Florida Lobster Season 2026: Everything You Need Before You Splash
Bug season is the highlight of the Florida dive calendar, and 2026 is shaping up to be a good one. Whether you're chasing your first tail or you've been doing this since you could hold a tickle stick, here's the plan: the dates, the rules that keep you legal, and the gear that turns a frustrating dive into a full bag. We'll keep it straight and simple so you can spend less time reading and more time hunting.
Mark your calendar: 2026 season dates
Mini season (sport season): Wednesday, July 29 – Thursday, July 30, 2026. This is the two-day head start for recreational divers, running from 12:01 a.m. on July 29 through midnight on July 30. It's the busiest 48 hours of the year on the water, so plan your gear and your dive site early.
Regular season: August 6, 2026 – March 31, 2027. Eight months of hunting with fewer crowds. If mini season sneaks up on you, you've still got all fall and winter to fill the cooler.
The rules that keep you legal
Florida takes lobster regulations seriously, and a good day can go sideways fast if you're not dialed in. Here's what matters most:
- Size limit: The carapace must measure larger than 3 inches — and you must measure in the water, before the lobster goes in your bag. A gauge isn't optional; it's required to have with you.
- Bag limits: During mini season, it's 6 per person per day in Monroe County (the Keys) and Biscayne National Park, and 12 per person per day everywhere else in Florida. During regular season, it's 6 per person per day statewide.
- Licenses: You need a valid Florida recreational saltwater fishing license plus a spiny lobster permit. Both are quick to add online through FWC.
- Legal harvest methods: Hands, a bully net, a landing/hand net, tickle stick, or snare. No spears, no hooks, no puncturing devices, no traps.
- Egg-bearing females: If you see an orange or dark mass under the tail, she goes back — immediately. No exceptions.
- Dive flag required: Fly a divers-down flag and stay close to it.
- Night diving: Prohibited in Monroe County during mini season.
Rules change year to year. Always confirm the current regulations at MyFWC.com before you dive, or stop by the shop and we'll walk you through it.
Where to hunt near Punta Gorda
You don't have to drive to Key Largo to find bugs. From our backyard in Charlotte Harbor out to the Gulf ledges, artificial reefs, and hard bottom off Southwest Florida, spiny lobster tuck into every ledge, rock, and structure they can find. The Keys are still the classic destination for a mini-season trip, but plenty of our divers fill bags a lot closer to home. Not sure where to start? Ask us — and keep an eye on our Travel & Events page for group lobster trips.
Your lobster season gear checklist
The difference between watching a lobster back into a hole and dropping it in your bag usually comes down to having the right tool in your hand. Here's what you want on your rig, all in stock at the shop and ready to ship:
- A gauge you can reach fast. Measure in the water, every time. The Marine Sports Aluminum Lobster Gauge ($4.50) is the everyday workhorse; the gauge with bungee wrist band ($10.99) keeps it on your wrist, and The Florida Gauge ($24.95) is built to last a lifetime.
- A tickle stick to coax them out of the ledge. Start with the 36″ Aluminum Tickle Stick ($7.95) or step up to the Tickle Stick with Loop ($18.95).
- A net or snare to close the deal. The Short Handle Lobster Net ($23.95) and the Green Lobster Snare with Steel Loop ($59.95) are both crowd favorites.
- A catch bag that's easy to load and easy to empty, like the Lobster Catch with Trigger Snap ($65.95) or the Nylon Bug Bag ($40.95).
- Gloves to protect your hands from those spiny shells — grab a pair from our Gloves collection.
New to bug hunting? Start here: the Marine Sports Deluxe Lobster Kit ($39.99) packs a gauge, tickle stick, and mesh bag into one grab-and-go set — everything you need for your first season in a single purchase.
Don't forget the fills and the checkup
A full bag means nothing if your gear lets you down at 30 feet. Get your tanks filled and your regulator and BCD serviced before the rush — shops get slammed the week before mini season every year. Swing by the shop or call us at 941-370-3562 and we'll get you sorted with time to spare.
Shop the full lobster season lineup
We've got tickle sticks, gauges, nets, snares, catch bags, gloves, and every save-a-dive tool you need for a legal, successful hunt — 17 products and counting, all under one roof in Punta Gorda.
→ Shop Florida Lobster Hunting Gear
Free shipping on orders over $100. In stock now — but the good gear moves fast this time of year, so don't wait until the week before.
You might also want:
- Marine Sports Deluxe Lobster Kit — $39.99 · the easiest way to gear up
- Dive Knives & Cutting Tools — stay ready for line and entanglements
- Dive Flags & Floats — required, and we've got you covered
Depth Finder's Scuba · 3853 Acline Rd, Unit 116, Punta Gorda, FL · Open Mon–Sat 10am–7pm, Sun 9am–2pm · 941-370-3562. Regulations summarized from FWC and current as of publication; always verify at MyFWC.com before diving.