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Which fish have to go back in the water, and why?

Put five of Morning Catch's fish on a measuring board, one at a time, and see what Florida's rules say about each. The rules come from Florida's fish and wildlife agency (FWC) and Florida law, and every source is listed at the bottom.

Press 1 to start. In Florida many fish have a size limit, and a fish with one is measured before it can stay. Each step puts one of Morning Catch's fish on a measuring board.
61218243036in

How these fish are measured

mouth shut, tail squeezed

The catch so far

Yellowtail snapper14 inKeep12 in or more
Gag grouper18 inBack24 in or more
Snook25 inBackslot 28 to 32 in; no sale
Red drum31 inBackslot 18 to 27 in; no commercial harvest
Tarponover 40 inStayscatch and release; no sale
The fish0
Total length0
Florida's rule0
Verdict0
Kept0
Not kept0

The big idea: a fish stays only if Florida's rules allow it. Some must reach a size, some must fall inside a slot, and a big tarpon must stay in the water.

How the numbers were worked outOpen it to see every rule and all 15 sources.Open it again to fold it away.

How the board is read: Florida's fish and wildlife agency (FWC) measures total length from the front of the head, mouth closed, to the farthest tip of the tail, squeezed together, in a straight line, not over the curve of the fish[1].

The limits: yellowtail snapper 12 in or more on the Atlantic coast[2]; gag grouper 24 in or more, and on the Atlantic coast only in season, which FWC lists as May 1 to August 1[3]; snook 28 to 32 inches in FWC's Southeast region and the rest of the Atlantic coast (28 to 33 on the Gulf coast), one a day with a snook permit and a fishing license, closed on the Atlantic coast December 15 to January 31 and June 1 to August 31, with no commercial harvest or sale[4]; red drum 18 to 27 in, with commercial harvest prohibited[5]; tarpon catch and release only, and over 40 inches it must stay in the water, unless the angler is going for a state or world record with a tarpon tag[6]. Florida law bans buying or selling tarpon. Its tarpon section, which also sets up the tarpon tags, does not apply to an angler who returns a tarpon uninjured right away, where it was caught[7]. These are the rules for people fishing; a boat that sells its catch also needs the right licenses, which this page does not cover.

Why some of the rules exist: gag grouper "grow slowly", mature around age 4, turn male around age 8 and can live 30 years[8]. Red drum were overfished in the late 1980s; the 18 to 27 inch slot came in 1989, and in most parts of Florida the stock now beats FWC's goal of 40% escapement. Escapement compares the fish that survive through age 4 with how many would if no one fished[5].

The purple marks show where each species matures, from studies of Florida and South Atlantic fish. The studies give lengths in millimeters, some as fork length (nose to the fork of the tail); this page turns them into inches of total length with each study's own formula, and rounds them. They are averages from samples taken years ago, and real fish vary. Yellowtail snapper: half the females mature at about 9 inches[9]. Gag grouper: half the females mature at about 29 inches, or about 25 by an older way of counting, either way more than the 24 inch limit; the same study puts the change to male at about 41 inches and 10.5 years, later than NOAA's "around age 8"[10][8]. Snook: males mature at 150 to 200 mm fork length (about 6 to 8 inches) in their first year, and on Florida's east coast half are female by about 32 inches[11]. Red drum: on the Atlantic coast half the females were mature at about 38 inches (about 34 in Tampa Bay), and half the males at about 21[12]. Tarpon: no halfway size was found; the smallest mature Florida female was about 57 inches, all males were mature by about 52, and every tarpon over 10 years old was mature[13][14]. Big tarpon stay in the water because FWC warns that dragging one onto a deck "can be a death sentence for the fish"[15].

What this page does not tell you: rules change, and some depend on the season and the region (red drum, for one, are catch and release only in the Indian River Lagoon). Check FWC's pages before you fish. Morning Catch never names its coast; it fishes the Florida Current, so this page uses the Atlantic coast and the Southeast region. Much of that water lies beyond Florida's state waters, where federal rules apply too and can differ; this page uses the state rules.

