Jup Rpt Mar 31 - The Easter Hunt

[Johnoly]

Dove Easter morning Jupiter with Scuba Works boat DivOcean and Captain Kenny at the helm. It's closing day of lobster season after a brutal diving winter. Well,, with 10 ft of nothing Viz this was definitely going to be a hunt and we sure didn't want any with eggs! This was pure old school technique. Read the reef, find the sponges, follow the fish, and trust your captain's drop.

Conditions on the first tank only, was 10 ft of viz, 72°, 1 knot current, very light 3 mile an hour winds out of the south made for just flat seas. On the second tank the Captain found us 50 ft of visibility!!

Since it's the final day of lobster season, I made 20 servings of steaming steak & lobster cups for the whole smiling boat and crew.

In April almost all the harvesting is closed season, so it's a great time to tear down and rebuild all my tanks, regs, and gear.

 

[MrChen]

This was pure old school technique. Read the reef, find the sponges, follow the fish, and trust your captain's drop.

When I'm struggling to find lobsters, your words ring in my ears, but neither the sponges nor the fish are helping me find them. What am I not getting?

I'm limiting on a regular basis, but there are times that I find myself struggling. My ability to limit is definitely helped by the use of a DPV and diving a private boat.

1. Read the reef - Check
2. Find the sponges - I find them, but hasn't resulted in finding lobsters
3. Follow the fish - I've yet to observe this behavior even when I know lobsters are there
4. Trust your captain - Check

I know the lobsters are there because I can come up with 2 on a dive and buddy have 6. Sometimes the roles are reversed where I come up with 6 and they have 2. To me, this is an indication that we are looking for different things. Neither strategy is the right one, but mastering more techniques will result in more lobsters found.