Louisiana runs the most open shellfish rules of any state on this list and the least predictable shrimp season. Crabbing never closes; shrimping opens when the biologists say the shrimp are big enough, which is a different date every year.
Every season we have verified in Louisiana
One block per rule, because a single species can be on two calendars in the same state depending on the water. The band under each heading is the legal season; the row under it is what our own data says the fish are doing.
Crab — Statewide
Recreational blue crab harvest is open all year. The restrictions that bite are gear and hours: no baiting, tending or pulling traps at night, and traps must carry the licence number and a six-inch float. Traps also come out for the derelict trap clean-up closures.
- Size
- No recreational minimum size.
- Limit
- No recreational bag limit. Ten traps per licensed crabber.
Crab Season in Louisiana: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Shrimp — Inside waters
No date to look up. The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission sets the dates by area, usually a few weeks ahead.
In general the spring brown shrimp season runs from around May to July and the autumn white shrimp season from mid-August to mid-December, with some waters staying open into January. In 2026 the Commission opened the fall inshore season at 6 a.m. on August 17 west of South Pass and at 6 p.m. the same day in the stretch between South Pass and the Atchafalaya. Outside waters are open all year except for a closure from around late December to April or May to let small white shrimp grow.
Shrimp Season in Louisiana: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Red snapper — State and federal waters off Louisiana, private anglers
No date to look up. Set each year by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission for state and federal waters out to 200 nautical miles, and closed in-season when landings approach the quota.
Louisiana manages its own private recreational red snapper season, and it does not run to a calendar: LDWF tracks landings through LA Creel in near real time and closes the fishery when the quota is in sight. The 2026 season opened on May 1 and closed at 11:59 p.m. on August 9. LDWF states outright that "season dates and bag limits are subject to change during the year", which is the most useful sentence on the subject anywhere. A Recreational Offshore Landing Permit is required on top of the basic and saltwater licences, and it is free.
Red Snapper Season in Louisiana: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Oyster — Public oyster areas
No date to look up. The Commission opens and closes public areas on biological data.
Tongs or hands only, never at night, and the Department of Health can close an area for public health reasons on top of whatever the season says. Check the health closures, not just the season: they are the ones that will make you ill.
- Size
- 3 inches, hinge to mouth, from public areas. No size limit on a private lease.
- Limit
- Two sacks per person per day, or one sack in the Calcasieu Lake public area.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
What the water is doing while the season is open
This is the part an agency page will not tell you. The temperature row above is the seasonal curve we use for the 7 of 13 Louisiana waters we track on a southern reservoir profile, and it is why an opening date and a fishable date are not the same thing. A season that opens while the water is still in the forties is a legal invitation, not a biological one: the fish are there, they are just not eating on your schedule yet. Cross the legal band against the activity row before you book the day off.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 13 Louisiana waters, each with live flow or tide and today's conditions.
- Caddo Lake — Caddo County
- Lake Pontchartrain — Orleans County
- Grand Isle — Jefferson County
- Caney Lake — Jackson County
- Black Lake — Natchitoches County
- Lake D Arbonne — Union County
- Calcasieu Lake — Cameron County
- Barataria Bay — Jefferson County
- Atchafalaya Basin — St. Martin County
- Red River — Bossier County
The licence is a separate question
An open season is not permission to fish. Louisiana requires a licence from age 18, and residents pay from $17.00 against $68.00 for visitors. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When does fishing season open in Louisiana?
It depends on the species: crab open all year; shrimp set each year by the agency; red snapper set each year by the agency. Every date on this page was read off LDWF on 2026-09-14.
Do I need a licence to fish in Louisiana?
Yes. Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents. A season being open is not permission to fish: the licence is separate and so are the size and bag limits.
Are these Louisiana dates going to change?
Some of them, and the page says which. Dates written as a rule in the regulations are calculated here for 2026, so they follow the rule rather than going stale. Dates the agency sets each year are shown as exactly that, with no calendar band, because inventing one would be worse than leaving it empty.