LA · REGULATIONS · JUNE 2026

Spanish Mackerel LA legal size & bag limits.

Spanish Mackerel (also known as Spanish Mackerel, Spanish, Spanish Mack) in Louisiana. Minimum legal size, daily bag limit, possession limit — verified against the LDWF guide, 2026.

In Louisiana, the minimum legal size for Spanish Mackerel is 12 in and the daily bag limit is 15 per person. There is no closed season in LA.

The numbers

Minimum size
12in
Daily bag
15 per person
Possession
15 per person
Check the live Spanish Mackerel bite forecast for your spot →

Closed season

No closed season

Why these rules exist

Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana). Species = Atlantic Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus). 12" minimum measured as fork length (FL). Louisiana state/territorial waters; aligned with federal Gulf limits. No Recreational Offshore Landing Permit (ROLP) required — mackerel is NOT on the LDWF ROLP species list (tunas, billfish, swordfish, amberjacks, groupers, hinds, snappers, dolphinfish, wahoo, cobia, gray triggerfish).

Source & verification

These limits are pulled from the LDWF recreational fishing regulations. Last verified June 2026.

Always check the official guide before keeping any fish. Regulations change. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries updates its guide annually and occasionally mid-year. Fines for over-bag or undersized fish are significant.

Louisiana requires both a Basic and a Saltwater fishing licence to fish or possess fish in the saltwater area (anglers aged 18+). Louisiana licences.

See related

Written by
Olli-Mikael Vaittinen, founder of Fishare, holding a yellowfin tuna boatside
Olli-Mikael Vaittinen

Olli-Mikael Vaittinen has fished his whole life. Fifteen years of fly fishing, guiding seasons on Norway's Lakselva — his favourite Atlantic salmon river — and a blue marlin landed in Vava'u, Tonga. Founder of Fishare — the app that puts the data behind the decisions every angler makes on the water.

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