Florida Fishing Regulations 2026 — License Fees, Seasons, Bag Limits

Notable water-body special regulations

• Lake Okeechobee

  Standard 5-bass / 1-over-16 in rule; cormorant + tournament rules apply

• Mosquito Lagoon (Indian River)

  Redfish + seatrout: catch-and-release only in NE zone

• Boca Grande Pass

  Tarpon: hook-and-line only (no snatch-hooking); no breakaway weights

• Apalachicola Bay

  Closed shellfish harvest; redfish zone special rules

• St. Johns River

  Statewide freshwater rules; American shad seasonal run Dec–Mar; FWC striped bass restoration zone — verify harvest rule at FWC

• Suwannee River

  Suwannee bass — the river's signature native black bass — must be 12 inches or longer to keep (largemouth and Florida bass have no minimum); the statewide five-fish black-bass bag applies. Gulf-strain striped bass are under FWC restoration here, so catch-and-release is encouraged. The blackwater river draining the Okefenokee Swamp across North Florida

• Crystal River / Kings Bay

  Manatee sanctuary zones (Three Sisters Springs etc.) seasonally closed Nov–Mar; hook-and-line allowed outside posted no-fishing sanctuaries

• Lake George (St. Johns chain)

  Statewide bass / crappie / catfish rules; manatee idle-speed seasonal zones — boating restrictions overlap fishing access

• Florida Keys Sanctuary Preservation Areas

  No-take zones inside 18 SPAs within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; trolling-through allowed only with no gear deployed

• Biscayne National Park

  Park-specific rules layer over state; spiny lobster sport season opens earlier inside park; lionfish-only spearing zones posted

• Everglades National Park (10,000 Islands / Florida Bay)

  Park access requires NPS entry fee; statewide saltwater slot rules apply with park overlays (e.g. no commercial-net zones)

• Apalachicola River

  Gulf-strain striped bass under FWC restoration — catch-and-release encouraged; freshwater black bass + crappie statewide rules apply

• Big Pine Key and Lower Keys

  Inside Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary — Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area is no-take (trolling allowed only with gear stowed). Bonefish statewide catch-and-release only (no harvest since 2013). Spiny lobster sport season (late July 2-day mini-season + Aug 6 – Mar 31 regular) carries Monroe County-specific possession limits — verify FWC + NOAA NMS maps before launching

• Marquesas Keys

  Within Key West National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS) — backcountry skiff flats; permit + bonefish + tarpon are all catch-and-release in practice (permit harvest closed in Special Permit Zone south of Tampa Bay); no commercial gear; refuge access regulated. Statewide Gulf-zone snook rule applies but flats here are typically released

• Banana River (Merritt Island NWR)

  Kennedy Space Center / Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge overlay — designated no-motor manatee zones in upper Banana River; redfish + spotted seatrout fall under Mosquito Lagoon NE-zone catch-and-release rule; access closed within KSC security perimeter; verify USFWS + FWC zone maps

• Pine Island Sound (Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve)

  Inside Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve — mangrove flats hosting redfish slot recovery zone (post-2018 red tide), spotted seatrout statewide 15–19 in slot enforced, snook Gulf-zone rule applies, tarpon migration May–Jul catch-and-release; idle-speed manatee zones overlap fishing access

• Lake Seminole (Jim Woodruff Reservoir)

  Black bass: 10 per day, each of which must be 12 inches or longer — a higher bag than the statewide five, but with a firm 12 in minimum (the statewide rule has no minimum and allows only one fish over 16 in). The 37,500-acre impoundment of the Chattahoochee, Flint, and Apalachicola rivers on the Florida (Jackson/Gadsden counties)–Georgia line, known for largemouth, shoal bass, and hybrid striped bass

• St. Marys River and tributaries

  Black bass: 10 per day, each of which must be 12 inches or longer (instead of the statewide five-fish/one-over-16-in bag). The blackwater river draining the Okefenokee Swamp and forming the Florida (Nassau/Baker counties)–Georgia border; redbreast sunfish and largemouth bass are the mainstays

• Wildcat Lake (Ocala National Forest)

  Black bass must be released immediately — catch-and-release only, no harvest. A small sand-bottom lake in the Ocala National Forest (Marion County) managed as a trophy-bass water

• Fellsmere Water Management Area (Headwaters Lake / Egan Lake)

  Black bass must be released immediately — catch-and-release only. Circle hooks are required when fishing with natural bait longer than 3 inches. A flooded restoration marsh in Indian River County (also marketed as Headwaters Lake / Egan Lake) that has produced trophy largemouth since it was impounded

• Kenansville Lake (S.N. Knight Tract)

  Black bass must be released immediately — catch-and-release only. A flooded impoundment in Indian River County, officially the S.N. Knight Tract, managed for trophy bass

• Lake Jackson (Walton County)

  Black bass: 5 per day, all of which must be 12 inches or longer and only one of which may be longer than 22 inches — a quality-slot rule that both raises the minimum and protects big fish, unlike the statewide one-over-16-in bag. A clear sand-bottom lake near Florala in Walton County (distinct from the larger Lake Jackson at Tallahassee)

• Perdido River

  Multi-species special limits replace the statewide bags: black bass 10 per day; striped, white, and sunshine bass 15 combined (only 5 of which may be 22 inches or longer); and 30 crappie (speckled perch), all of which must be 9 inches or longer. The blackwater river forming the Florida (Escambia County)–Alabama border

• South Florida Peacock Bass Canals (Miami-Dade & Broward)

  Butterfly peacock bass: 2 per day, only one of which may be 17 inches or longer. FWC introduced the species into the coastal canal systems of Miami-Dade and Broward counties in 1984 as a biological control; cold and saltwater intolerance keep the fishery confined to these southeast-Florida urban canals (Tamiami, Snapper Creek, and the connected L-series canals)

• Santa Fe River

  Suwannee bass must be 12 inches or longer to keep (largemouth have no minimum; the statewide five-fish black-bass bag applies). A spring-fed Suwannee River tributary across Columbia, Gilchrist, and Alachua counties — one of Florida's premier Suwannee bass rivers

• Ochlockonee River

  Both Suwannee bass and shoal bass must be 12 inches or longer to keep (largemouth have no minimum; the statewide five-fish black-bass bag applies). Flowing from Georgia through the Florida Panhandle (Leon, Gadsden, Liberty, Wakulla counties) to the Gulf, it is one of the few rivers holding both of Florida's native stream black-bass species

• Wacissa River

  Suwannee bass must be 12 inches or longer to keep (largemouth have no minimum; the statewide five-fish black-bass bag applies). A crystal-clear spring-run river in Jefferson County, part of the Aucilla drainage and a classic North-Florida Suwannee bass fishery

• Chipola River

  Shoal bass must be released immediately — catch-and-release only, no harvest, on the Chipola River and its tributaries (standing FWC Executive Order since June 5, 2019, after Hurricane Michael destroyed over 90% of the population in 2018; the 12-inch shoal-bass minimum that applies elsewhere does NOT permit harvest here). A spring-fed Apalachicola tributary in Jackson and Calhoun counties holding the only naturally reproducing shoal bass population in Florida — handle and release these native bass with care

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