How Many Redfish Can You Keep in Texas: Slot, Bag, and Tags

In Texas, you can keep three redfish per day, and every fish you keep has to measure between 20 and 28 inches in total length.¹ On top of that daily bag, you’re allowed up to two oversized red drum per license year if you use the proper tags. Anything outside those numbers is illegal, and the penalties are real.

Daily Bag and Possession Limits

The daily bag is three red drum per person, per day. Once you have three legal fish in the cooler, you’re done fishing for redfish that calendar day, no matter how many spots you hit or how the bite turns on.¹

Possession is a separate cap. It covers every legal redfish in your custody at once, whether the fish are on the boat, in the truck, or in the freezer at home. The possession limit is twice the daily bag, so six fish total.¹ If you already have three from yesterday’s trip in the freezer, today’s ceiling is three more.

The 20-to-28-Inch Slot

Every red drum you keep must be at least 20 inches and no more than 28 inches in total length.¹ A fish that lands exactly on 20 or 28 is legal. Everything shorter or longer goes back.

Measure with the fish on its side, mouth closed, in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the farthest tip of the tail. Compress a soft or forked tail to get the maximum length. Keep a measuring device on the boat. Game wardens will not take your estimate, and an inch is easier to misjudge than most anglers think.

Keeping a Redfish Over 28 Inches

Texas gives you a way around the top of the slot. Every saltwater fishing endorsement includes a free Red Drum Tag that lets you keep one fish over 28 inches during the license year. If you want a second oversized fish, you can buy a Bonus Red Drum Tag for $3. That’s the ceiling: two oversized redfish per license year.²

A tagged oversized fish does not count against your daily bag or possession limit.¹ So on a good day you could legally come home with three slot fish plus one trophy.

If you hold a printed license, the moment you decide to keep the fish you have to detach the Red Drum Tag from your license, fill in every field on the front, cut out the day and month of the catch, and attach the whole tag with string or wire to the narrowest part of the tail, just ahead of the tail fin.³ Not at the dock. Right then.

Digital-license holders report the fish through the Texas Hunt & Fish app instead of attaching anything to the tail. Submit the harvest report as soon as you have service. If you’re out of coverage, write down your name, license customer number, and the date and time of harvest on something durable, then complete the digital report and get a confirmation number when you can.⁴

Zero Redfish in Federal Waters

All of the above applies inside Texas state waters, which reach nine nautical miles into the Gulf.⁵ Past that line you’re in federal waters, where harvesting red drum is prohibited outright. Zero fish. If you’re offshore for snapper or kingfish and a redfish takes the hook, it goes back.

License and Endorsement Requirements

Two things have to be in your wallet before you keep any redfish: a valid Texas fishing license and a saltwater fishing endorsement. The endorsement is required for anyone fishing Texas public salt water and comes with a Red Drum Tag and a spotted seatrout tag at no extra cost.²

Most residents buy the Saltwater Fishing Package at $35 or the All Water Fishing Package at $40, which bundle the license and endorsement together.⁶ Annual licenses expire August 31 no matter when you bought them.⁷

Anglers under 17, resident or non-resident, don’t need a license.⁷ License-exempt anglers who want a trophy fish can buy an Exempt Angler Red Drum Tag for $3.² Bag limits and slot limits still apply either way.

Gear and Transport Rules That Can Cost You a Legal Fish

Red drum is a game fish, so in public waters it can only be taken by pole and line. A foul-hooked redfish, meaning one hooked anywhere other than the mouth, doesn’t count as a legal catch and can’t be kept. Trotlines are prohibited for red drum in salt water; anything caught on one has to be released immediately. Sail lines are allowed with specific hook restrictions.

You also cannot remove the head or tail while you’re still on the water. Texas requires finfish taken from coastal waters to stay intact until the fish has been landed on the mainland, a peninsula, or a barrier island and won’t be transported by boat again, or until it’s delivered to a certified wholesale or retail dealer or its final destination. Jetties and piers don’t count as landing.⁸ The reason is straightforward: a fillet in a bag can’t be measured against the slot, and a tagged oversized fish can’t stay tagged if the tail is gone.

Penalties for Keeping Too Many

Keeping undersized fish, keeping an oversized fish without a tag, or exceeding the bag limit is a criminal offense in Texas. Fines and jail time scale with the severity of the violation:⁹

Class C misdemeanor: $25 to $500 fine
Class B misdemeanor: $200 to $2,000 fine and up to 6 months in jail
Class A misdemeanor: $500 to $4,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail
State jail felony: $1,500 to $10,000 fine and up to 2 years in jail

On top of the fine, a violation can bring automatic suspension or revocation of your fishing and hunting licenses for up to five years.⁹ One extra redfish is not worth what it costs.

1
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Drum Bag and Length Limits
2
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Fishing Endorsements, Tags and Permits
3
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Tagging Red Drum and Spotted Seatrout
4
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Digital Licenses and Tagging
5
NOAA Office of Coast Survey. U.S. Maritime Limits and Boundaries
6
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Recreational Hunting and Fishing Licenses
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Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Fishing Licenses and Packages
8
Cornell Law School. Texas Administrative Code 31-57.972 – General Rules
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Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Laws, Penalties and Restitution