South Carolina Fishing Regulations: How SCDNR's Rules Work

South Carolina fishing regulations are set by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) for both salt and fresh water, and printed in its 2026–2027 Hunting and Fishing Guide, valid from August 15, 2026. You need a Saltwater Recreational Fishing License for salt water and a freshwater license inland (unless you're exempt), saltwater limits apply out to 3 miles, and red drum rules changed on July 1, 2026.

This guide explains how SCDNR's rules are laid out and where the traps are. It does not list bag limits, size limits or season dates. Those change with new laws and new guides, and the only safe number is the one in SCDNR's current guide the day you fish.

One agency, one guide

South Carolina keeps it simple at the top: one agency, SCDNR, and one book, the Hunting and Fishing Guide. When we read the 2026–2027 edition line by line on November 5, 2026, the freshwater limits ran across several pages in the front half, and the saltwater size and catch limits were grouped into three tables:

• Inshore: red drum, spotted seatrout, flounder, sheepshead, black drum, tripletail, weakfish, croaker, spot, whiting, bluefish, striped bass and tarpon.
• Offshore: cobia, dolphin, king and Spanish mackerel, wahoo.
• The snapper-grouper complex: amberjack, black sea bass, snappers, groupers, triggerfish, spadefish, grunts, porgies and hogfish.

The guide is a large PDF. Download it to your phone before you're out of signal. SCDNR's regulations page links to it and to any changes.

Licenses

South Carolina has a Saltwater Recreational Fishing License for salt water and a freshwater fishing license for inland water, with combination licenses and exemptions listed on SCDNR's licensing page. Where salt water ends and fresh begins on a coastal river is defined in law, so check the guide if you fish the transition zone.

Salt water: what to know

Red drum: new rules since July 1, 2026

The biggest recent change is to red drum. SCDNR's guide marks the redfish rule as new since July 1, 2026, under Act 231, with a slot, a per-person bag and a per-boat limit. The guide also limits how reds may be taken (rod and reel or gig), with a winter period when gigging is not allowed. Red drum may not be possessed in federal waters at all. Read the inshore table before you keep one.

Gamefish rules

South Carolina designates some fish as gamefish, which limits them to rod and reel. In our data entry that note sat on striped bass and tarpon. The guide also requires non-offset, non-stainless circle hooks when you fish natural bait on large hooks for red drum and these gamefish. Check the size threshold in the guide.

Striped bass in salt water

Saltwater striped bass have a summer period when possession is prohibited, and the lower Savannah River has its own rule. Inland coastal rivers follow freshwater rules for stripers, covered below.

The cobia line at Jeremy Inlet

Cobia rules change at 32°31.0'N, the line at Jeremy Inlet on Edisto Island. South of it, state waters have a spring closure and a smaller boat limit, because that's where the inshore spawning fish gather around Port Royal Sound and the rivers near Beaufort. North of it, the state rule matches federal water. The offshore table shows both.

Flounder, saltwater catfish and the rest

• Flounder: southern, summer and Gulf flounder share one bag and a boat limit, and daytime gigging is not allowed in salt water.
• Saltwater catfish: hardhead and gafftopsail catfish may not be kept. Release them straight away.
• Sheepshead, tripletail and spadefish carry boat limits as well as per-person bags.

Snapper-grouper: state vs federal closures

This is where people get confused. The snapper-grouper table lists closed seasons, but SCDNR's notes say those closures are for federal waters. In state waters, out to 3 miles, the table showed no closed season. Since few snapper and grouper live inside 3 miles off South Carolina, most anglers chasing them are in federal water and need NOAA's South Atlantic rules. The guide also requires a dehooking tool and a ready-to-use descending device, plus non-stainless, non-offset circle hooks with natural bait, when you fish for snapper-grouper. Goliath, Nassau and Warsaw grouper may not be kept.

Red snapper is a special case: when we read the guide, it could be kept in state waters only, with possession prohibited in federal waters outside the short federal season NOAA sets. Read both pages.

Fresh water: statewide rules and named lakes

The statewide freshwater limits cover black bass (largemouth, smallmouth, redeye and their hybrids share a bag; spotted bass are separate), bream, redbreast, crappie, walleye and sauger, pickerel, yellow perch, white bass, striped and hybrid bass, trout and catfish. Then come the exceptions, and South Carolina has a lot of them:

• The Savannah River lakes: Hartwell, Keowee, Russell, Thurmond, Tugaloo, Yonah and Stevens Creek, plus the Chattooga and Savannah rivers. These are border waters with Georgia, and SCDNR's guide carries their shared border-water rules.
• Santee Cooper: Lakes Marion and Moultrie, and the wider Santee River system up to the Lake Murray, Canal and Wateree dams. Striped bass have a slot and a summer closure; blue catfish have their own trophy rule.
• Lake Murray and the middle Saluda: their own seasonal striper rule.
• Lake Jocassee: its own trout rule with bait restrictions.
• Coastal rivers (Ashepoo, Ashley, Black, Combahee, Cooper, Edisto, Pee Dee, Waccamaw and the others SCDNR lists): striped bass close in summer.
• Lakes Blalock, Greenwood, Monticello, Secession, Wateree and Wylie: their own largemouth length limit.
• Several mountain trout streams go catch and release with single-hook artificial lures for part of the year.

Blue catfish limits statewide also changed in 2026 under a new law (Act 120). If you fished South Carolina catfish before this year, read the current guide.

How fish are measured

Most South Carolina limits are total length. Some offshore fish (cobia, dolphin, king and Spanish mackerel, amberjack, hogfish, triggerfish) and tarpon are measured by fork length. The guide's tables say which. Get it wrong on a fish near the line and you can be legal by one measure and short by the other.

How Fish Scouter shows South Carolina rules

We entered SCDNR's guide by hand, inshore, offshore, snapper-grouper and fresh water, including the cobia line and the named lakes. In the app, the fish sheet for each species has a rules card for where you are: open, closed to harvest, catch and release, or unknown; the size, bag and boat limit; the next change; and SCDNR named as the source, with the day we checked it. Within about 2 miles of the cobia line, the card shows both sides, labelled.

If a row hasn't been checked in 30 days, or our daily check sees the guide change, the card stops showing numbers and says to check SCDNR. Past 3 miles it shows NOAA's federal rule or points you to NOAA. One rule we keep to everywhere: for education only, rules change, always confirm with SCDNR before you keep a fish. We don't judge anyone's logged catch.

The same cards are on our public guides, such as redfish in the Lowcountry, spotted seatrout, cobia, sheepshead, striped bass in South Carolina fresh water, largemouth and blue catfish.

A short checklist

1. Saltwater or freshwater license (or proof you're exempt).
2. The current SCDNR guide saved on your phone.
3. For reds, check the new slot, bag and boat limit.
4. Cobia near Edisto or Beaufort: which side of 32°31'N are you on?
5. Offshore: NOAA's rules, a descending device and circle hooks.
6. On a lake: does it have its own rule?

For when to go, read our best time to fish Charleston guide and redfish vs black drum ID, or browse the Lowcountry and South Carolina fresh water pages.

Fish Scouter puts the forecast, tides, spots and the rule for each fish on one screen, from the Grand Strand to the Savannah lakes. Try Fish Scouter free.