Where the numbers come from

  1. Total length "is measured from the most forward point of the head, with the mouth closed, to the farthest tip of the tail with the tail compressed or squeezed, while the fish is lying on its side". With a flexible tape, "take a straight line measurement and do not follow the contour of the fish": FWC, Measuring fish
  2. Yellowtail snapper on the Atlantic coast: 12 inches total length or more: FWC, Snappers
  3. Gag grouper: 24 inches total length or more; Atlantic season (state and federal) open May 1 to August 1: FWC, Groupers
  4. Snook in the Southeast region: not less than 28 or more than 32 inches total length (28 to 32 in all three Atlantic regions, 28 to 33 in the six Gulf regions), one fish per person per day; Atlantic closed seasons December 15 to January 31 and June 1 to August 31; a snook permit and a recreational fishing license are required; "No commercial harvest or sale of snook is permitted": FWC, Snook
  5. Red drum: not less than 18 or more than 27 inches total length; "Commercial harvest prohibited". In the late 1980s red drum was overfished; "In 1989, the slot limit of 18-27 inches" was put in place, and stocks "are currently exceeding the FWC's management goal of 40% escapement in most parts of Florida"; "Escapement is the proportion of fish that survive through age four relative to the fish that would have survived if there was no fishery": FWC, Red drum
  6. "Tarpon is a catch-and-release only fishery"; "Tarpon over 40 inches MUST remain in the water unless in pursuit of a state or world record using a tarpon tag": FWC, Tarpon
  7. "A person may not sell, offer for sale, barter, exchange for merchandise, transport for sale ... or purchase any species of fish known as tarpon"; the section "does not apply to anyone who immediately returns a tarpon uninjured to the water at the place where the fish was caught": Florida Statutes (2026), section 379.357
  8. "Gag grow slowly"; they "begin life as females and sexually mature around age 4", change to males "around age 8", and "can live as long as 30 years": NOAA Fisheries, Gag grouper
  9. Yellowtail snapper: "In Florida waters, 50% of females achieved sexual maturity at 192 mm FL (232 mm TLmax) and 1.7 years of age": SEDAR 64, Southeastern U.S. yellowtail snapper, Data Workshop report
  10. South Atlantic gag, total length: "an estimated female age and length at 50% functional maturity of 4.6 years and 744.4 mm"; by the older method, 3.9 years and 642.6 mm; sex change to male at an estimated 10.5 years and 1031.4 mm: SEDAR 71 working paper 3, gag grouper reproductive parameters
  11. Common snook "are protandric hermaphrodites" (they start male); "Males reached sexual maturity at 150–200 mm"; the length at which half were female was 767 mm fork length on Florida's east coast and 608 mm on the west coast; on the east coast, total length = 11.826 + 1.049 × fork length: Taylor, Whittington, Grier and Crabtree (2000), Fishery Bulletin 98(3)
  12. Red drum in Florida: females matured at 550 to 899 mm fork length (ages 3 to 6), males at 350 to 799 mm; half the females were mature at 900 mm on the Atlantic coast (Mosquito Lagoon and the upper Indian River Lagoon) and 825 mm on the Gulf coast (Tampa Bay), half the males at 511 and 529 mm; total length = -25.208 + 1.0898 × fork length: Murphy and Taylor (1990), Fishery Bulletin 88(3)
  13. Florida tarpon: "The smallest sexually mature Florida female was 1,285 mm FL"; "All Florida males were sexually mature by 1,175 mm FL"; "all tarpon older than 10 yrs were sexually mature": Crabtree, Cyr, Chaverri, McLarney and Dean (1997), Bulletin of Marine Science 61(2)
  14. South Florida tarpon: total length = 12.6345 + 1.114 × fork length (mm): Crabtree, Cyr and Dean (1995), Fishery Bulletin 93(4)
  15. "dragging a large tarpon onto a boat deck, pier or beach can be a death sentence for the fish"; "A tarpon exhausted from the fight is more likely to succumb to predation or die from other causes": FWC, Knowing how to catch a giant (tarpon) is half the battle

The drawing is not to scale: the board, the boat, the cooler and the fish's shapes are this drawing's own. The length of each fish is chosen to show its rule (yellowtail snapper 14 inches, gag grouper 18 inches, snook 25 inches, red drum 31 inches, tarpon about 60 inches), not measured from a real fish. The steps are not timed to real life.