S. Fla. spotted seatrout season opens Jan. 1; management changes coming soon
News Release
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Media contact: Amanda Nalley, 850-410-4943
Anglers, prepare your rods and reels; the
recreational harvest season for spotted seatrout in southern
Florida will reopen on Jan. 1. The opening rings in 2012, a
recreational closure-free year that will include several spotted
seatrout management changes effective Feb. 1.
Recreational spotted seatrout management changes
include:
- The removal of all recreational spotted seatrout closures,
including the annual Feb. 1 closure that would have affected
anglers in northeast and northwest Florida;
- An increased recreational bag limit of six fish in the
northeast region of the state.
Spotted seatrout harvest has been closed in the
southern region of the state since Nov. 1.
The southern region includes any Florida state
waters and federal waters south of the Flagler-Volusia county line
on the east coast and, in the Gulf, south of a line running due
west from the westernmost point of Fred Howard Park Causeway, which
is about 1.17 miles south of the Pinellas/Pasco county line.
The maximum daily bag limit for spotted seatrout
in the southern region of the state is four fish per person. In
northeast and northwest regions, the daily limit is five spotted
seatrout per person until the new rules take effect Feb. 1.
The statewide slot limit for spotted seatrout is
15-20 inches total length, and anglers may keep one spotted
seatrout larger than 20 inches as part of the daily bag limit.
Spotted seatrout may not be harvested by
snagging or snatch-hooking or by any multiple hooks with live or
dead natural bait. Spotted seatrout may be taken only with
hook-and-line gear and cast nets, and must be landed in a whole
condition.
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