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Classic Boston Whaler... ~ $8000
Lobster gear for 10 pots ~$350
Gas to and fro ...~ $30

Hauling pots with your son for the first time and seeing a grin fom ear to ear when we bring home some keepers......Priceless!!!

It is the most expensive lobster I have ever had.... None has ever tasted better, it was worth every penny.

Matt

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Great thread, thanks for the smile.

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Matt, that's very, very cool - there's no substitute for that experience!

Did you have any trouble with the local pros? In Maine you can get a personal lobstering permit for free, but I wouldn't dare - the pros shoot each other and cut gear and boats adrift; I'd hate to think what they'd do to an amateur.

Tim

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I think that's a bit of an urban myth about the hazards of being an amateur. I used to do lobstering by diving (your permit number is in big letters on your tank), and everyone was always saying how lobstermen really hated divers because there was no way you could tell if the diver was taking lobsters already in pots, but I dove near many a losterman off of Marblehead, Salem, and Beverly and never got hassled. One data point, I know...

John K.

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Don't set in someone else's turf and you will be fine.

From the commercial lobstermen I know in Point Judith, it's no urban legend that they will rob your pots or just cut them off.

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I have a lot of commercial fisherman friends both lobstermen, scallopers and tuna guys. In fact, it was a commercial guy I got my gear from and he helped me set my pots. Generally, they don't really care about a recreational guy, nor would they waste their time pulling your single pots to rob you. If you set your pot over their run and the lines get tangled, expect your line to get cut (theirs are usually color coded) otherwise they just go about their job.

I dive for lobster as well, have never been harrassed, and am extremely respectful of lobster pots. I would never poach a pot, frankly there is no sport in it. The fun of diving for lobster is the hunt and then the wrestling match with a bug that can bite back (or more accurately pinch) in 60 feet of water. Imagine going out in the woods deer hunting, and finding a deer in a cage, would you shoot it? No.

We usually only get about 4-6 lobsters per dive, so again the commercial guys don't pay much attention to us. They are busy hauling 400-800 traps! It is the second most expensive lobster I will ever eat, or maybe even the first.

We will generally loose pots from othe boaters running over our bouys and cutting the line with their prop. I hope to have six out of ten pots at the end of the season. I will let you know how it goes.

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I miss doing that. I used to haul about a dozen pots when I was 12 years old in my 15 foot MFG with a 40 horse. Every day after school in the fall, I'd deliver my paper route, hop in the boat, check and re bait the traps, bring home a few keepers, and some huge tautog would get in the traps too! You brought back some great memories with this thread. Thanks!
If you think you lost a pot, go back at low tide and look for it. the slack in the line may get tangled and make your buoy only visible at low tide.
Good luck!

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Here is a quick update. I have lost one pot so far, better than expected! I usually come home with a cople of keepers each time I pull the pots. Some pots work better than others, wish I cold figure that one out. Fresh bait works best.

I just checked my pots for the first time in about a month ( away on vacation) and came home with two keepers and threw back a nice egger. I was surprised to find all my pots just where I left them, and more surprised to find a few bugs in them!

We will see as the weather turns cold how much time and enthusiasm my son and I have left.

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That's why it's calling fishing and not catching.

Most of the "incidents" between lobstermen have been in select areas that have "agreements" of fishing areas.

Weapon incidents have been replaced with cutting anchored boats free and other non-violent events.

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Just got back from Spanish Wells/Eleuthera Bahamas, took my family and my son's friend just to dive for fish and lobsters. Just like Mtierney states Priceless...PS We caught some of the biggest lobsters I have ever seen in my entire life, If I knew how to post pictures I would share them...Take care

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Finally pulled the last of the pots before Hurricaine Sandy relocated them for me. I ended up with 8 of 10 pots. I was getting good size lobsters in every pot, but most were females with eggs. Some of my buoys have prop strikes, one is almost cut in half, confirming that this is the likely cause of the lost traps. Had no issues with the commercial guys, and always got a friendly wave with all five fingers, even with traps on my boat. All in all, a great experience with my kids. I will be putting them back in next year.