From the Water — 2 October 2026
Atlantic Red Snapper Season 2026: What It Means If You Book With Us
Fourteen days, one fish each, no size limit. Here is how we fish it.
Two Weeks, One Fish Each
Atlantic red snapper opens on 9 October and closes on the 22nd. That is the whole season. For fourteen days each person on the boat can keep one red snapper, any size, and then it goes back to catch and release until next year.
Zookeeper Charters is registered with the FWC for this season. That matters, because this year Florida is running the Atlantic red snapper season itself under a federal permit, and every charter boat that wants to fish it had to register in advance. We did. If a captain can't show you a registration, that is a question worth asking before you book.
What Red Snapper Fishing Actually Looks Like Here
Red snapper live on structure in deeper water, not on the flats. We fish them on the reefs outside the inlet, dropping live bait and cut bait to the bottom and waiting for the rod to load up. They hit hard and they pull straight down, which is why people who have only ever caught trout and redfish remember their first one.
The same reefs hold mangrove snapper, lane snapper, grouper and amberjack, so a red snapper trip is a reef trip with a bonus. One red snapper each is the limit; everything else follows its own rules and I will tell you on the day what comes home.
If you fish on your own boat: private anglers need the free State Reef Fish Angler designation on their licence, and every trip has to be declared in the FWC Reporting App before you leave the dock. On a charter, none of that is your problem — it is mine.
Captains and crew don't keep fish during the season on charter trips. Your fish are yours.
Booking the Window
Fourteen days is not a lot of days, and October is already a good month on this coast — snook are open, the mullet run is on, and the water is still warm. The red snapper trips are full-day trips, because the reefs are a run from the inlet and you want time on them once you are there.
- Full Day Inshore / Nearshore — Full Day, $975. Reefs outside the inlet for the red snapper, inshore for snook and redfish on the way home.
- Offshore Fishing Charter — Full Day, $1,200. Deeper reefs, bigger fish, the full day on the bottom.
Weather decides more than the calendar does on an October reef day. If the ocean says no, we fish inside and move your reef day to the next open date in the window.
Red Snapper the Other 351 Days
A closed season means you can't keep the fish. It doesn't mean you can't fish for it. We catch red snapper on the reefs all year, photograph them and send them back down. If you want to fight one and don't care about the cooler, any reef day works. If you want one on the grill, it is 9 to 22 October.
More on the Reefs
Species guides for what else lives on this bottom: mangrove snapper, grouper and king mackerel. And Where We Fish for the reefs themselves.
Season dates, bag and size limits from the FWC Atlantic red snapper page, checked 2 October 2026. Regulations change; Captain Richard Ladrew fishes to the rules in force on the day.
Book a Reef Day in the Window
Every trip is private — just your group on the boat, up to six guests. Tell Captain Richard Ladrew your dates and roughly what time of day suits you. He is on the water most days and gets back to you the same day. A $100 deposit holds the date and comes off the total.
Call 321-412-2440 Send your dates Deposit & detailsMore