$15,000 Florida Lobster Challenge

[Orlando Eric]

RhoneMan-- dunno about the 16# spiney but I certainly saw the 15 3/4 pounder. Pictures at the Little Jim Bait and tackle shop Fot Pierce. They have a contest every year. Monster. Largest I ever saw. 9#ers are common enough here though.

PS-- Next time I am at the shop I will take a pic of the pic...

 

[Florida Scuba Divers]

Here is a couple of photos of the 16 1/4 lber caught a few weeks ago off Vero Beach. What a monster....

 

[Tom Winters]

I'd pay $5,000 to rent that lobster for a little while...

 

[Scott L]

Here is a couple of photos of the 16 1/4 lber caught a few weeks ago off Vero Beach. What a monster....

Thanks for acquiring the pictures. Wow!

 

[Rhone Man]

...but today I landed the biggest one that I've ever caught.

I will be charitable and award myself 8.5 lbs (didn't actually weigh it).

 

[Florida Scuba Divers]

Very nice lobster Rhone Man.... That bug would stand a good chance of placing in the top 3 for sure. How good did he taste??

 

[Rhone Man]

Very nice lobster Rhone Man.... That bug would stand a good chance of placing in the top 3 for sure. How good did he taste??

Perversely I don't actually eat lobster - I give them to my Dad (we dive off his boat).

 

[Florida Scuba Divers]

Perversely I don't actually eat lobster - I give them to my Dad (we dive off his boat).

Not a big fan either but I love catching them. Plenty of other family members that love the taste though. A lobster that size can have a tail that has 2 to 3 lbs of meat.

 

[Scott L]

...but today I landed the biggest one that I've ever caught.

I will be charitable and award myself 8.5 lbs (didn't actually weigh it).

Looks like a realy ugly place where you live and work. How did you subdue him?

 

[Rhone Man]

How did you subdue him?

Old fashioned British charm.

Seriously - I have always slightly wondered if people "do it differently" in foreign countries (like Florida). I wouldn't want to turn up on a Florida lobster hunt and be laughed at. Down here we just use a length of PVC pipe with a 12 gauge wire lasso on the end. Works well enough but it does take a while to grab them whilst they are whizzing around on the far end of the wire after you pull them out.

In the US it seems people use slightly more sophisticated tools: