Get ready! Red snapper season opens next week

The relative size of three red snapper will be important when the private recreational red snapper seasons opens May 1 in Louisiana's offshore waters. The fish at the top measures a little more than 16 inches and weighed nearly four pounds. The middle fish measured 19 inches and weighed six pounds, and the snapper at the bottom measured 23 inches and weighed almost 10 pounds.

The minimum for a 'keeper' red snapper is 16 inches for recreational anglers. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Happy Easter, and hope you feel the peace this spring brings you and yours. This spring celebration ushers us into the fishing season, if it hasn’t begun in earnest already, with reports of first-rate sac-a-lait and speckled trout catches blowing up on chat sites and message centers.



And if you’re an offshore angler, know the private recreational red snapper seasons opens next week. That’s right, May 1 this year. Private anglers and state-certified charter operations are allowed to take four snapper per person per day as long as they measure 16 inches or longer.

The season will be open daily until state fisheries managers determine landings have reached our annual catch limit. Federally permitted charterboats have a different season. There are more rules to these offshore trips.

Fishermen need a Recreational Offshore Landing Permit along with the required state fishing licenses. There is no charge for the ROLP and you can get the permit from Wildlife and Fisheries’ website — wlf.la.

gov — and you’ll need it for taking all reef fish along with some pelagic species. It’s also a good idea to become familiar with all snapper species. Different snappers have different minimum-length limits and daily creel limits.

A good illustration came in a rodeo several years ago when a fishermen came in with two snappers to weigh for a rodeo. He believed he had his daily limit (two back then) and one was a red snapper. The other was a blackfin snapper, a species with a daily limit of 10, and the angler admitted they caught, but released, more blackfin snapper that day because they reached their red snapper limit.

Next, federal regulations require the use of non-stainless steel circle hooks along with a dehooking tool to remove hooks Gulf reef fish with minimum damage. Both recreational and commercial fishermen need them or a descending device rigged and ready to use when fishing for reef fish. Because Louisiana overcaught its allotment in 2024, this year it will have an 894,955-pound catch limit, down from 934,587 pounds in 2024.

The idea behind opening the season May 1 — it was April 15 last year — is to have some remaining allotment left for the Labor Day weekend. What's up Veterans Open bass tournament organizers have moved off a May 3 date to sometime in July. Because they’re happening on the same weekend, Swollfest and the Catholic High Alumni Fishing Rodeo are trying to get anglers to enter both.

Swollfest takes in June 4-7 at Grand Isle Marina while Catholic High’s rodeo runs June 5-7 from Fourchon Marina. Stay tuned for updates. A notable event The Baton Rouge Symphony is holding its annual Sporting Clays fundraiser Saturday at the Bridgeview Gun Club in Baton Rouge.

This unusual marriage is a major contributor to the symphony’s effort to keep classical music in our Capital City. The entry fee gets shooters breakfast and lunch, but you’ll need to bring eye and ear protection and your shotshells. This four-shooter team competition brings some of the top shotgunners in our area and the prizes for in team, top man and top woman divisions with opportunities to improve scores at a bonus station.

There’s a “super mulligan” to replacing your worst score. Website registration is suggested: brso.org to the “Sporting Clay Shoot” pulldown or call (225) 383-0500, Ext.

107. A big thank you Hunters for the Hungry is taking time to thank our state’s hunters for donating more than 52,000 pounds of venison and hogs to processing centers, which turned the donated protein to food banks and soup kitchens across the state. It meant slightly more than 200,000 meals for the needy.

Tears Donald Braud, a dear friend to many and an extraordinary bass fishermen, died earlier this month. Losing a dad, a brother and a good friend is painful enough, but losing a kind-hearted, always friendly man makes it tougher. Condolences to his family and friends.

Donald Braud will be missed, mightily missed..