# Scalloping......



## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 9, 2011)

.....who's looking forward to going in a few weeks? My family loves it. Here are a few pics to get you excited.


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 9, 2011)

A few more.


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## nkbigdog (Jun 9, 2011)

Great pic's,, those kids look like they had a fantastic time..Nice to see clean family fun, congrats and thanks for posting


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 9, 2011)

Nothing like an underwater Easter egg hunt for the kids.....or to bring out the kid in you.


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## tjchurch (Jun 9, 2011)

Lots of fun and some fine eating too,


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## 4HAND (Jun 9, 2011)

A Buddy of mine told me they saw quite a few scallops last Saturday in the Pepperfish Keys area. Looks like it's gonna be a good year.


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## alumacraft_man (Jun 9, 2011)

*scalloping*

I Booked a rental boat and a room from the folks at Sea Hag marina a few weeks ago. We will be there on June 25th and 26th. First trip for us. Would be grateful for any tips or info you might want to give out. I really want the family to have a good time. Thanks.


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## bkl021475 (Jun 9, 2011)

alumacraft_man said:


> I Booked a rental boat and a room from the folks at Sea Hag marina a few weeks ago. We will be there on June 25th and 26th. First trip for us. Would be grateful for any tips or info you might want to give out. I really want the family to have a good time. Thanks.



When you go out of the Steinhatchee River head towards the bird docks a few miles out, if I remember right you go straight out and then lean to the right, you will probabaly see a bunch of boats close together, you'll have a blast!


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## teethdoc (Jun 9, 2011)

alumacraft_man said:


> I Booked a rental boat and a room from the folks at Sea Hag marina a few weeks ago. We will be there on June 25th and 26th. First trip for us. Would be grateful for any tips or info you might want to give out. I really want the family to have a good time. Thanks.



Find some grass and start swimming around.  Make sure to anchor your boat


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## 4HAND (Jun 9, 2011)

Ya'll are gonna have a blast! 

As previously mentioned, look for groups of boats. You might be surprised at how crowded it may be.

When you run out the mouth of the river you can go right (toward Keaton Bch) or left (toward Pepperfish Keys). You'll find nice grassy banks in either direction. Also look for sand potholes. Scallops seem to like to gather around the edges. When you find a scallop look around good, there may be several more.

We seem to save time by idling around looking for them from the bow of the boat instead of jumping in blindly. When we start seeing scallops we'll anchor & dive.

My favorite depth is about 4 ft. You can float/swim above the long grass, but when you see a scallop you don't have to dive really deep.

Be careful if you get in shallow water or close to the shore as there are large rocks in a lot of areas of this coast. They will kill an outboard.

I'm sure ya'll will catch some & you will see signs advertising scallop cleaning. If you decide to clean them yourself, it's best to have them on ice, not in icy water. Scallops will not "pop" open as good if they are in water. A spoon is a great scallop shucking tool.

Sorry for the long post, I'm not trying to sound like a "know it all", just trying to help.


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## pottydoc (Jun 9, 2011)

4HAND said:


> A Buddy of mine told me they saw quite a few scallops last Saturday in the Pepperfish Keys area. Looks like it's gonna be a good year.



We've been seeing alot both South and North up toward the bird racks. We'll be there starting the 7th of July. I usually wait till later in the season, but no way I'll be able to get off in August this year.


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## 4HAND (Jun 9, 2011)

Yeah, the later in the season, the bigger the scallops. 

I should be ashamed of myself......... I haven't even pulled my boat out, started it up or cleaned it up this year.

It seems each time we think we're gonna have a w/end to fish something comes up. 

However, tomorrow's the last day of school here so I'm sure we'll find some time soon.


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 10, 2011)

4HAND said:


> A Buddy of mine told me they saw quite a few scallops last Saturday in the Pepperfish Keys area. Looks like it's gonna be a good year.



What is Pepperfish key near?


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## 4HAND (Jun 10, 2011)

There are 3 small keys about 11 miles S/SE of Steinhatchee. Pepperfish Key, Long Grassy, & Little Grassy. They're almost halfway between Steinhatchee & Horseshoe Bch. On the back side of Pepperfish is a big sand bar that's great for swimming & hanging out. Also a good place to find sand dollars(kids might like it).

Be careful if you go in the Pepperfish Keys area. Lots of big rocks. There are plenty of grassy flats w/ scattered potholes closer to Steinhatchee.


