Boat owners Strahan and Vicky McCallum, along with their son Harry and his partner Megan, set off from Bluff wharf at 8am on Saturday, lagging behind the commercial fleets and private boaties that had already left hours before.
Despite their late start to the first day of the Bluff oyster season, the oyster lovers managed to return with "one hundred pearls" from the sea.
"It was good first thing in the morning and then it got quite a bit choppy on the way home, but it’s been a good day," skipper Strahan McCallum said.
"We got about 100 today then we had to come back in, but [these] are good size oysters and we probably [had] a bit better of a start than last year.
"We got quite a few per dredge load," Mr McCallum said.
The Northern Southland family were no strangers to oystering, getting the boat out on the southern water at least seven or eight times during the Bluff oyster season.
The bucket of "sweet" bivalves was savoured by the Iron Maiden crew on Saturday night.
They enjoyed the shellfish with a bit of lemon and vinegar — "or just good ole raw".
The oyster season officially began on Saturday and ends on August 31.
Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters general manager Graeme Wright said nine commercial boats went out on Saturday. He believed they each returned with 800-1000 dozen oysters.
The boats had a similar catch yesterday, he said.
