Every year during the weekend of Independence Day we go to our beach house at Keaton Beach, Florida. Since the fishing slows down there towards the beginning of July, we go scalloping. Scalloping is a tradition my family has carried on for 70 years. A scallop is a shellfish that ranges from two to four inches in diameter and its meat is to die for. Besides eating the shellfish, my favorite part is fishing for them.
It is rather easy to fish for scallops. First you look for patches of what we call "mushy grass" which is an orange color in about 4 to 5 feet of water. The scallops rest on these patches during the day. When you find a good spot, put on snorkeling gear and go get the scallops. Be sure to grab them when they close up so you do not get bit. That is not too fun at all. After your boat gets its limit which is a 5 gallon bucket then you go home and do the boring part, cleaning them. You must pry them open and separate the meat from the guts. Once you start to eat them, the cleaning does not seem bad at all.
