Lobster Season Opened August 6

Lobster season officially opened on August 6th. We're finding lobster at just about every depth where there's structure. The weather has been great, the seas have been calm, and visibility has been phenomenal this summer.

One morning, the seas were glass calm and we were actually able to make the run from Port Everglades to Commercial Pier in less than 20 minutes (35 knots in our little 22 Center Console is blazing fast).

One of the real estate agents who works for me, Claudio, wanted to take a potential customer out on the boat for a quick lobster dive. When we pulled up to our favorite spot we could actually see a stainless steel washer laying on the bottom (shiny and new) at 35 feet while looking over the gunwale of the boat. Amazing!

We only did one dive that morning before we ran out of time and had to get back to work for some other appointments, but I limited out and only covered about 50 yards of reef. No photos this trip, but we had a great morning of diving!

I love being self-employed!

Happy diving!

--Branon Edwards
Real Estate and Mortgage Broker

Mini-Season: Day Two

Sorry for the delay in getting this one out.

Our second day of Lobster Mini-Season was not as productive as our first, but we still had a great day. We finished the day with 43 lobsters (53 on day one) with 8 divers. No single diver limited out for the day, but nobody went home empty-handed.

It seemed like the lobsters were a bit more skittish on Day Two than on Day One, which certainly makes sense. I don't know if anyone has studied lobster communication strategies, but they were much quicker about dashing into their dens they were previously.

Randy shot a very large black grouper that actually ran the shaft under a ledge and broke off the steel shaft like it was a twig. Needless to say, this was the big one that got away. We've marked the spot in the GPS and will be going back again for another try. We picked up a few fish here and there, but nothing else of serious note.

During our last dive, we were dropped on a good sized patch reef in between the second and third reef lines. I could tell we weren't on the third reef because of the depth and structure, so Pat and I decided to swim East toward the third reef once we ran out of reef on this spot.

I give solid kudos to Pat for actually trusting my judgement to make the long swim. We never made the reef, but as Pat was nearing the end of this tank, we came across a large piece of fiberglass laying on the bottom. Apparently, it was a chunk of a boat that had sunk somewhere nearby in years past. Not only are we the only two guys I know crazy enough to try to make the run, we're also the only guys I know who can find a 3-pound bug in the middle of the structureless 'dessert' between the two reefs. All in all a great day of diving!

Looks like it's going to be a good lobster season this year if mini-season is any indication.

Happy Diving!

--Branon

Mini-Season: Day One

Welcome to the Two-Day Florida Sport Season for Lobster, otherwise known as Mini-Season!

As you've read in our previous articles, Mini-Season is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July here in Florida. The two day extravaganza allows sport divers the opportunity to pick up a few lobster for the official lobster season begins the first week of August.

Divers are limited to a total of 12 lobsters per day throughout Florida, with the exception of the Florida Keys, which limits divers to just 6 lobsters per day.

Since Mini-Season starts on Wednesday and Wednesday itself technically starts at Midnight Tuesday night, the waters off the coast of Florida were filled with boats and divers armed with lightsticks and flashlights last night. My buddies and I decided that night diving for Mini-Season was going to be a bit much work this year, so we opted to go out at 6am Wednesday morning instead.

As we were preparing to leave the dock, some of our midnight diving friends were pulling into the dock. Looking a little tired, they boasted 16 lobster with 4 divers. It's not limit, but it's a far cry better than I did last year during our midnight dive. We made our assessments of proposed depth and headed out of Port Everglades.

Part of our group wanted to dive shallow and two of us were holding out for deep water. We two deep fans opted to stay on the boat for the first dive and let the rest of our party of 8 splash in about 30 feet of water to start. At the end of their first dive, they had about a dozen bugs between them - not bad, but not great either. By the way, the term 'bugs' is diver slang for spiny lobsters because they're just so darn cute.

My dive buddy and fellow deep enthusiast, Pat, and I were all too happy to try our hand at the third reef. The reef itself is about 45 feet in the center with about 60 feet on the West side and 60 to 100 feet on the West side, depending on the area. We splashed in at about the center line and worked our way East. We were joined shortly thereafter by the second wave of divers and worked our way back and forth across the reef.

