Magnolia Rocks Dive Report 6/12/05 / lost bag

I'm brand new to this area. I just moved to North Andover from NJ. I'm always up for shore or boat diving, so please keep me in mind if you're looking for a buddy. I dive wet with single 120's and a long hose; I'm up to about 100 dives, mostly in the N.E.

Anyway...a friend and I went off the Magnolia rocks last Sunday. I've done about 20 dives in this area and Sunday's was probably the best. The visibility was easily 25-30 feet -- crystal clear for the North East! There were plenty of lobsters, but the vast majority were too small to keep. My friend and I did catch 'lobzilla', though. It was about 15 pounds! But she was an egger so we let her go... Next time, I'm bringing my camera for proof...

Unfortunately, we had some miscommunication that resulted in a lost catch bag. He went to free up the anchor for our flag and allegedly motioned to me to hold onto his bag. But I never saw this and never touched the bag. We didn't figure this out until we were on land with gear off, so we didn't go looking for it. If anyone finds/found a yellow catch bag (the older ones without the spring), can you send me a pm?

My friend and I are probably going again (maybe to another site?) on Sat the 24th or Sun the 25th, in case anyone is interested...

you said: "My friend and I did catch 'lobzilla', though. It was about 15 pounds! But she was an egger so we let her go... Next time, I'm bringing my camera for proof..."

FYI: in massachusetts bay and cape cod bay there is a max carapice length of 5inches, so as you mentioned, the only prooff you'll get is that photograph!. ;0)

But it is VERY cool to find a Big Momma like that. Very glad she was preg-Os, she should have lots of kiddos out there next year!!

And glad to hear you had a good dive! Did you happen to record the temps? depth?

cheers
~scubastu

ClassAction:

My friend and I did catch 'lobzilla', though. It was about 15 pounds! But she was an egger so we let her go... Next time, I'm bringing my camera for proof...

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Good to hear they are out there finally. Lobzillas are fairly common in the Gulf since you can't eat em. Heck sounds like oversized and an egger, you should have notched the tail just to round out the fact that she'll never be eaten by the general public.

Temp was about 48. Max depth was around 30ish. I know about the max length, but I'm not entirely sure that my buddy would have abided by that rule... I wonder if there's any wiggle room on that? My guess is that the eggs are a clear no-brainer, but maybe you could get away with something a little over the max? Granted, she was significantly over!

ClassAction:

Temp was about 48. Max depth was around 30ish. I know about the max length, but I'm not entirely sure that my buddy would have abided by that rule... I wonder if there's any wiggle room on that? My guess is that the eggs are a clear no-brainer, but maybe you could get away with something a little over the max? Granted, she was significantly over!

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Are you kidding?? I hope you are kidding... they will nail you to the wall for a 5 1/8" lobster just as quick as they will for a 3 1/8" short. The fines / gear confiscation are the same for over or under. We should all be pretty nervous about the V-notch 'zero tolerance' policy as well - basically if there is ANY sort of blemish on the first right flipper (looking from top/back) it is illegal to take.

Don't get busted for your buddy's stupidity, man!

ClassAction:

Temp was about 48. Max depth was around 30ish. I know about the max length, but I'm not entirely sure that my buddy would have abided by that rule... I wonder if there's any wiggle room on that? My guess is that the eggs are a clear no-brainer, but maybe you could get away with something a little over the max? Granted, she was significantly over!

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At least not in Gloucester. My experience (watching others get nabbed) has been zero tolerance. In addition, you will find that other divers are not that keen on people bending / breaking the rules due to the already strained relations between divers and the local community. You have to remember that a lot of the locals make their living from fishing and lobstering. Hence the occasional stories of disgruntled lobsterman harrassing divers. It's our duty to be stewards of the environment and obey the letter of the law to hopefully enhance the reputation of divers as a valued user group. Our presence alone is not without impact to the communities we pass through on our way to the water.

Sorry if that got too deep. I've faced similar issues with access and land use rights for rock climbing. I know how ugly it can get.

I was joking about keeping that one (she was enormous and not even close to the 5") but serious about whether there was any wiggle room. Guess not...

crlavoie:

At least not in Gloucester. My experience (watching others get nabbed) has been zero tolerance. In addition, you will find that other divers are not that keen on people bending / breaking the rules due to the already strained relations between divers and the local community. You have to remember that a lot of the locals make their living from fishing and lobstering. Hence the occasional stories of disgruntled lobsterman harrassing divers. It's our duty to be stewards of the environment and obey the letter of the law to hopefully enhance the reputation of divers as a valued user group. Our presence alone is not without impact to the communities we pass through on our way to the water.

Sorry if that got too deep. I've faced similar issues with access and land use rights for rock climbing. I know how ugly it can get.

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Thanks for the heads up. I can totally appreciate a lobsterman being disgruntled (and even attacking!) if someone is messing with his pots, etc. But aren't they subject to much more lenient standards? Does anyone know if they're subject to the same max limit? I'm not sure that following the letter of the law necessarily means you're being a steward of the environment, when it just means that the lobsterman gets to catch (and keep) the very same lobster. The lobstermen just have better lobbyists on their payroll... But I'm glad that I learned about the lack of wiggleroom on here and will measure accordingly.

As for the impact on the locals, I tend to agree that we need to keep up relations. This was my first dive at Magnolia and I actually felt bad for the guy who owns a 2 miliion dollar house on the water and has 15 divers changing into their wetsuits almost in his back yard! But on the other hand, the guy doesn't own the water or the access to it. The owner actually approached me and politely told me that the land in front of his house was private property. I'm not sure if that's the case, but he was nice about it and I politely said that I would stick to the public area. Anyone else have similar run-ins there?

ClassAction:

I was joking about keeping that one (she was enormous and not even close to the 5") but serious about whether there was any wiggle room. Guess not...

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More importantly, I'm told they are not very good eating when they get up over 5 lbs or so. I wouldn't know first hand as I'm the worlds worst lobster diver. I recently had 1 1/4 pounder take me for the death roll. It's those little ones you have to watch out for.

crlavoie:

More importantly, I'm told they are not very good eating when they get up over 5 lbs or so. I wouldn't know first hand as I'm the worlds worst lobster diver. I recently had 1 1/4 pounder take me for the death roll. It's those little ones you have to watch out for.

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The bigger lobsters do get tough. I've heard it's best to clean them raw (there's a humane way to kill them) and cut the tail meat in half.

And my buddy, while not the most scrupulous, it very good at catching lobsters. He's big on being very patient. He doesn't go right for every lobster as soon as he seems them. He looks for the back door of the lobster hole and tries to tickle them out. If that doesn't work, he'll wait at the front door for the right moment to grab them. I saw him catch his 15 in 30 minutes once.