Help, lobstering today!

[PapaBob]

My all time favorite metod is team diving. One diver tickles the bug to back it directly into/under the catcher diver's hand.

Hi Fred:

Funny you should mention this technique. I have used a tickle stick and bully net for over 25 years, but in the Dry Tortugas in September I dropped my net going down on the first dive. I would use my left hand as the "catcher" and it worked amazingly well. The secret is to immobilize it so the bug thinks it is part of the reef. You can then coax the bug slowly under the hand. The extra effort makes it more sporting and I found it to be fun. I would not learn to bug this way. Tickle stick and net is a good way to start.

---Bob

 

[MarineVet32935]

If the bug is in a hole and has one antennae pointed out and the other folded and pointing back, watch out for an eel, behind it.

Easiest way is a tickle stick and net. Use the tickle stick underneath them and slowly coax them out, you'll get the hang of this right off. Hold the net in your other hand, with it peeeerpindicular to the bottom, the open end facing the bug. Then slowly manuever it so their tail is toward your open net, then tap them on the forehead, with the tickle stick and they will lunge backwards into the net.

Underwater, a small bug will appear much larger. If it's close, measure it twice and don't forget to check for eggs. Egg bearing females are not a legal take.

Slipper Lobster are even easier, as they don't have the antennae, like Spiney Lobster. They are found abundantly all over the eastern Caribbean.