In Florida, you can keep up to six Florida pompano per person per day, and each fish has to measure at least 11 inches fork length. The season is open year-round, and the six-fish cap is both your daily bag limit and your possession limit, so you can’t stockpile more than six on you at any point, on the water or on the way home.1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano
Measuring to the 11-Inch Minimum
Anything under 11 inches goes back immediately. Fork length is measured from the tip of the snout with the mouth closed to the center of the fork in the tail, not to the tip of the longest tail ray. That difference can run more than an inch on the same fish, which is enough to turn a legal keeper into a citation. There is no maximum size, so a big pompano is yours to keep.1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano
Carry a measuring board or a reliable tape and check every fish before it goes in the cooler. Officers do check.
Legal Gear
Florida pompano may only be taken by hook and line, cast net, or beach or haul seine. Any multiple hook rigged with live or dead natural bait is prohibited, and so is snatching — jerking a hook through the water to snag a fish.1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano
The multiple-hook rule targets natural bait specifically, so a jig or a standard pompano rig with single hooks is fine, which is what most anglers use anyway.
Don’t Mix Up Pompano, Permit, and African Pompano
FWC lists all three species on the same page, but the limits are not the same, and misidentifying your catch is one of the easiest ways to end up over a limit.
Permit have a slot of 11 to 22 inches fork length in most waters outside the Special Permit Zone (SPZ), with a daily bag of two per angler outside the SPZ and one inside it. You may keep one permit over 22 inches within your bag, but no vessel may hold more than two permit over 22 inches.1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano
African pompano are much larger fish with a 24-inch fork length minimum, a bag limit of two per angler, and a vessel limit of two. In state waters, African pompano can only be taken by hook and line.1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano
License You’ll Need
Anyone 16 or older, resident or visitor, needs a valid Florida recreational saltwater fishing license to target pompano.2Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Do I Need a Recreational License or Permit Current fees:
- Resident annual: $17
- Resident five-year: $79
- Non-resident annual: $47
- Non-resident 7-day: $30
- Non-resident 3-day: $17
Licenses are sold at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com and at county tax collector offices.3Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Recreational Saltwater Fishing Licenses and Permits
Some anglers are exempt. Children under 16 don’t need a license. Florida residents 65 and older don’t either, as long as they carry proof of age and residency such as a Florida driver’s license. Fishing from a pier with a saltwater pier license, or aboard a for-hire charter with a valid charter license, is covered by that pier or vessel license.2Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Do I Need a Recreational License or Permit Florida also runs a few license-free saltwater days each year — the first Saturday and Sunday in June, the first Saturday in September, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving — and bag and size limits still apply on those days.4Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. License-Free Fishing Days
Penalties for Going Over
Keeping undersized pompano, exceeding the six-fish bag, or using prohibited gear are Level Two violations under Florida law. These carry criminal misdemeanor charges, not just fines, and they escalate quickly with repeats.5Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 379.401
- First offense within 3 years: second-degree misdemeanor, up to 60 days in jail and a fine up to $500.
- Second offense within 3 years: first-degree misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum fine of $250, up to a year in jail, and a fine up to $1,000.
- Third offense within 5 years: first-degree misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum $500 fine and a one-year license suspension.
- Fourth offense within 10 years: first-degree misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum $750 fine and a three-year license suspension.
Fishing without a license is a lower-tier Level One violation. A first offense is $50 plus the cost of the license, and a second within 36 months jumps to $250 plus the license cost.5Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 379.401 Officers can also seize the fish and gear involved.