Scalloping season under way in a big way around state

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Pretty much every fan of outdoor sports in North Florida knows that scallop season is underway in the gulf, and that this year's crop of shellfish is an exceptional one. But young Chaeli Norwood of Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee can help shellfish seekers zero in on a batch of unusually-large early season bivalves. “The big ones,” she offered, “are north of the river — but not too far north — a mile or two south of The Birdrack. And the very biggest ones are out in water eight-to-10 feet deep.”
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Boat ramp update 7-8-2011 from Captain Tommy Thompson

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Captain Tommy Thompson has an update on the Steinhatchee Boat ramp on his blog:

I finally had a chance to stop by and inspect the new boat ramps at Steinhatchee.  Of course, they were to have been completed by July 1, the original opening day of recreational scallop season.  Based on a conversation with a couple of the workers setting dock pilings, here’s my take:

The facility will likely open within the next two weeks.  There are at least 3 ramps that could be used at the same time, depending on the skill and politeness level of the boaters.  The ramps are concrete and solidly built.  There will be a number of floating and fixed docks.   The basin has been dug out and lined with rock to prevent filling in.  The parking lot will not be paved at this time, but depending on the availability of funds, that may happen in the near future.  There is a larger parking lot across the street as well as the one adjacent to the ramps.  There likely will be a charge to launch, but the Taylor County Commission has yet to firm up those details.  There are also conversations held regarding the use of the facility by commercial fishermen and guides.  I expect those details to be available soon and will post them here when they’re firm.

You can view his post here.

Artificial Reefs Placed in Steinhatchee Fisheries Management Area

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Bill Lindberg confirming the proper placement of a recently built “fisheries conservation reef” in the Steinhatchee Fisheries Management Area (Photo Credit: Keith Mille, FWC).The Steinhatchee Fisheries Management Area (SFMA), in planning and development for more than a decade, has just passed a major milestone, the construction of 452 of 500 planned “fisheries conservation reefs.” This project has been a long-term partnership between UF’s Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), with federal funding through Sport Fish Restoration for reef construction and NOAA Fisheries-MARFIN for research and monitoring. 

The initial reef construction began in 2005, when Bill Lindberg, UF and Florida Sea Grant fisheries specialist, and his team placed a line of 40 standardized reefs, 160 cubes in groups of four, bracketing the Big Bend region of Florida. Reef cubes each weigh a ton and have a large central cavity sized for larger-bodied fish, like gag. These sites are used as fisheries independent monitoring stations intended to aid gag stock assessments and to evaluate the output of the conservation reefs now deployed in a 100-square-mile area permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, about 18 miles west of Steinhatchee. 

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2011 4th of July Celebration Schedule of Events

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The annual Steinhatchee 4th of July celebration will take place this year on Monday July 4th starting at 6:00 p.m. There will be lots of food, games and music.

The often imitated but never duplicated world famous Mullet Toss starts at 7:00 p.m.

The fireworks display will start at dusk. Keep in mind that the bridge will be closing at 8:30 so make sure you are in your favorite spot by then.

The fireworks are being paid for this year by a golf cart raffle, so pick up those raffle tickets at local businesses. The golf cart winner will be drawn before the start of the fireworks.