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Fishing Guide · Southwest Florida

SWFL Season & Regulation Calendar

Gulf-region rules for Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties. Gulf and Atlantic regulations differ for several of these species; figures here are Gulf-only, fetched directly from myfwc.com on August 3, 2026.

This is a snapshot, not the authority.

FWC (myfwc.com) is the only authority on current Florida fishing regulations, and several of the seasons below have narrow open windows that change every year. Verify every figure at myfwc.com before you fish, since a citation is issued against the rule in effect that day, not the one you read online last month. Figures on this page were retrieved August 3, 2026.

Want more than the rule? Each of these has a full guide — where the fish holds in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties, when it bites, and what to throw at it: snook, redfish, tarpon, spotted seatrout, mangrove snapper, red snapper, gag grouper.

What the year actually looks like

Rules are one thing, and what comes over the rail is another. These are our own photographs, each one dated by the camera that took it, arranged by the month it happened.

An angler lifts a mottled brown grouper at the boat rail in open Gulf water
February A Gulf grouper, offshore Southwest Florida
A large pile of yellowtail snapper and grouper laid out on a dock
April A big mixed catch of yellowtail snapper and grouper
An angler holds a large greater amberjack vertically on a boat offshore
May Greater amberjack, offshore Southwest Florida
Close-up of a red snapper at the boat rail, deep red with a large dark eye
June Red snapper, offshore Southwest Florida
An angler holds a coppery-bronze redfish in a mangrove backwater
July Redfish, backwater near Cape Coral
A grouper held boatside at the surface before release, offshore in the Gulf
August A Gulf grouper caught and released, offshore Southwest Florida
About sixteen fish laid out on a dock, mostly red snapper with several grouper
December A mixed dockside catch of red snapper, grouper and other Gulf species

Status at a glance

Snook (Gulf/SWFL)
Closed May 1 – Sept. 30 and Dec. 1 – end of February; slot 28"–33"
Redfish (SWFL)
Open year-round; slot 18"–27"; 1/person, 2/vessel
Tarpon (statewide)
Catch-and-release only, always, unless tagged for a record
Spotted seatrout (SWFL)
Open year-round; slot 15"–19"; 3/person/day
Gray (mangrove) snapper (Gulf)
Open year-round; 10" min. (state waters); 5/person/day
Red snapper (Gulf state waters)
Closed in August 2026 — reopens Sept. 1; 16" min.; 2/person/day
Gag grouper (Gulf state waters)
Closed through Aug. 31, 2026 — reopens Sept. 1; 24" min.; 2/person/day

Snook: the Gulf slot isn't the Atlantic slot

SWFL's Charlotte Harbor and Southwest snook regions use a 28"–33" slot and are closed May 1–Sept. 30 plus Dec. 1–end of February. Southeast Florida's Atlantic coast uses a narrower 28"–32" slot with different closed dates. Forum advice written for the Atlantic side will misquote the Gulf slot every time.

Closed season (Charlotte Harbor & Southwest / Gulf)
Dec. 1 – end of February, and May 1 – Sept. 30
Slot limit (Gulf, incl. Charlotte Harbor & Southwest)
Not less than 28" or more than 33" total length
For comparison: Southeast Atlantic slot
Not less than 28" or more than 32" total length (different region, different rule)
Bag limit
One fish per person per day
Permit
Snook permit required in addition to saltwater license
Sources
  • FWC: Snook: confirmed region boundaries, closed seasons, and slot limits for Gulf vs. Southeast Atlantic

Redfish never closes in SWFL

Redfish harvest is open year-round in the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest regions covering Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties. No closed season, no emergency closure in effect as of August 3, 2026. The slot is 18"–27" with a 1-fish-per-person, 2-fish-per-vessel limit.

Season
Open year-round (Charlotte Harbor & Southwest regions)
Slot limit
Not less than 18" or more than 27" total length
Bag limit
1 fish per person per day
Vessel limit
2 fish per vessel
Sources
  • FWC: Red Drum (Redfish): confirmed Southwest/Charlotte Harbor region is open year-round, no active closure, slot and bag figures

Tarpon: catch-and-release everywhere, extra rules at Boca Grande Pass

Tarpon fishing is catch-and-release only everywhere in Florida unless you're holding a paid tag ($51.50/year) and pursuing a record. Boca Grande Pass adds its own gear restrictions on top of that statewide rule.

Harvest
Catch-and-release only, except one tagged fish per person per year pursuing a state/world record
Handling
Tarpon over 40" must stay in the water unless tagged for a record attempt
Boca Grande Pass — year-round
Gear with weight positioned lower than the hook (when suspended) is prohibited for all species inside the pass
Boca Grande Pass — April, May, June only
Vessels limited to 3 fishing lines deployed at once; breakaway gear prohibited entirely
Sources
  • FWC: Tarpon: confirmed catch-and-release rule, tag price, and Boca Grande Pass gear restrictions

Spotted seatrout (trout): open year-round in SWFL

Spotted seatrout is open year-round in both the Charlotte Harbor region (Lee, Charlotte, and most of Collier) and the Southwest region (southern Collier below 26°15.227'N and south), with the same 15"–19" slot and 3-fish daily bag in both.

Season
Open year-round in both the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest regions
Slot limit
Not less than 15" or more than 19" total length
Bag limit
3 fish per person per day, plus 1 fish over 19" per vessel (or per person from shore) countable toward that bag
Region boundary
Charlotte Harbor and Southwest regions split at 26°15.227'N latitude in Collier County
Sources

Snapper: mangrove year-round, red snapper on a narrow calendar

Gray (mangrove) snapper is open year-round in Gulf state waters at a 10" minimum. Red snapper is not: the 2026 Gulf state-waters season ran May 22–July 31, then reopens Sept. 1, 2026–Jan. 4, 2027. August sits in the closed gap between those two windows.

