The most politically watched season in the country. Florida now sets its own private-angler days in the Gulf, and the 2026 season is the longest since the state took over management — but it is a patchwork of daily and weekend-only stretches, not one block.
State by state
Each block is one rule as the agency writes it, with the calendar band underneath. Where a state runs the same species on two different calendars — inshore against offshore, one peninsula against the other — both are here, because that is exactly the distinction people get wrong.
Florida FWC
Gulf state and federal waters, private anglers
A 140-day season, the longest since Florida took over management, but it is not one block: daily through the summer, daily again from September 1 to October 4, then three-day and two-day weekends into November, with a final daily stretch at New Year. Every private-vessel angler must be registered as a State Reef Fish Angler, even those exempt from needing a licence.
- Size
- 16 inches total length.
- Limit
- 2 per person, within the 10-snapper aggregate.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Louisiana LDWF
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.
Alabama Outdoor Alabama
State and federal waters, private and state-licensed charter
No date to look up. Set each year against the state quota; the 2026 season opened Friday, May 22 and runs until the quota is met or the year ends.
NOAA set Alabama’s 2026 private-angler quota at 664,552 pounds, and the season runs daily rather than in weekend blocks until that is landed. Reporting is not optional: the owner or operator of every vessel landing red snapper must file a Snapper Check report before the fish leave the boat, and snapper taken from piers, the shoreline or non-powered vessels have to be reported too. Federally permitted for-hire boats run a separate season, June 1 to October 26 in 2026.
- Size
- 16 inches total length.
- Limit
- 2 a day per person.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
How to read these dates
A season date is one of four things, and confusing them is how people end up on the water on the wrong day. Some are fixed and will be the same next year. Some are written as a rule — a weekday rather than a date — and we calculate those for 2026 from the regulation instead of copying a figure that goes stale. Some do not exist until the agency announces them, and no amount of searching will produce next season's date early. And some states simply do not close a season for this species, managing it with sizes and limits instead.
On this page 2 of the rules fall into the last two groups, and their calendar band is left empty on purpose. An empty band means nobody has published a date, which is different from the season being shut — and a page that paints both the same colour is telling you something it does not know.
Questions
When is red snapper season?
It depends entirely on the state: Florida is may 22–july 31, september 1–october 4, october 9–november 22, january 1–january 4, Louisiana is set each year by the agency, Alabama is set each year by the agency. There is no national red snapper season, and the dates below are the ones each agency publishes.
Can I keep red snapper outside the season?
No. Where a season is closed, harvest is closed, and in several states the water stays open for catch-and-release. Sizes and bag limits apply on top of the season and are listed per state above.
Why does this page not give a date for every state?
Because 2 of the rules listed here are not published as dates at all. The agency either sets them each year or regulates the fishery with sizes and limits instead of a calendar. Publishing a made-up window for those would be the easiest thing on this page and the most dishonest.
Compiled and checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if one has and it goes in the verification log.