MONROE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – Florida’s two-day recreational spiny lobster mini season wraps up Thursday, July 30, with thousands of recreational boaters and divers making the most of one last day on the water before the regular season begins next week.
Among them is a group of friends from Manatee and Sarasota counties who have made the annual trip to the Florida Keys together for years. While catching lobster is certainly part of the adventure, they say the tradition is really about spending time with family and friends.
Friends from Manatee and Sarasota counties pose with their Florida spiny lobster catch during their annual mini season trip to the Florida Keys.(WWSB)
Every year, the group creates matching T-shirts with a unique theme. This year’s design celebrates America’s 250th birthday, featuring an artist’s rendition of the Founding Fathers reimagined as lobsters.
Members of a group from Manatee and Sarasota counties wear custom T-shirts created for their annual Florida Keys mini lobster season trip. This year’s design celebrates America’s 250th birthday by depicting the Founding Fathers as lobsters.(WWSB)
The group heads out each day aboard four boats captained by Alan Valadie aboard Good Vibes Fishing, Pat Lennon aboard The Spear Chucker, Troy Brown aboard Nature Boy Troy, and Barry Severs aboard Angry Inch.
“It was a really good day on the water,” Troy Brown said. “We reached our limit by 8:15 in the morning on Wednesday, so the lobsters are back in the Keys.”
Group of Suncoast residents participating in the 2026 mini lobster season during their annual trip to the Florida Keys.(WWSB)
Alan Valadie said the annual trip is about much more than bringing home lobster.
“The lobsters are just part of it, but the beauty of the Florida Keys and the opportunity to be here with family and friends and celebrate and enjoy this beautiful place down here.”
Florida’s mini lobster season is held each year on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July, giving recreational divers their first opportunity to harvest Florida spiny lobster before the regular season opens.
During the mini season, the daily bag limit is six lobsters per person in Monroe County and Biscayne National Park. In the rest of Florida, the daily limit is 12 lobsters per person. Lobsters must have a carapace measuring more than 3 inches, measured while alive in the water, and harvesters are required to have a valid Florida saltwater fishing license and a spiny lobster permit.
The regular Florida spiny lobster season opens August 6 and runs through March 31, 2027.
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