Pat and I came upon a nice ledge with 6 bugs beckoning us onward. All 6 were keepers - no eggs and no shorts. By the way, if the lobsters are females with eggs, you are not permitted to take them, and of course, the rest must measure up in size as well. We continually worked our way East and West across the reef as the current pushed us Northward. I picked up another lobster nearby and then it was slim pickings for awhile. There weren't many places for the bugs to hide in this particular section of reef, but our patience paid off as the edge of the reef became more defined.

Pat and I picked up 3 more bugs in one den (lobster hole) and then spotted another den a few yards away. Pat pushed his lobster snare in through one side of the hole to spook them out in my direction. When he did, a chubby little 2-foot nurse shark came scurrying out of the hole right past me. By this point, we were both running a little a low on air, so we decided to surface. Pat landed a total of 7 on this dive and I landed 6 - not a bad first dive.

Needless to say, the rest of the group was now convinced that deeper was the way to go. My long-time dive buddy, Randy Docks, spent a good 15 minutes wrestling a monster bug out of a deep crevice. It was so far back in the hole that he had to actually remove his gear to get far enough in to loop the lobster. Here's a photo of Randy with his prized lobster - the largest of the day from our boat.

For the record, Randy is by far the most successful lobsterman that I have had the pleasure with whom to dive. He and I have been on the same dive on the same reef where I didn't even see a bug and he limited out. Today, he was apparently going for quality over quantity. Nice Lobster, Randy!

Pat and I decided to stay deep for our second dive of the day, and again, we were rewarded. Pat picked up an additional 2 bugs and I landed 6 more bugs, a nice Danforth anchor, and a 20-inch mutton snapper as an added bonus.

My first dive ranged from 40 to 70 feet and my second dive was almost entirely at 70 feet. I achieved my limit of 12 bugs for the day and will be back out there tomorrow to see how well the lobster gods smile down upon us.

Our boat with 8 divers landed a total of 53 bugs; not a bad first day! We only saw a few shorts (lobsters too small to keep) and probably a dozen or so females with eggs. I was the only one on the boat to limit out and Randy took home the prize for the largest bug of the trip.

Best of all, the weather cooperated, seas fluctuated a bit, but never spiked over 2 feet; everyone came home safely, and nobody went home empty-handed.

Ghost Traps

A note about 'Ghost Traps' - this is the common term for lobster traps that have been lost at sea. The loss could be due to a storm or something as simple as having the marker buoy cut off by a careless boater. It is my personal belief that ghost traps do nothing but harm the environment. Any lobsters caught in a ghost trap are surely doomed to a slow and inhumane death by starvation. Plus the loose line hanging off the trap usually wraps itself around surrounding reef, which causes long-term damage to the ecosystem.

Please note that tampering with an active trap in any way is a serious crime in Florida. Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass Go, and do not collect $200.

While I am not certain about the legality of doing so, if I happen across a ghost trap that is CLEARLY a ghost trap on the bottom, I take a few steps to minimize its impact on the environment.

First, I open the hatch and help any of the critters stuck inside to freedom. You will frequently find fish, crabs, and other species inside a trap if it's been there long enough.

Second, I remove the hatch from the trap and place it inside the trap as securely as possible. The hatch hinge is usually made of material - canvas, leather or something similar. A quick cut with a dive knife usually does the trick.

Third, I stuff any free-hanging line into the trap to keep it from banging around the reef. If feasible, I will then turn the trap upside down in a sandy spot so that nothing else can get in and the rope can't get out.

Make sure you're not damaging any coral as your doing all this stuff, by the way. It takes coral about a year to grow 1/4-Inch, but only a split second to kill it.

If the trap is connected by a running line to other traps, I do NOT cut this line. This gives the proper owner of the trap the opportunity to retrieve the entire string of traps in one shot if he/she has properly marked the group on a GPS and comes back for them in the future. Each of these traps represents a considerable expense to the commercial fisherman and thus, destroying the traps beyond repair is generally just a nasty thing to do - especially if there are other options available to you as detailed above.

If there are any commercial lobstermen reading this, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue. While we don't come across ghost trips every week, we do certainly find them from time to time. Write me at: Branon@ScubAHH.com

As always, thanks for reading.

All the best,

--Branon