During his visit to Destin on April 28, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the upcoming 2025 recreational Gulf Red Snapper season will last for a record-breaking 126 days. This is the longest the season will run since the state of Florida took over the Gulf fishery management for Red Snapper.
The additional fishing days include dates in the fall as well as major holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving. With these added days, anglers will have more opportunities than ever to reel in these delectable fish.
In 2024, the federal recreational quotas for Gulf Red Snapper weren’t met during the regular season that took place between July 1 and August 28. Only 2.19 million pounds out of the allocated 3.08 million pounds were caught, prompting the authorities to reopen the season on November 18, 2024, and let anglers fish until the end of the year.
Considering that, it’s not too surprising that we’ll be heading into yet another record-breaking year of Red Snapper fishing. While efforts to monitor the population continue, Red Snapper seem to be in healthy numbers in the Gulf. If this trend continues, we might see the seasons get even longer in years to come.
Back to this year, however, and the summer season will open on Memorial Day weekend (May 24–26), and reopen again from June 1 to July 31. Meanwhile, the fall season will cover the following dates:
- September 1–14
- September 19–21
- September 26–28
- October 3–5
- October 10–12
- October 17–19
- October 24–26
- October 31–November 2
- November 7– 9, 11 (Veterans Day)
- November 14–16
- November 21–23
- November 27–30 (Thanksgiving weekend)
- December 5–7
- December 12–14
- December 19–21
- December 25–28 (Christmas weekend)
If you still haven’t reserved your Red Snapper trip this summer, check out some available charters here, and catch your limit of these beautiful fish!
