CEDAR KEY, FL (352today.com) – This one’s for all the saltwater anglers in the 352: Snook season will officially close for Florida’s west coast on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025.
This includes all west coast snook management regions–Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Southwest. Fishing for snook in the east coast management regions (Northeast, Indian River Lagoon, Southeast) remains open until Dec. 15.
The snook, or “linesider,” is an extremely sought-after game fish in Florida’s coastal waters, though Cedar Key is right around the northernmost limit of its range on the west coast. (To be clear, snook have been caught all the way to Pensacola, but they’re much rarer.) It’s considered a protected species in the state and is tightly regulated; when the season is open, licensed anglers are only allowed to keep one caught fish, and it must be in the “slot range” of 28-33 inches on the west coast and 28-32 inches on the east coast.
The season opens up again at the end of February, but shuts down once more during the summer, when the big fish are spawning in large numbers. For the full list of dates and regulations regarding harvest, visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website.