First time lobster hooping, first time driving at night so no idea what we were doing. Launched from DP at 445, water temp 62, clear visibility, swells mild, mild wind, high tide predicted 830 pm, new moon.
About 2 miles from harbor entrance, set hoops in 40 feet, 1 hour soak, zip. Moved set closer to the pipe and we got our first lobster. Short and released. Son and I had a hoot looking at it and he had fun releasing it - all 0.5 seconds of it. We didn't get skunked so I considered that a success for an elementary student and fat dad and called it a night at 8pm.
Hadn't used the cabin lights in boat before - stressed they didn't work but smacking the switch like Fonzie did the trick. Also read somewhere to bring a towel to cover up electronics if needed due to lights messing up vision. Surprised how much of a difference that made. Helped me avoid the commercial buoys in the water. Lastly, I think I saw a couple of smaller vessels with hand tillers on the water with no lights, that stressed me out more than anything else.
All in all great night.
About 2 miles from harbor entrance, set hoops in 40 feet, 1 hour soak, zip. Moved set closer to the pipe and we got our first lobster. Short and released. Son and I had a hoot looking at it and he had fun releasing it - all 0.5 seconds of it. We didn't get skunked so I considered that a success for an elementary student and fat dad and called it a night at 8pm.
Hadn't used the cabin lights in boat before - stressed they didn't work but smacking the switch like Fonzie did the trick. Also read somewhere to bring a towel to cover up electronics if needed due to lights messing up vision. Surprised how much of a difference that made. Helped me avoid the commercial buoys in the water. Lastly, I think I saw a couple of smaller vessels with hand tillers on the water with no lights, that stressed me out more than anything else.
All in all great night.
nets at Dana sometimes. I get many limits there. This year has been OUTSTANDING. Big bugs and lots of em. I'll letcha know how I git em in the boat. Starting with bait, any fresh caught fish is good bait/ I like using mullet, blue perch, and mac's. When filling the bait cage I slice open the fish bellies so the guts hang out/ seems they like blood n guts. If I want a quick cheap bait fix I go to Smart n Final and buy a spread of chicken for $5 / they will pick at chicken thighs all night. It's best to get out there in the light hours. Then you can see what's going on in the water and set your nets outside their front doors. I like fishing the shallow water rocks at capo beach. I'll start in less than 10' of water if waves permit me. I'll git right in the rocks n drop em right around the edges. Soak em till dark. I pull up 10 plus lobsters in 1 net sometimes and alot of eels. If my first set was good I'll repeat the line if slow I will scoot out my line in deeper waters progressively with each set, covering alot of area. Also bugs like to crawl during storms and when waters are turbulent. I think there is less risk of predators as well as more food to scavenge. Moons will play a big factor on your catch. One more thing I don't fish nets by the jetty. I talk to people that fish lobsters there and it seems they git alot of shorts and a legal bug every so often. Hope this helps next time. Have fun.
