St. Marks scallop report

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Me, the wife unit and the 9 year old boy headed out from the fort in the Tin Can (15" jonboat with mother-in-law's face painted on sides of bow) at around 9:30 am. Headed out past the lighthouse and east towards to the ultra-secret scalloping zone, identifiable only by GPS coordinates, or whispered directions from the old man sitting in the corner of Riverside cafe, or the cluster of boats with dive flags and blaring radios. Luckily the wind and chop was not so bad so as to cause excessive complaints from the passengers.

The water was clear, almost cool when you first got in. Ended up getting just over 3 gallons of the critters, which took a couple of hours as we drifted & pulled the boat around. Grass looked good, saw lots of little pinfish, several of those big porcupine fish that are so slow you can catch them, lots of pipefish in the grass, a few filefish, some schools of baitfish, and I even saw two very small trout, maybe 6 inches long, in the grass. Very camouflaged they are with those spots.

Very nice day on the gulf.

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Oh yeah my boat is 15 FEET long, not 15" long.

[Salty Gator]

You will cut a lot of running time if you put in at the lighthouse.

[Ted in Tallahassee]

I know, it is a little longer, but I hate soaking my trailer in salt water when putting in & out at the lighthouse, and at low tide the channel to that ramp is sometimes blocked by stranded deep-draft boats. I also like the idea of letting the motor get a good fresh water rinse on the run back in after being in the salty gulf. It's also kinda convenient to dunk-rinse stuff like cast nets & dive gear in the freshwater at the fort too.

[CoastalPirate]

Right on Ted! Glad you had a successful trip! I look forward to taking the family out scalloping when the kids can finally swim.

[Hit-n-Miss]

Glad you got some. I like scalloping at St Marks just have not been there yet as they are thick at Keaton. I too launch at the fort for the same reasons and the ride up the river is not that long.


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[FUTCHCAIRO]

HAVE YOU EVER STUCK YOUR FINGER IN THE WATER AT THE RAMP AT ST. MARKS, YOU WILL FIND THAT IT IS VERY SALTY EVEN UP TO THE HWY. 98 BRIDGE, I WOULD STILL BACK IN TO A FRESH WATER POND AND RUN THE ENGINE A MINUTE OR TWO TO GET RID OF THE SALT IN THE ENGINE AND SALT ON THE TRAILER.
PA
SEMPER FI

[MudDucker]

Might be going Saturday to take the Boy Scout troop. If you don't mind, a little better directions would be nice. PM is they are super secret!

[Ted in Tallahassee]

I've tasted the water at the fort ramp area and it's always tasted sweet to me. Also it's always a lot cooler than gulf water is. I can't see how salt water would be able to get that far upriver? Maybe at dead high tide? I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just that it's always tasted like fresh whenever I've tasted it there.

Regarding "secret spots" for scallops--I was sort of joking in my post above. I find the scalloping area the same way most people do: head east/southeast from the lighthouse towards the clustered mass of boats. It's generally a little ways south of Grey Mare rock. I've only been scalloping 4 times in my life, all in that area. One time was last year and there were NO scallops there. The times this year it's taken me a few hours with two people to get 2 or 3 gallons worth, and that's with me pulling the boat around the whole time. I hold the anchor and when you're in a spot when you see 2 or 3 within say 30 seconds, I drop the anchor and we circle around the area. It seems like they're in clusters--where there's 2 or 3 there will be more in the area. Once you don't see any more, I grab the anchor and swim, and repeat the process. You could just drift, too, if your boat is too big to pull around. If I get tired of actually holding the anchor I'll hang it on the side of the gunwale and just pull on the anchor rope. You can cover a lot of ground that way. Now, why they're apparently in that one area where all the boats go is a mystery. The bottom looks the same as anywhere else. Just maybe, they're also in other areas too, but nobody has looked yet. It takes a lot of time and effort to dive in & look around in new places, but that may pay off. One thing I noticed this last time--the scallops seemed a little bit bigger than a couple months ago, and the meat cylinders were definitely bigger. This makes sense as they grow fast and don't live more than a year or two.

One question for all you scalloping veterans out there--what's the best way to have them open up a little before cleaning? I've been throwing them directly on ice and they seem to die tightly shut. Is there a way to get them to be opened up a little so they're easier & faster to clean? For example, if you let them die out of water, will they open up, and stay that way if you THEN put totem on ice?

[big bend gyrene]

IN ice / icy water = tightly closed

ON TOP of ice = almost all open /much easier to clean

At least that's been my experience.

[wskybiz]

Nice report and thanks for the mother in law laugh!!

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Gyrene--Thanks for the "scallops ON TOP of ice" tip--you were spot on! I did that last Saturday and they stayed open a little and were MUCH easier & faster to clean. It seems that they need to die first, THEN they can be put in deep cold. If they die at ambient temp or just cool, they gape open a little. The ones submersed in icewater AFTER that stayed open a little.

[MudDucker]

IN ice / icy water = tightly closed

ON TOP of ice = almost all open /much easier to clean

At least that's been my experience.

Ditto. Confirmed this again that last Saturday.