From the weather forecast I thought it might be a small window of opportunity to go lobstering. I met a friend down off Datura last night for a beach dive. A solo diver joined us, being the newbie that I am, I ask him what type of equipment he was use to hunt. He pulls out a home made snare and something that looked like a small ping pong paddle and said it was a net. I said how do you catch lobsters with a net that small. He pulls on the handle and BAM !! a full size net unfolds out of nowhere. It turns out to be a holster for a net. The holster was no bigger than a cd ROM in diameter. With it folded away all you see is the handle, no netting exposed, nothing to get tangled. I asked him where he bought it. He said he developed it and has been using it for about a year. He is having it manufactured he hoped to have them by December.
This trip I decided I was going to use the green snare and a tickle stick. So the three of us take off. There was a little south current but not to bad. Close to shore the visibility was horrible but it clear up a little out on the reef. As soon as I drop I see one, set up my snare, loop it around his tail, pull it tight and NOTHING ! I missed him. On to the next one. Same thing except this time I catch him in the snare I go to grab him and he kicks out of the snare. On my 3th attempt, I finally catch one and he is short ! This time I see a spotted lobster, get the snare behind him and all I see is his dust trail down into the swiss cheese. I see two more spotted, same result, nothing . Those guys are a lot faster than the regular spiny . Time for us to head in, I see one more. I finally catch a keeper !
We get to shore and we are greeted by the MAN. He check everything, our license, our gear, and our catch. I caught the one, my friend caught 3 and the other guy had four and eight spotted. After our frisking, I spoke to Ed how he caught the spotted. He said a majority of the time he uses the net to catch lobsters in general . The spotted are near impossible to snare but you can catch them with a net in the open. If the get into a hole he takes his net and squeezes into the swiss cheese hole and tickles the spotted lobster into the net and yanks them out. He carries a snare but uses it as a tickle stick unless the lobster is way deep under a ledge. I told him I hope you get the nets soon because I want one ! He gave me and my friend each a spotted lobster to try, so I'll toss him on the grill tonight. Everyone tells me they are 10 times tastier than the regular spiny.
As a beginner, I find it a lot easier to use a net. Different situations require different methods and different tools. So I think I going to stick with the net but carry the snare just in case. Just got to figure out how to get more practice using the snare. Either way it's a great time.
Here are some pictures of his net and and dinner.