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## 3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI (Jun 10, 2011)

this looks fun I bet my kids would love this also. I know I would love it. I love me some scallops. How would someone go about Scalloping if you are a beginner. I know I would have to rent a boat for a day but what else would I need to know.


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## pottydoc (Jun 10, 2011)

Go out the channel to marker 11. Turn south and look for a bunch of boats together. Put on your snorkle gear and jump in. Make sure everyone over 15 has a FL saltwater fishing license, Make double sure you have a dive flag up, and watch for idiots running to close to you. You'll find the scallops in pretty much any grassy area, but some are definatly better than others. Just join the crowd of boats, you'll catch some. Limit is 2 gallons per person whole, not sure about cleaned. We always take them back to camp to clean them.


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## 3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI (Jun 10, 2011)

I feel like it might be better if I could just follow someone else around lol.


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 11, 2011)

Look at the grass in my pics and that is the most productive mix to find them. Find the grass and you will find the scallops. Also note that no matter how many people are on the boat there is a boat limit of 10 gallons in the shell or 1/2gallon shucked. It is one pint shucked per or 2 gallon in shell per person.


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## alumacraft_man (Jun 14, 2011)

Thanks for the info, especially about the rocks.


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jun 14, 2011)

Anybody got in the water and looked around yet?


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jul 8, 2013)

Just bringing this post back to show the kind of grass the scallops like.


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## speedcop (Jul 8, 2013)

3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI said:


> this looks fun I bet my kids would love this also. I know I would love it. I love me some scallops. How would someone go about Scalloping if you are a beginner. I know I would have to rent a boat for a day but what else would I need to know.



make sure you all have a saltwater fishing license if your old enough   we always take a 5 gal. bucket and a 1 gal. can to measure out. dont need to contribute to the retirement fund


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## speedcop (Jul 8, 2013)

Hit-n-Miss said:


> Just bringing this post back to show the kind of grass the scallops like.



now thars a band of knarly cutthroats if ive ever seen one!

my kids love to hunt them too. and they are all grown.  Your right it's still like an underwater easter egg hunt to them.


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## ranger374 (Jul 8, 2013)

hey hit-n-miss--see in the pics you got a kenner.  how do you like it?

don't see very many of those around here.  What size is it and how far out have you been in it??

i have a 21' but have not put it in the salt yet -- it's itching to go though!!


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jul 9, 2013)

ranger374 said:


> hey hit-n-miss--see in the pics you got a kenner.  how do you like it?
> 
> don't see very many of those around here.  What size is it and how far out have you been in it??
> 
> i have a 21' but have not put it in the salt yet -- it's itching to go though!!


Love it. We have had it out to the Steinhatchee reef And Dog Ballard. It handles rough water well if you trim the nose down.


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## grouper throat (Jul 9, 2013)

We had a '93 kenner and logged many saltwater hours in on that sucker and had very few problems out of it. Good boats for sure.


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## Quail man (Jul 9, 2013)

Headed down to keaton tomorrow, parents have been there a few days and are doing just ok on scallops. Boats everywhere


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## StikR (Jul 10, 2013)

just got back from port st joe.  scallops were easy to find.  I think the count was off this year.  It's loaded


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## sea trout (Jul 10, 2013)

awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## fishinchef (Jul 10, 2013)

Heading down that way in 2 weeks can't wait!


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## Swamp Monkey (Jul 11, 2013)

StikR said:


> just got back from port st joe.  scallops were easy to find.  I think the count was off this year.  It's loaded


X2 
Scalloped Wednesday a Port St. Joe and they are easy to find. Small but easy to find. Got a 5 person limit in about 4 hours.


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## Hit-n-Miss (Jul 11, 2013)

sea trout said:


> awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks. Used one of those cheap Fuji underwater disposable.


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## MudDucker (Jul 12, 2013)

alumacraft_man said:


> I Booked a rental boat and a room from the folks at Sea Hag marina a few weeks ago. We will be there on June 25th and 26th. First trip for us. Would be grateful for any tips or info you might want to give out. I really want the family to have a good time. Thanks.



I hope you didn't go, because the season opened on the 29th.


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## fishinchef (Jul 12, 2013)

He probably did because that post was from 2011


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## Quail man (Jul 14, 2013)

Took a while at keaton to find them but we sure got on them yesterday! They were not in the middle of the 120 boats out there I can tell you that. Trout, spanish,cobia, sharks, and rock bass were also biting.


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