FC Events

FWC Gulf

Red Drum (Redfish)

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 1 per person · 4 per vessel · Size: )

Panhandle slot. In September the bull reds run — anything over 27" must be released.

FWC Gulf

Spotted Seatrout

Season: Open Mar 1 – Jan 31 · closed all February (Bag: 3 per person · Size: )

One fish over 19" allowed per vessel (per person if fishing strictly from shore) in the Panhandle.

FWC Gulf

Sheepshead

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 8 per person · Size: )

During March and April a spawning-season vessel limit of 50 per trip applies.

FWC Gulf

Black Drum

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 5 per person · Size: )

One fish over 24" allowed per person per day, within the 5-fish bag limit.

FWC Gulf

Vermilion Snapper (Mingo)

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 10 per person · Size: )

Not counted against the 10-snapper aggregate bag limit.

FWC Gulf

Scamp Grouper

Season: Open year-round (Bag: Within the 4-grouper aggregate · Size: )

Counts toward the 4-fish per person Gulf grouper aggregate.

FWC Gulf

Florida Pompano

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 6 per person · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Spanish Mackerel

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 15 per person · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Gray Triggerfish

Season: Open Mar 1 – May 31 and Aug 1 – Dec 31 · closed June and July (Bag: 1 per person · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Cobia

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 1 per person · 2 per vessel · Size: )

Vessel limit is whichever is less — 1 per angler or 2 per boat.

FWC Gulf

King Mackerel (Kingfish)

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 3 per person (Gulf) · Size: )

Gulf state waters allow 3 per person; Atlantic state waters allow only 2.

FWC Gulf

Greater Amberjack

Season: 2026 Gulf season: Sept 1 – Oct 13 only (Bag: 1 per person · Size: )

Season set by FWC executive order. FWC has since set the standing Gulf season at Sept 1 - Oct 31, but 2026 was shortened to Oct 13 to match federal waters.

FWC Gulf

Tarpon

Season: Catch and release year-round (Bag: Catch and release · Size: )

Tarpon over 40" must remain in the water. Harvest only with a tarpon tag while pursuing a state or world record — one tag per person per year.

FWC Gulf

Tripletail

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 2 per person · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Mahi-mahi (Dolphin)

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 10 per person · 60 per vessel · Size: )

Bag limit is whichever is less.

FWC Gulf

Wahoo

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 2 per person · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Red Snapper

Season: 2026 Gulf season: May 22 – Jul 31; Sept 1 – Oct 4; Oct 9 – 22 daily; Oct 23–25 and Oct 30 – Nov 1 (Fri–Sun); Nov 7–8, 14–15, 21–22 (Sat–Sun); Nov 26–29 (Thanksgiving); Dec 5–6, 12–13, 19–20 (Sat–Sun); Dec 25–27 (Christmas); Jan 1–4, 2027 (Bag: 2 per person, within the 10-snapper aggregate · Size: )

Open daily through Oct 4, closed Oct 5–8, open daily again Oct 9–22, then weekends and holidays only through Jan 4, 2027 (exact dates above).

FWC Gulf

Gray Snapper (Mangrove)

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 5 per person · Size: )

Counts within the 10-snapper aggregate bag limit.

FWC Gulf

Gag Grouper

Season: 2026 Gulf season: Sept 1 – 30 only (Bag: 2 per person, within the 4-grouper aggregate · Size: )

Gag are around and catchable outside September, but harvest is closed — release them.

FWC Gulf

Southern Flounder

Season: Closed statewide Oct 15 – Nov 30 (Bag: 5 per person · Size: )

October is a split month — open through the 14th, then closed.

FWC Gulf

Blackfin Tuna

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 2 per person or 10 per vessel, whichever is greater · Size: )

FWC Gulf

Sailfish

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 1 billfish per person · Size: )

No federal HMS Angling Permit is required to target billfish in state waters (shore to 9 miles in the Gulf); it is required in federal waters. Billfish may not be removed from the water except to harvest.

