California Lobster Season Opening Report

[jlyle]

Taking them by hand only seems exceedingly abusive to me.
I often catch them a little small, and with a net they do not even lose a leg, much less a broken antennae. My experience is that the Carribean Spiny Bug will drop its body parts in order to aid escape.
Do your Pacific bugs react this way to the handling?
I think the bugger and the net are far more gentle and respectful in case yo need to put the bug back where you found it.
Chug

It's harder to catch a lobster by hand and, with the exception of a lost antenna or two (which grow back), many bugs escape unharmed. I think the Florida regulations that allow for the use of ticklers/nets are to keep hunters from tearing up the coral reefs; we don't have that problem here in SoCal. The minimum size is 3.25 inches carapice length - if it doesn't look big under water, it isn't.

 

[urmaddad]

A video of our recent lobster diving trip aboard the dive boat Truth out of Santa Barbara. YouTube - October 2009 Lobster Diving Channel Islands Salt Water Revival Dive Club

 

[awall54308]

I am flying in from Michigan to do some diving in San Diego. I plan on finding a local charter to go out with. I have never gone lobster hunting before. Is there anything I need to know to do this (other than what I read on the california website)?

 

[DwayneJ]

I am flying in from Michigan to do some diving in San Diego. I plan on finding a local charter to go out with. I have never gone lobster hunting before. Is there anything I need to know to do this (other than what I read on the california website)?

You will need a fishing license, lobster measuring device, and a spring loaded lobster bag. Ideally find a charter which is going lobster hunting and find a buddy who is willing to show you the tricks.

Since you are visiting, it may be best if you try catch and release.

 

[vistasbelow]

I'm hoping DFG will curtail the use of these nets before the hoopers decimate the local populations.

Amen to that!!! These new hoop nets don't give the lobster a chance and they are allowed 10 nets per boat. so these guys go out to the front side of catalina island with a boat and a skiff and a kayak and put out 30 nets across a 1/2 mile of the coast. So 4 guys sit there all night with a couple of kids that are inside the boat watching tv (since they do not need a license) and they clean out 42 lobsters. Then do it again the next night down on the next 1/2 mile of coastline. There have been times when I could not find a spot to jump in to do a dive because these guys try to fight us, like they own the whole ocean if they have a hoop net down, it is ridiculous.

I think a hoop net should be just like a fishing pole, you get to use one per person unless you have a two pole permit.

 

[White Knight]

Amen to that!!! These new hoop nets don't give the lobster a chance and they are allowed 10 nets per boat. so these guys go out to the front side of catalina island with a boat and a skiff and a kayak and put out 30 nets across a 1/2 mile of the coast. So 4 guys sit there all night with a couple of kids that are inside the boat watching tv (since they do not need a license) and they clean out 42 lobsters. Then do it again the next night down on the next 1/2 mile of coastline. There have been times when I could not find a spot to jump in to do a dive because these guys try to fight us, like they own the whole ocean if they have a hoop net down, it is ridiculous.

I think a hoop net should be just like a fishing pole, you get to use one per person unless you have a two pole permit.

I find hoop netting harder than on SCUBA. Hoop netting is a pain and hoop nets lay flat and "do not" trap the lobster. And if you don't pull them up at exactly the right time and in exactly the right manner (in the swell of the ocean) all your bugs (if there were any) are gone. Personally, I don't believe hoop netters are the problem. I have a boat, and I am allowed five hoop nets personally. Still...I am limited to the same seven bugs that I am allowed while on scuba. I find it more productive to just swim down to the bottom at night and grab the lobsters. I believe the issue isn't with any form of recreational catching...it is the commercial guys doing the damage. The Northern Channel Islands (where I dive) and the mainland coastal reefs (Santa Barbara and North) are completely ringed with commercial traps. In some places, three depth zones deep. These commercial traps fish 24 hours a day and in good weather and in bad. No....hoop netters are not the problem and neither are divers--scuba or free. Personally, I don't care how you (or anyone else) catches their seven bugs. If seven bugs are too much, then reduce the number. It only makes sense. But as I said, if one focuses on total bio-mass caught...then one's attention will be turned very quickly to the commerical fishery.