go to Presnell's Marina. they'll rent you a boat or arrange for a charter.( i think ) at the least they'll steer you in the right direction. they're on 30-A just east of Pt St Joe.

 

Scallops can only be harvested in a certain area shown here in the blue:

http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/bay-scallops/

 

Not sure about the Destin area but St Joe Bay holds them pretty well and wouldn't be too far of a drive.

 

As Telum said St Joe is the closest place you can legally get them. Never really seen any around Destin, just one here and there. Its hit or miss at St Joe. Some years you can limit out in an hour or 2 and others it takes all day.

 

thanks, i did a little more research and it looks like about 95 mi. to pt st joe from destin. if there's a decent harvest it would be worth the trip to let the kids have that experience. not mention the table fare ol paw paw would get out of it.

 

PSJ is a great little town!!!! you cant go wrong going down there either way....get with the guys at bluewater outriggers and they should be able to help you out alot! plus if you cant find the scallops you can find some good trout and redfish!

 

When I was a kid my family would rack up on scallops in big lagoon but they havn't been there in a long time. Now they go to PSJ for them.

 

thanks everyone for the help.

 

Port St. Joe is dreadful, terrible, nasty place....Stay away at all costs:thumbsup:

Just Kidding, of course. It's my favorite place on earth. Period.

 

Nothing to see here.

 

yellow flies as big as chickens. game wardens at every boat ramp. locals hardtiming everybody. not worth the trip.................tony

 

Port St Joe over Destin any day of the week. A lot more laid back spot with better fishing and Gin clear water. Not near the crowd and traffic. Just don't tell anyone about it cause its nice the way it is.

 

St.Joe is the best,closest place. last year was ruff but for the last couple of years hitting an 8 person limit was no problem. we make multipule trips every year and will be down there july 6/7 this year too................tony

 

eight person limit? i thought you could only have 10 gal per boat.

 

if you have a boat.........i do not. 2 gals a person.........tony

 

We've never been scalloping before but we are going in July for about a week. If we happen to find a good area with scallops are there likely to be some in that same area for a while or do they move around each day with the tides?

Thanks
Ginny

 

we'll also be there in July. from what i've learned about scallops, they pretty much stay in one area. never heard of a migration. this is a first for us and the kids are really gettin revved up. we live on West Galveston Bay and they're pretty good fisher persons, but this scallop thing is thru the roof for them. good luck!

 

from my experience which is limited they dont move but they will show themselves way better on an outgoing tide on an incoming they tend to be down in the grass with their dark side up making them hard to see with an outgoing they seem to be up in the grass almost smileing at u

 

Psj

The best way is too charter one of the local guides if you have been before

 

we got here sat afternoon and haven't done anything except sit on the beach. weather looks good for tomorrow though with a 6-7 mph wind. we're planning to fish the destin pass area and trailer down to pt st joe wed for a try at the scallops. will post up the results. never knew so many people came down here, it's a mad house, hate to even think about driving anywhere. i love this part of florida, but i'm sure this is my last time to destin, hope pt st joe fits my pace a little better. stayed in appalatchacola and cedar key last year and really loved it.

 

Your there the busiest 2 weeks of the year. if you avoid first week of april last week of june, first and second week of july,,,,then you will love Destin.

Crowds will start thinning out next week, then drop way off in august.... September is the best month to go....

 

scalloping ends at the Mexico Beach canal on the west end of town, basically where Tyndall AFB starts. There may be scallops west of there, but they are illegal to take or possess once you get past the canal exit into the gulf.

PSJ Bay has tons of places to wade or snorkle to get them, just look for those blue eyes, and wear gloves since there are also lots of sea urchins and spyder crabs too.

 

Friend from school sent me this picture of scallops he caught at crystal river. Can't say im not jealous....

 

Nice haul from Crystal River!!!!

Any reports yet on Port St. Joe?

 

my wife and I went sunday after the rain (got in the water about 11 am)and were very pleased to find very decent water considering the rain fall we got. It was also very uncrowded! We could have limited out, but decided that after we each came up after 45 minutes with good bags we would shuck em to see where we were. Loaded 1 pint tupperware slap full and decided that we had enough for dinner. Swam a little and then came home to PC in the daylight. It was a very fun trip for us, we usually never go just the 2 of us and it was a pleasure to have a stress free trip.

 

I have been hearing the west side of the bay about halfway up to the State Park, 100 yards or so offshore, has been the most productive so far.

We killed them last year in that area in August, will be going in about 3 weeks so whom ever goes, please toss some of the big ones back to wait for us???? LOL.....

 

It may just be the picture but they look small. I've cleaned an ice chest full of those suckers that size and after about 4 hours I had about a double handful of meat.

 

we went to pt st joe yesterday( my birthday) and had a ball. launched at presnell's and the folks there were great, they guided us to the general area that was producing. a family that had watched us launch hailed us over to them and asked us to join them in their area. from there on we learned how to do it. after we got the hang of it, we got 2 gals quick. a little weather built up onshore so we called it a day. the kids had a great time, we met some great folks and got enough scallop meat to have a meal. next time we come over here i'll stay in the pt st joe area or the appalachacola area. less crowd and very friendly people. thanks florida, had a great birthday with the grand kids.