Homosassa Scalloping Report

Another annual pilgrimage to Homosassa produced some fun, relaxation, and of course, good eating scallops!

We decided to take a family vacation to Homosassa to do a little scalloping this past week. It was a trip we have done many times. I started going years before in the 80’s when my parents first took my brother and I to Crystal River. It was always a great adventure and quality time with family and friends. Somewhere along the way we started staying in Homosassa, just a little south of Crystal River.

What prompted us to scout out a new location was the place we rented in Crystal River called the Knox Bait House Marina was either damaged or destroyed by a storm, if I remember correctly. We had some amazing memories there, but Homosassa seemed to be a little closer to the scallop grounds; or, at least that’s what we were told. Fast forward many years to this past week and here we are renting a home on a canal by Homosassa Springs with my family which is my wife and two boys (ages 15 and 13) my brother, his girlfriend, her daughter(15) and my mom (Grandma Pullias). Dad is not with us anymore, but every time we go, I know he’s there; I can’t explain it, except I can just feel him.

On the boat with my boys, Zach and Dylan.

This year was little different for us. It seems every year we go, we run the river out to the gulf and once we reach the end of the channel we turn north towards Crystal River. The scallop grounds we have traditionally targeted are about half way between Crystal River and Homosassa. It was somewhat slim pickings day one. We finished the day with roughly 120 scallops which is substantially lower than we normally catch.

Prior to going, we were hearing the numbers were way low this year. Unfortunately, I could not find a decent scallop report anywhere except friends that had gone over a couple weeks before our trip and they said it was awful this season. I had one friend who is a great waterman tell me they stopped scalloping after two days and just hung out the final two days because the numbers were so low. That’s probably the main reason I decided to write this scalloping report.

Zachh rocking his Spacefish on the Gulf Coast

Just like any type of fishing, there is a lot of time, effort, preparation and money that goes into having a successful trip, so for anyone that is planning a trip between now and the end of the season (September 24th), I hope this is helpful. Not to mention, someone was kind enough to share this info with us, so I feel like I should pay it forward. Day 2, as we left the dock, our neighbor (who lives there) asked if we were going scalloping. Of course, we said yes. He told us to go south. “Go south,” I thought, “I have never had to go south to catch my fair share of scallops.”

He explained that they limited out the day before in a couple of hours. Well, south we went! It was a pretty good clip south, probably 7-8 miles but once you got close you couldn’t miss it. There were plenty of other boats out there. I am so happy that the gentleman was kind enough to share that info with us because it really paid off. Over the next two days we caught a bunch of scallops. We never limited out but it was a steady pick. We caught them in 4 to 6 feet of water just drifting with the boat. If we came across a spot that was productive we would lock the trolling motor and work that area for a bit and then start drifting again. We had an awesome crew!

Cooling off in the spring water after a productive day of scalloping!

Overall I have to say it was a great vacation with wonderful people and way too many laughs to count. If you are planning a trip to this area and this information was helpful, please share your trip with us. We would love to hear how you did!