Lobster record??

[dsgobie]

What is the record lobster caught?? Members on this board? World? In the U.S.?

Just curious as to how big to these things get.... I haven't had the chance to go after these "bugs" yet in the states, and the ones over here are small and clawless.

 

[Bob3]

We have a couple varieties over here, the "Maine" lobster that's normally found in the NE part of the country (they've been caught in fish traps off the coast of Florida in 650')
Then you have the Florida variety of the "Spiny Crawfish" that some folks call lobster, or to be safe, BUGS.
Then out in Califirnia there is also the Spiney.
I've heard of Godzilla Bugs of all varieties that run up well into & past the 20lb range. Biggest I've had my hands on (above water) was a 19 lb Maine (from Mass., Maine has a size limit).
The crusher claw was larger than my head, the bug stretched down to my knees w/claws above my head.

 

[dsgobie]

WHOA!!! Thats huge!!!! Those things have to be more dangerous than sharks... HA!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I hear the big ones don't taste very good. Is that true?

 

[DennisW]

You have to know how to cook a big one. I'm not sure about the variety with claws, but the bugs need to be cut into smaller pieces before they are cooked so they don't get tough. I've found most sea food is over cooked. When lobster is over cooked it gets rubbery and tough.

 

[jan]

I saw a picture one time at a local dive shop where these two divers found this Huge lobester on the way in from a dive, it was in the open and so big that they each grabed a hold of the arms between the claws and the body and swan it in. They put it in an inner tube (from a car tire) and took the picture well you can bet that this lobester filled up the whole inner tube it was inside hanging its claws over the tube like it was going for a swim in the pool they also had a legal sized one in the picture and it made it look like a piece of shrimp i think the weight was around 35 pounds it was the biggest lobester I have ever seen.

 

[GeekDiver]

According to the Guinness Book of Records the largest specimen of the larger American Lobster, Homarus americanus, measured 1.06 metres (3 ft) from the end of the tail-fan (telson) to the tip of the largest claw and weighed 20.14 kg (44 lb 6 oz). It was caught off Nova Scotia.

The largest European Lobster, Homarus gammarus (= H. vulgaris), on record measured 1.26 metres and weighed 9.3 kg (20 lb 8 oz). It was caught during reconstruction work on a jetty off Fowey in Cornwall as long ago as 1931. Its crushing claw weighed 1188 g (2 lb 10 oz) after the meat was removed. Its total length was 1.26 metres.

(Guinness Book of Records)

Geek

 

[dsgobie]

Wow! Does anyone have any pictures of these...

 

[PhotoTJ]

Just out of curiosity, DOES anyone know what the record is for the California spiny? I've worn out search engines, and the info seem to be top secret, eyes only classified!

Thanks,

PhotoTJ

 

[donacheson]

Tim Ingersoll once bubbled...
I hear the big ones don't taste very good. Is that true?

No, that's not true. I was with a friend who caught a 22lb Maine lobster off the coast of Maryland and we (and several others) had it cooked and ate it - delicious. The tail meat after cooking weighed about 6 pounds and we sliced it into steaks.