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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 1, 2023 17:30:03 GMT -5
Left East Arlington at 430 for our annual scallop trip. Uneventful drive over and the plan was to drop our things at the house we’ll be staying in for the next 8 days. Landlord texted last night no early check in. To the ramp, probably the busiest we’ve seen it in a while. Opening day and a Saturday, no problem, we got this. Usual traffic going out. Josh’s tribute still at the bridge. On the flat there was a lot of boats 😳 and seemed to be spread further north than we’ve seen them. Most boats were way inside. We stopped outside at what we call the number 1 hole. Incoming, little current but not bad. We hit em. Most were mossy back and big. Moved 3 short times, basically bumping to a fresh area. Limit in ~3 hours with the moves and water breaks. 85 degree water, no wind and hot as hades. At the high tide it was 7-8 feet. Ping Docksider (?) 😉  Attachments:
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Post by bswiv on Jul 1, 2023 20:09:55 GMT -5
Louann was hunting a place for the first of August last night to do the exact thing.
What about the shrimp this year?
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Post by 4ward on Jul 1, 2023 20:17:25 GMT -5
Shrimp have not shown yet.
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 2, 2023 3:16:15 GMT -5
Haven’t done any shrimping over here? Is that a night thing like in Jax?
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jmac
New Member
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Post by jmac on Jul 2, 2023 4:57:52 GMT -5
Cant wait to catch the last scallop.
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 2, 2023 14:54:32 GMT -5
Klingers multi day Keys trips are easier to keep fresh cause they change the type of fishing/location 😀. Scallop trips not so much change. That said, another incredible day on the water. Earlier start on day and the ramp and overall traffic was lighter, including the flat. Limited out and shucked by 1. Winds made for a choppy ride out but it laid down for a quick trip back. 5 more orange egg’s during our Easter egg hunt! If anyone new catches this report…100’ is a much bigger distance than you realize, let alone 300. Slow down! We seen 2 or 3 people today that were so far (snorkeling) away from three boats in a circle we couldn’t tell which one they were associated with. Also, like fishing, if you’re not catching them slow down, look around more. If you see one, b4 you dive down make sure there’s not more. Often there is. This is the proper way to lip a scallop 😂  |
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Post by 4ward on Jul 2, 2023 16:23:55 GMT -5
Haven’t done any shrimping over here? Is that a night thing like in Jax? I thought Ben might have been referring to the shrimp that show north of there. Last year they were “full on” by now. Been getting reports for 3 weeks from friends prospecting. Nothing yet. And!!! Those are nice size shells. Looks like fun. Thank you for sharing and BE SAFE. |
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 3, 2023 13:58:02 GMT -5
Even less traffic today. Water temp on the way out has come up to 87. Flattest day we’ve had in a couple years and clarity was aquarium like. Low tide is an hour a day later all week so we had a great depth to start with mostly slack tide. My buddy can see thru grass so the bigger bag below is his…this was our first stop for a little over an hour. 7 orange scallops total today.  |
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Post by bswiv on Jul 3, 2023 16:19:17 GMT -5
You are really causing ENVY!!!
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Post by seasquatch on Jul 4, 2023 6:45:20 GMT -5
Man, I need to take the family over there. Thanks for posting!
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 4, 2023 13:24:31 GMT -5
You are really causing ENVY!!! Same way I feel when I read everyone else’s posts most of the time. Work still gets in the way of fishing the majority of the time. |
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 4, 2023 13:42:42 GMT -5
Day four in the books. Gettin old sucks in that I don’t have the energy like in the before times 😔. Another quick limit today, although my old was acting up, and it seemed to take longer. Not the case, we were 40 minutes earlier getting off the water. Light onshore winds heading out and a little more cloud cover. All glass riding in!
We’re still way outside to most of the other boats. Reports at the ramp don’t sound encouraging, however there is no shortage of scallops. Just because the other 5000 boats are in 2-3 foot of water doesn’t mean that’s where they are. Also, finding a lot of them deeper in the grass. When I hear someone say “we only found X” my guess is they don’t know to look harder 😂. We even seen some guy doing the breast stroke - he was doing it wrong.
Joey/Ben, come on, we’ll leave some 🙂
Heading to Winn Dixie for ribeyes.. I’m hungry enough to eat buffalo anus!!
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Post by bswiv on Jul 4, 2023 16:44:04 GMT -5
Just killing me!
We're stuck here in Fruit Cove so tried to salvage something by fishing a while off the dock right after sunrise this morning. NINE STINGRAYS....YES NINE....and that was it.
Did I mention that you're killing me?
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Post by chronicbreak on Jul 5, 2023 15:15:49 GMT -5
Ramp was empty this morning. We usually get a couple of days like this and it’s appreciated. I think we like it most because we’re not being pushed out the the creek, to the river, by everyone else who’s in a hurry. Winds still onshore but has more north in it. Still pretty smooth ride and with less boat traffic made for a good ride. That worked for us cause honestly this is the point where we’re wore out. I’ll start todays report by saying my only diving experience has been scallops. On the other hand my buddy has commercial dove. 10 min in to the first dive I see a scallop and also, what’s that?, a piece of trash?, no it’s a huge flounder! I holler Jmac over and point it out. Him: did you bring the pole spears? Me: no haven’t had those for years. Him:do we have any poky things on the boat? Me: not that I’m aware of. Him: those long nose pliers still on the boat? Me: yes of course. Him: hold this I’ll be back. He comes back with the long needle nose pliers. I thought while I was waiting, like what’s he planning to do, pinch it to death? Anyway,I watch him load up and go full Rambo and stab the flounder with the pliers😂. Funny and classic at the same time. Turns out flounder look much bigger underwater. I thought the damn thing was a halibut and it was only 19”…freaking rookie 😅. So had another early limit, overall boat traffic very light and a flounder. Winning!    |
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