TROLL EARLY FOR THE BEST DEALS

Published Oct. 14, 2009It looks like the best prices for stone crab this year, retail or restaurant, may be just as the season opens. That's Thursday for those of you who haven't noted it on your food calendar. The season for Florida's most cherished shellfish continues through May 15. Consumers paying retail have often been sticker-shocked by the prized claws, especially when a pound of jumbos crept over $20. This year, that price should start around $15, says Steve Reis, manager of Pelican Point seafood market in Tarpon Springs (937 Dodecanese Blvd.; (727) 934-3134). Reis predicts that the first two months of the harvest will be plentiful, but thinks the haul may drop after that unless a few storms blow through. Without the "bad weather to chase the crabs" around, they don't scuttle into the traps, he says. Reis expects to sell large claws for $12.50 a pound and mediums for $9 to $10, prices that are commonly seen at the end of the season. In this lousy economy, with consumers more s...