte Harbor
Open season: March 1 – April 30 and Oct. 1 – Nov. 30.
Closed season: Dec. 1 – end of February and May 1 – Sept. 30.
Bag limit: One fish per person per day.
Slot limit: 28–33 inches total length.
Boundaries: The northern coastal boundary is at 27°04.727’ north latitude, near the Venice Municipal Airport, and the region extends south to 26°15.227’ north latitude, near Vanderbilt Beach Road in Collier County. Includes all waters of the Caloosahatchee, Myakka, and Peace rivers and their tributaries. Does not include Lake Okeechobee.

Southwest
Open season: March 1 – April 30 and Oct. 1 – Nov. 30.
Closed season: Dec. 1 – end of February and May 1 – Sept. 30.
Bag limit: One fish per person per day.
Slot limit: 28–33 inches total length.
Boundaries: The northern boundary is at 26°15.227’ North latitude, near Vanderbilt Beach Road in Collier County, and the region extends through the Florida Keys to the Monroe/Miami-Dade county line. Includes all waters of Everglades National Park.

For more information on recreational snook regulations, visit MyFWC.com/Snook. This page includes the snook annual reviews, which provide summaries of key findings from the annual evaluation of management metrics for each region.