Gray (mangrove) snapper — season
Open year-round
Gray (mangrove) snapper — size/bag
10" TL minimum (state waters), 5 per person/day (within 10-snapper aggregate)
Red snapper — 2026 season
May 22 – July 31 (summer), then Sept. 1, 2026 – Jan. 4, 2027 (fall, with some weekend/holiday-only closures)
Red snapper — size/bag
16" TL minimum, 2 per person/day (within the 10-fish state snapper aggregate)
Sources
  • FWC: Snappers: confirmed gray snapper year-round status and red snapper's 2026 Gulf season dates

Gag grouper: closed in Gulf state waters through Aug. 31, 2026

Gulf state-waters gag grouper is closed Sept. 15, 2025 through Aug. 31, 2026 and reopens Sept. 1, 2026, so it's closed for all of August 2026. That's separate from the Atlantic gag closure, which started Aug. 2, 2026 on its own calendar.

Season (Gulf state waters)
Closed Sept. 15, 2025 – Aug. 31, 2026; reopens Sept. 1, 2026
Minimum size
24" total length
Bag limit
2 per person, within a 4-grouper aggregate per person per day
For-hire
Charter captains and crew have a 0-fish gag bag limit
Sources
  • FWC: Groupers: confirmed the exact Gulf closure dates, minimum size, and bag limit (verbatim text pulled twice to confirm)

Not published here

Federal-water red snapper rules for boats running past 9 nautical miles, and other Gulf reef fish (vermilion snapper, mutton snapper, cubera, lane snapper), weren't researched this session. Treat "not listed" as "not verified," not "unregulated." The free Fish Rules app and myfwc.com/fishing cover what's missing here, especially anything with a narrow open window like grouper or red snapper.

More species covered on this site

A handful of species with their own FWC figures don't have a full regional table above yet, but they do have a dedicated guide. Sheepshead around Punta Gorda and St. James City are covered in our sheepshead fishing guide. Flounder around Pine Island and Bokeelia, including the fall closed season, are in our flounder fishing guide. Black drum at Pine Island and Matlacha are in our black drum fishing guide. Permit off Sanibel and Captiva, including the Gulf slot outside the Biscayne special zone, are in our permit fishing guide. Cobia out of Fort Myers are in our cobia fishing guide. Trout specifically in Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass get a deeper look in our spotted seatrout guide for that water. Tilapia in the freshwater canals of Cape Coral and Fort Myers, which need a different license than the saltwater species above, are covered in our tilapia fishing guide. Peacock bass around Naples and Everglades City are addressed honestly in our peacock bass guide, which explains why FWC's own range statement rules that trip out. Veterans, active and retired military, and seniors have their own fee and exemption breakdown in our license cost guide. Jack crevalle and ladyfish carry no species-specific limit at all, only FWC's default unregulated-species bag, explained in our jack crevalle guide and ladyfish guide. For how these closures stack up across the calendar, our month-by-month guide walks the year species by species.

Where to fish it

Rules are one part of the picture. See our snook season status guide for the current Gulf and Atlantic windows spelled out side by side, and our spot guides for where to actually cast a line while a season's open: Cape Coral boat ramps, Sanibel Causeway, Blind Pass, Fort Myers boat ramps, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte piers, Pine Island, Estero and Bonita Springs, Naples and Marco Island, Everglades City and Chokoloskee, Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island, the Punta Gorda Isles canals, the Marco Island canals, and what is open after dark. Booking a captain instead, our charter cost guide lists published rates by port. Three permit rules sit outside the season tables and catch people out: the free but mandatory shore-based shark fishing permit, which seniors are NOT exempt from, the goliath grouper harvest lottery that only takes applications October 1 to 15, and how far from a pier or bridge you may spearfish.

FAQ

Is Gulf gag grouper open right now?

No, and it won’t be until fall. FWC has Gulf state-water gag grouper closed from Sept. 15, 2025 clear through Aug. 31, 2026, reopening Sept. 1. Don’t confuse it with the Atlantic gag closure. That one started Aug. 2, 2026, on its own separate calendar.

Is the snook slot limit the same on the Gulf side as the Atlantic side?

No, and this trips up a lot of anglers reading advice meant for the wrong coast. SWFL’s Charlotte Harbor and Southwest snook regions run a 28"–33" slot, closed Dec. 1 through the end of February and again May 1–Sept. 30. Southeast Florida’s Atlantic side is narrower, 28"–32", and closes on different dates entirely.

Can I keep a redfish in Lee, Collier, or Charlotte County right now?

Yes, any day of the year. Redfish harvest never closes in the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest regions that cover SWFL. Slot is 18"–27", one fish per person, two per vessel.

Can I keep a tarpon I catch in Southwest Florida?

No. Tarpon fishing is catch-and-release, period, statewide, unless you’ve paid for a tag and you’re chasing a state or world record. Anything over 40 inches stays in the water regardless.

What makes Boca Grande Pass different from the rest of Charlotte Harbor?

Extra rules stacked on top of the statewide ones. Boca Grande Pass bans gear weighted below the hook year-round, for every species, not just tarpon. April through June adds more: three lines max per boat, and breakaway gear banned outright.

Is Gulf red snapper season open in August 2026?

No. The summer window closed July 31, and the fall season doesn’t pick back up until Sept. 1, running through Jan. 4, 2027 with a few weekend and holiday closures mixed in. August just sits in the gap between the two.

Can I keep spotted seatrout in SWFL right now?

Yes, trout don’t have a closed season here. Both the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest regions covering Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties keep it open year-round: 15"–19" slot, three fish a day.