Woo Hoo! I am totally stoked!!

Nice pole spear! I much prefer a spear w a flopper to a paralyzer tip. Do you ever lose fish because of the short shaft. We have scallops here in the pacific. They are bigger but less abundant than they seem to be there. They also tend to be very deep. Is there a limit on scallops there? Do you have conches there? Do you fish offshore at all? What about redfish or snook? I spent about an hour one time trying to fish for mullet near St Pete before someone came along and told me they are vegetarians. The only reasonable explanation for why I couldnt catch one. I also saw cool horseshoe crabs and some really aggressive meat eating snails. I heard a story about a guy who passed out on the beach and got part of his face eaten. I dont know if it is true.

Thanks for the pics. I love this type of thing.

Matt
 
dumb question but what do you with the blue crabs? claws only or is there meat in the shell part??
 
dumb question but what do you with the blue crabs? claws only or is there meat in the shell part??
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The best choice bits of meat are in the body. The backfin or lump meat is in the rear of the body. I give the claws to those who don't know how to eat blueclaws in exchange for the bodies.

Paul
 
Oakietree said:
Nice pole spear! I much prefer a spear w a flopper to a paralyzer tip. Do you ever lose fish because of the short shaft. We have scallops here in the pacific. They are bigger but less abundant than they seem to be there. They also tend to be very deep. Is there a limit on scallops there? Do you have conches there? Do you fish offshore at all? What about redfish or snook? I spent about an hour one time trying to fish for mullet near St Pete before someone came along and told me they are vegetarians. The only reasonable explanation for why I couldnt catch one. I also saw cool horseshoe crabs and some really aggressive meat eating snails. I heard a story about a guy who passed out on the beach and got part of his face eaten. I dont know if it is true.

Thanks for the pics. I love this type of thing.

Matt
Click to expand...

Mostly I get flounder and mullet with the pole, this size seems to be optimal for that. There is a limit on the scallops, two gallons per person in the shell, total of ten gallons per boat. You cannot sell them. Some folks clean them while still on the water, in that case you can have one pint of meat per person. They are in very shallow water, 2-10 ft. deep. Redfish are popular and plentiful around here, more and more folks are using kayaks to go after them. We have the big Queen Conchs in this area, but they are protected. There are huge Indian mounds on the peninsula of nothing but conch shells, it was a main part of the natives diet. I'm not a big offshore guy, I go only once or twice a year with friends that have the appropriate equipment. I prefer the bays, rivers, and lakes. The snails, hermit crabs and blue crabs will clean something pretty quick. My Dad was a investigator for the Sheriff's office. According to him and others, when they would drag for folks that had drowned, there wouldn't be a lot left of them if it had been a day or more. There is a lot of brackish water around here, and you see freshwater and saltwater species in the same area.
 
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hung-solo said:
dumb question but what do you with the blue crabs? claws only or is there meat in the shell part??
Click to expand...

valcas1 said:
The best choice bits of meat are in the body. The backfin or lump meat is in the rear of the body. I give the claws to those who don't know how to eat blueclaws in exchange for the bodies.

Paul
Click to expand...

What Paul said. There is a bit of an art to getting the meat out, but the lump meat in the body is the best. Sometimes, you'll get them in the molting process, before the new shell has hardened. You can eat the entire crab whole, after removing the insides, as the shell is thinner than paper. It is a delicacy, and they are expensive to buy at the market or a restaurant.
 
Next time we go, probably next weekend, I'll post a short "how-to" on cleaning the scallops and crabs, and hopefully a fish, if anyone is interested.
 
fishshooter said:
What Paul said. There is a bit of an art to getting the meat out, but the lump meat in the body is the best. Sometimes, you'll get them in the molting process, before the new shell has hardened. You can eat the entire crab whole, after removing the insides, as the shell is thinner than paper. It is a delicacy, and they are expensive to buy at the market or a restaurant.
Click to expand...

wow good info thanks. never been crabbin' before. just fish a lot ;)
 
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