Crabbing, clamming, shrimping, scalloping, etc?

Are these available in Sanibel or Captiva? We live on the Chesapeake and love to spend hours digging for clams and crabbing so I%26#39;m wondering if we might do some of that in Sanibel. I saw a photo here on tripadvisor of live scallops on the beach. Can you really find live scallops (that%26#39;s a new one for me but sounds wonderful) if you work at it? I know a little about shrimping and I%26#39;m guessing that might be possible as well but we would more than likely use them for fishing bait.

Also, how is the fishing from shore? I am hoping to fish but have never had much luck from shore. Just wondering if you see much being caught right from the beach.

Thanks for any info.

Lori

Crabbing, clamming, shrimping, scalloping, etc?

Not to the best of my knowledge for clamming or crabbing. Some visiotrs from the EU were unwise enough to eat shellfish they had gathered and died from red tide toxin. Also, as far as I know the only live shell you can take on the islands are the tiny coquina, which can be steamed for both.

You can collect shrimp for bait. Fishing is very good from the beach or off the Sanibel pier or docks up on Captiva.

Contact www.thebaitbox.com for all kinds of info on this. I don%26#39;t what kind of license you need. Mostly the shrimp are netted.

Crabbing, clamming, shrimping, scalloping, etc?

There are blue crabs around. You will see a number of crab traps out in the bay between Sanibel and the mainland marked with buoys. You will need a saltwater fishing permit to crab -- but it sounds as if you will be fishing anyway! You can crab in the Ding Darling Refuge, but only with a dip net -- no traps %26amp; no bait. Crabbing in Ding is one of my favorite pastimes, so feel free to ask me more about it.

No clamming or scallops on Sanibel. There are clam farms on Pine Island. I have heard there are sand bars where you can clam, but we haven%26#39;t explored that.

There are some shrimp boats that shrimp out of Fort Myers Beach %26amp; there are some very good fish markets over there. We certainly have seen large shrimp around, but have never really tried to shrimp.

Regarding surf casting -- some people swear by it. I don%26#39;t fish, but my husband is avid, so I know a bit about it. He%26#39;s had some success from the shore, there is also a nice pier by the lighthouse. He enjoys fishing in the refuge. There are also a lot of people who fish at Blind Pass where Sanibel and Captiva meet. It can be difficult to fish from the Sanibel shore on the Gulf side because there are generally so many people walking the beach shelling. My husband prefers to go out to the Causeway beaches or the bayside areas to fish.

My father loves to fish from the shore and always has fantastic luck doing so. He%26#39;s caught lots of snook and whiting right from the beach. Just visit The Bait Box and they will set you up with the right bait and the best spots!

Thanks for the fast feedback. I had done a lot of reading already over at the baitbox but I hadn%26#39;t seen the shellfish addressed. We have a relative of a friend in Fort Meyers that has a charter boat that we are hopng to take advantage of one day but I%26#39;m sure my son would want to do more fishing than that. Our last trip to the outer banks of NC he spent 6 solid days fishing from the pier at the hotel and catching tons of fish but we%26#39;ve never had the skill or luck when fishing right from the beach. I will definitely take the pier into consideration.

So, the rules are you can%26#39;t take live shellfish from the beach but does that extend into the water? I understand not killing a mullosk just for the shell he lives in but I%26#39;m not clear how that extends to food.

As for clamming, most people here where I live would say they%26#39;ve never heard of people clamming here but that is far from the case. It is a lot of work but we just venture out into the flats at low tide and dig away. You just need to find the right spot :)

Lori

The %26#39;No live shell%26#39; law is in place for all of Lee County beaches and it does extend to the surrounding waters. It also includes gathering starfish and sanddollars. It includes North Captiva and Cayo Costa. Since the Charley and the red tides hit the area, all kind of edible mollusks are way off. But you can call the city of Sanibel and get the rules clarified for you. [And let us know what they say. :-)]

http://www.mysanibel.com/ContactTheCity/

Shell net is quite correct about the spoil islands along the causeway being favored fishing spots as are any bayside location. The thing is, most docks are on private land, so access is limited. To up to Tarpon Bay and rent a boat, canoe or kayak and go fishing out there.

Beautiful Thing - We saw Hammerhead sharks caught off the West Gulf beaches in November. They fishermen threw them back..