Just off of Kings Bay in Citrus County awaits unspoiled views and a hint of adventure.

"The scallop grounds run from just north of Tampa all the way up to St. George Island,” shares Captain John Spann, an adventure guide with the Plantation Adventure Center.

"We have some really good scalloping in this area,” he comments while piloting his flat bottom fishing vessel out to the Gulf of Mexico.

Capt. John leads scalloping excursions each morning and afternoon this time, departing from the Plantation on Crystal River resort.

After a 45-minute boat ride, it's time to go fishing.

Under the surface, it’s a whole different world as the hunt begins. Don't hold back, the scallops don't bite.

"They don't have teeth. They are filter feeders,” shared the University of Florida grad, who studied marine environments and food systems. “The muscle that closes that shell, that is what we're after. That's the succulent meat that tastes the best.”

After trying in the first spot where we dropped anchor, we pull anchor and set course to a new location.

After replanting the dive flag, everyone jumps overboard.

"One giant leap for dinner!"

And it's back overboard in hopes of finding dinner. While the sea grass is thick, the scallops are not.

Soon, we're off to location number three.

"We will find dinner."

Now Capt. John goes overboard to show us how it's done. Still hopeful for a plateful, we move to deeper water.

And after two hours, we've collected about a dozen.

"We'll get you trained up here one of these days,” John said like a baseball coach to his losing team.

Soon, we head back into shore where folks at The Plantation will clean your scallops before the chef at the West 82 Bar and Grill will cook your catch, that's if you have enough. A dozen provides for slim pickings.

"Well, you had a good time, didn't you?" laughs Michael Mancke, the director of sales and marketing for The Plantation.

After looking over what little we caught, Michael offers a little hope.

"That would make a great little sauté to put on a steak, a grouper," he concludes, hinting that we came up short. Next time.

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