Scallop season is an event that is marked on everyone’s calendar up and down the Gulf Coast of Florida. Harvesting Bay Scallops can only be described as the best of both snorkeling and fishing. Can you imagine swimming amongst 100’s fish, turtles, crabs, and most of all, scallops? This is truly a fun opportunity for the whole family to dive right into the outdoors.
Scallops are normally found in water ranging from 2-7 feet making this a great way to get the entire family involved into the action. The idea of the harvest is to scan the tops and bottoms of many of the grasses on the targeted flats in search of the traditional “Shell Gas Station” shell. The first thing you may notice when you spot your scallop is that they are loaded with blue eyes. You’ll then notice that the Scallop has 2 different colored sides to their shell. The white side is normally blending in with the white sand on the bottom and the brown portion of their shell does a great job of blending in with most grasses.
Once you have found your Scallop you just simply swim down and pick them right up off the bottom and put them in your mesh bag. The trick of Scalloping is that normally when you have found one there can be as many as 30+ all scattered around the same general area.
So when the summer heatwave kicks in think about hopping in the water and giving Scalloping a try.