The 2026 private recreational red snapper season in federal waters off Texas will close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced in a Nov. 12 news release.
The department said this year’s federal season opened May 22, the Friday before Memorial Day, rather than on the typical June 1 date, making 2026 the longest federal red snapper season since state management of red snapper began in 2018. According to TPWD, the season gave saltwater anglers more than 183 days of offshore red snapper fishing, surpassing last year’s 173-day season.
“The 2026 federal red snapper season offered nearly six months of red snapper fishing opportunities to the people of Texas,” said Robin Riechers, director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division. “This remarkable milestone clearly shows that regional management of fisheries works to provide greater benefits and fishing opportunities to anglers.”
After the federal closure, anglers in Texas state waters, which extend out to nine nautical miles, may continue to keep up to four red snapper per day with a 15-inch minimum length limit, the agency said. State waters will remain open until the total allowed state catch limit is reached.
The federal season is managed through a quota system under an agreement between TPWD and the National Marine Fisheries Service. According to the department, red snapper catch data, measured in pounds of fish, is monitored closely during the season, and Texas closes the federal season when the state’s catch limit is reached for the year, leaving enough cushion to keep the state-water season open year-round.
TPWD said it tracks landings through its creel survey program and mobile application, and it encourages anglers to continue reporting red snapper landings in state waters through the Texas Hunt & Fish app.
The 2026 season was also the first year of TPWD’s gulf-wide “DisCARD” study, conducted with Mississippi State University and the four other Gulf state agencies in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Anglers submitted data on cards that TPWD distributed at certain boat ramps along the Texas coast. The department said information gathered on reef fish caught and released offshore will be used in ongoing assessments to help determine sustainable harvest levels for species such as red snapper.
The study will continue during the 2027 federal red snapper season, according to the agency.