WHAT: The Southwest Florida CISMA is hosting the 2026 Southwest Florida Invasive Fish Roundup. PRIZES, ON-SITE ENTERTAINMENT, RAFFLES, AND SWAG! See below!
WHY: This event is being held to raise public awareness about the potential negative impacts of releasing invasive fish into Florida waters, and to encourage anglers to target these invasive species. The Roundup aims to gather data about invasive fish distribution and abundance that can assist with future management and invasive species research. A portion of donated fish will be used to continue research on mercury fillet content and alternative uses of invasive fish such as composting. There will also be prizes for participants ranging in a variety of categories so you do not need to catch the most to potentially win (see details below). During the weigh-in at Bass Pro Shops on Sunday, April 26th, there will be raffles, on-site entertainment from live invasive fish in tanks, invasive fish filleting demonstrations, Gyotaku fish printing, and educational tables!
WHO: Open to teams of 1-4 anglers (shore or boat). There will be an adult division (16+) and a junior division (15 and under). Any junior registered on a team with adults will automatically be grouped in the adult category. Registration is LIMITED so sign up today!
WHEN: Competition runs from Friday April 24th to Sunday April 26th. Anglers may begin fishing on Friday at midnight and fish until the in-person weigh-in on Sunday April 26th. We encourage anglers to get to the scales early!
WHERE: All legal freshwater fishing areas in the Southwest Florida CISMA area (Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties). Not sure where to start? Try viewing the species reported distribution maps.
WEIGH-IN: Located at Bass Pro Shop at 10040 Gulf Center Dr, Fort Myers, FL 33913. Scales will be open from 12:00 pm (noon) until 3:00 pm on Sunday, April 26th. Winners MUST be at the weigh-In location when prizes will be announced to receive a prize! 2026 update: this year we will be announcing the winners at 4:00 pm which should allow us to better tabulate the results and help with day of planning for anglers.
PRIZES: On April 26th there will be Team Prizes issued to Adult Teams AND Junior Teams in the following categories: 1) Highest Net Weight (total weight of all invasive fish caught by an individual or team), 2) Invasive Slam (highest number of invasive fish species caught), and 3) Heaviest Single Fish. Prizes will be awarded for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for the Highest Net Weight category and for 1st place for the Invasive Slam and Heaviest Fish categories. Teams may only win one category which will be selected based on Prize Selection Order (below). There will be a prize table and winning teams will be called to select their preferred prize at the event (one prize per winning team member). Prize winners will be announced after the last team’s fish have been weighed.
