Louisiana manages its own red snapper season out to 200 nautical miles, and it does not run to a calendar. It runs to a quota, and it closes when the quota is in sight.
The dates
There is no published date to give you, and the calendar below says so rather than filling itself in. That is the honest state of this fishery, not a gap in our research.
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.
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.
Why Louisiana is different
LDWF tracks landings through LA Creel in near real time and feeds them to NOAA. When actual landings approach the allowed harvest for the year, managers close the fishery — sometimes with days of notice. The 2026 season opened May 1 and closed at 11:59 p.m. on August 9. The department states outright that "season dates and bag limits are subject to change during the year", which is the most useful sentence written about this fishery anywhere.
What to actually do
The practical consequence is that a red snapper trip is planned on the current notice, not on last year’s dates, and that a season which opened seven days a week can drop to weekends mid-run. A Recreational Offshore Landing Permit is required on top of the basic and saltwater licences — it is free, and it is the thing people forget.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 13 Louisiana waters, each with live flow or tide.
- 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
An open season is not permission to fish: Louisiana requires a licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents. What it costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When is red snapper season in Louisiana?
It is set each year by the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and closed in-season on landings. The 2026 season ran from May 1 to 11:59 p.m. on August 9.
What permit do I need for red snapper in Louisiana?
Basic and Saltwater Recreational Fishing Licenses plus a Recreational Offshore Landing Permit, which is free of charge.
Checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if this one has and the correction goes in the verification log with the date.