FWC Gulf

Bay Scallops — Gulf County / St. Joseph Bay

Season: 2026 season cancelled — closed to harvest (Bag: 2 gal whole or 1 pt meat per person · 10 gal whole or ½ gal meat per vessel · Size: )

FWC closed the Gulf County zone on Aug 13, 2026, three days before it was due to open on Aug 16, after a summer survey found very low scallop abundance. The zone covers all state waters from the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County east to the westernmost point of St. Vincent Island, including St. Joseph Bay. Fishing, boating and swimming in the bay are unaffected.

FWC Gulf

Bay Scallops — Franklin County zone

Season: 2026 season: July 1 – Sept 24 (Bag: 2 gal whole or 1 pt meat per person · 10 gal whole or ½ gal meat per vessel · Size: )

Runs from the westernmost point of St. Vincent Island east to Rock Island near the mouth of the Fenholloway River — it covers Apalachicola, St. George Island and Carrabelle, and is the closest open scalloping to Port St. Joe this year. Hand harvest or dip net only; saltwater licence required.

FWC Gulf

Oysters

Season: Open Oct 1 – Jun 30 · closed Jul 1 – Sep 30 (Bag: 2 bags per person or vessel, whichever is less, per day (1 bag = 60 lb or two 5-gal buckets) · Size: )

Hand or tong only — dredges and mechanical devices are prohibited. Harvest only from a shellfish area currently in OPEN status — Florida closes them after rain and on water-quality tests, and the status changes constantly. Check FDACS before you go. Apalachicola Bay has its own separate rules and permit, listed below.

FWC Gulf

Oysters — Apalachicola Bay

Season: 2026–27 season: Oct 1 – Feb 28 · weekends only (Bag: One bag tag per permit holder per season · Size: )

Reopened Jan 1, 2026 after a five-year closure. Needs an Apalachicola Bay Recreational Opportunity (ABRO) permit — Florida residents only, awarded by random lottery via GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, and applications run Jul 15–31 each year for the following Oct–Feb season. Harvest is Saturday and Sunday only, on approved restored reefs, and a permit is one bag for the whole season, not per day.

FWC Gulf

Stone Crab

Season: Open Oct 15 – May 1 (Bag: 1 gal claws per person or 2 gal per vessel, whichever is less · Size: )

Claws only — the crab must be returned to the water alive. Up to 5 traps per harvester, registered at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com and pulled by hand in daylight only.

FWC Gulf

Hard Clams

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 5 gal unshucked per person · 10 gal per vessel, per day · Size: )

Feet, hands, rakes or tongs only. Harvest only from a shellfish area currently in OPEN status — Florida closes them after rain and on water-quality tests, and the status changes constantly. Check FDACS before you go.

FWC Gulf

Blue Crab

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 10 gal whole per person per day · Size: )

Up to 5 traps per harvester, registered at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com. FWC runs regional trap closures of up to 10 days at a time — check current closure dates before setting traps. Egg-bearing females must be released.

FWC Gulf

Shrimp

Season: Open year-round in the Panhandle (Bag: 5 gal heads-on per person per day · 5 gal per vessel at any time · Size: )

The vessel limit is 5 gal total no matter how many people are aboard. The April–May closure applies to northeast Florida counties, not this coast.

FWC Gulf

Sharks

Season: Open year-round (Bag: 1 per person · 2 per vessel, whichever is less, per day · Size: )

No minimum size: Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, blacktip, bonnethead, finetooth, smooth dogfish, Florida smoothhound, Gulf smoothhound. 54" fork length minimum: bull, nurse, spinner, blue, porbeagle, common thresher. Hook and line only, and non-offset, non-stainless-steel circle hooks are required with live or dead natural bait. Chumming from the beach is prohibited, and you must carry a device capable of cutting the leader or hook.

FWC Gulf

Sharks — prohibited species

Season: Prohibited year-round — 29 species (Bag: Zero — harvest, possession and landing prohibited · Size: )

Includes great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, tiger, lemon, sandbar, dusky, silky, shortfin mako and white shark, among 29 species. They must stay in the water with the gills submerged whether you are on shore or in a boat, and be released without delay — you cannot drag one up the sand for a photo. Tap through for FWC's identification guide.