Steinhatchee.com - Frontpage NewsHomehttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/2012-02-17T16:50:21ZSquarespace4th Annual Fiddler Crab Festival February 17th - 19th, 2012http://www.steinhatchee.com/home/4th-annual-fiddler-crab-festival-february-17th-19th-2012.htmlAdmin2012-02-17T16:32:00Z2012-02-17T16:32:00ZThe Steinhatchee River Chamber of Commerce is gearing up to host its 4th Annual Steinhatchee Fiddler Crab Festival and we welcome your participation in this exciting event. The Festival will be held February 17, 18 & 19, 2012 at the Steinhatchee Community Center, which overlooks the beautiful Steinhatchee River. We are meeting regularly now to plan all the details of this event and our desire is to make it as spectacular as possible for all our friends to enjoy

Some of the events will include:

Fiddler Crab Race – We will have 100 crabs for the races which will be staggered on Saturday only.

Photo Show – Students and Adult categories. $5 entry for adults, kids enter free. Ribbons awarded.

Boot Artin’ - A fun new way to show off your “Steinhatchee Reeboks” (white rubber fishing boots). $5 entry. Visitors can vote for best entry by stuffing cash in the boot. Proceeds to benefit our local food bank. Trophy & ribbons awarded for top three.

Crafts – 10 X 10 booth. Bring your own canopy. $60 both days. Power available on a limited basis for small addt’l fee.

Food Vendors - Space size is 20 x 20. $250 for the weekend, no extra charge for power.

River Tours – We will have boat tours of the Steinhatchee River. The trip can include up to six people. The fee will be $5/adult. 

Entertainment – Fri and Sat evenings and Sat afternoon auditions for Suwannee River Jamm. Nominal Gate Fee (TBA)

Parade – The parade will include golf carts, horses, floats and lots more fun. We invite you to join in the parade. Line up is at 9:00 a.m. and parade starts at 10:00 a.m. No charge for entry. 

Camp Nemo – Kids area featuring touch tank, face painting, kids games and other activities.

“Swamp Water” One Pot Cook Off – Three categories, Soup, Stew and Chili. We would like to invite you to participate in this fun event & enter your soon-to-be famous recipe. Entry fee is $25.00 ($5 extra for electric). Cash prize for 1st-2nd place winners in each category, trophy for 3rd place with an over all best winner. Commemorative Mugs can be purchased for tasting. Also Peoples Choice Award. 

“Lots of Spots” Redfish Contest on Saturday. $10 entry fee, mandatory Capt’s meeting at River Haven. Click here for more information on this event.

Poker Run – New this year on Sunday. Proceeds to benefit local Boys & Girls Club. See website/Facebook for details.

T-Shirts For Sale – In addition to our event T Shirts we will have a ladies cut shirt & ball caps.

Click here for entry forms.

]]>Gag grouper season starts fasthttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/gag-grouper-season-starts-fast.htmlAdmin2011-09-23T14:49:25Z2011-09-23T14:49:25Z

Following a long closure in gulf waters, a special two-month gag grouper season opened last Friday in the Gulf of Mexico for recreational anglers.

After the long separation from their deep-water favorite, the opening-day crowd arrived at nearly every gulf port. And Friday turned out to be the best day, wind-wise, of the special season’s first weekend.

At daylight, Tommy Hines of Newberry, Sidney Hazen of Lacrosse and Richard Shellnut of Archer left from the Cedar Key ramp on their way to secret, rocky-bottomed spots in water 60-feet deep. After anchoring, they dropped frozen Spanish sardines to the bottom. Right away, hungry grouper slammed the offerings. As Hazen put it, “It was Johnny-Get-Your-Gun.”

]]>Reminderhttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/reminder.htmlAdmin2011-09-12T19:05:32Z2011-09-12T19:05:32ZScallop season is still open until the 25th of September. Earlier this year the state of Florida extended the season by 2 weeks. So make plans now for that late season scallop trip.

]]>Steinhatchee public boat ramp is now open for business.http://www.steinhatchee.com/home/steinhatchee-public-boat-ramp-is-now-open-for-business.htmlAdmin2011-07-30T12:57:49Z2011-07-30T12:57:49ZThe boat ramp is now open. It has been a long wait, but well worth it. Great job to everyone who made it happen.

For those that don't know, the ramp is located at the old Ideal Marina location. Here is a link to Google maps showuing the exact location: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=steinhatchee+public+boat+ramp&hl=en&cid=15350700235981898259

]]>Steinhatchee public boat ramp to open Thursday July 28thhttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/steinhatchee-public-boat-ramp-to-open-thursday-july-28th.htmlAdmin2011-07-20T16:09:45Z2011-07-20T16:09:45ZThe long awaited Steinhatchee public boat ramp will open next Thursday July the 28th. To mark the occasion there will be a grand opening celebration at the site at 10:00am.

Now lets line up those boats and go Scalloping and Fishing!

]]>Scalloping season under way in a big way around statehttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/scalloping-season-under-way-in-a-big-way-around-state.htmlAdmin2011-07-10T16:35:13Z2011-07-10T16:35:13ZBoat ramp update 7-8-2011 from Captain Tommy Thompsonhttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/boat-ramp-update-7-8-2011-from-captain-tommy-thompson.htmlAdmin2011-07-08T18:28:00Z2011-07-08T18:28:00ZCaptain 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 Areahttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/artificial-reefs-placed-in-steinhatchee-fisheries-management.htmlAdmin2011-06-30T14:52:09Z2011-06-30T14:52:09ZBill 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. 
]]>Boat Ramp Construction Updatehttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/boat-ramp-construction-update.htmlAdmin2011-06-29T16:48:03Z2011-06-29T16:48:03ZI have been getting a lot of questions about the boat ramp lately. Most people want to know when it will be open. I do not have any details , but I thought I would pass along this picture of a concrete truck at the boat ramp site today. It looks like they are making progress. Lets hope it is ready soon.

]]>2011 4th of July Celebration Schedule of Eventshttp://www.steinhatchee.com/home/2011-4th-of-july-celebration-schedule-of-events.htmlAdmin2011-06-28T15:15:19Z2011-06-28T15:15:19ZThe 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.

 

]]>