Hot on the tail of the spiny lobster

Ahoy.

This week, I received an e-mail from Jimmy Ulcickas, proprietor of

Bluewater Grill restaurants, that made my mouth water. His

restaurants are now serving locally caught spiny lobster.

His e-mail reminded me that recreational fishing just opened for

lobster on Oct. 1, so I will have a large pot of water boiling on my

stove until March 22 when the season closes.

I love to eat Panulirus interruptus and I think this will once

again be a good season for the critters along our coastline. There

are a few hot spots inside the harbor, but I cannot give out their

locations.

The Pacific Coast lobster does not have claws, though their East

Coast cousins do for their protection from predators.

To keep yourself out of trouble with the California Department of

Fish and Game, you can visit their website at o7www.dfg.ca.govf7.

The website has information about regulations, news, marine life

management, licenses, and a section where you can click on where you

will be going and find detailed information for that specific region.

I thought you might be interested in knowing a brief synopsis from

the department’s website about catching spiny lobster, and remember

that there are different regulations for the commercial guys.

You must have a fishing license that is properly endorsed --

either an annual license or a one-day permit.

You may only catch lobsters by hand or with a hoop net. This means

that divers may not use any devices to snag a bug -- oh, bug is the

nickname for lobster.

The minimum size limit is 3 1/4 inches, measured in a straight

line on the midline of the back from the rear edge of the eye socket

to the rear edge of the body shell.

You can bring a lobster to the surface for measurement, but by no

means can an undersize lobster be brought aboard any boat. Thus, you

must measure immediately, and all shorties (the term for undersize

lobsters) must be released immediately into the water.

If you use hoop nets, like off a boat, then only five baited hoop

nets may be used by one person, no more than 10 baited hoop nets off

any vessel.

The daily bag and possession is seven lobsters per person. And

here is an important thing -- unlike fish, lobsters must be kept

whole on any boat.

I support these regulations, so play within the rules. Trust me, I

noticed this week a Fish and Game truck parked out of view on a side

street in Corona del Mar where many divers head off into the waters.

I do like boiling lobsters myself, but the broiling methods at

restaurants really catch my fancy. If you have a family recipe for

cooking lobster, send it to me and you just might win a prize.

My tip of week is to be careful in the harbor entrance now that it

is commercial lobster season. Laying just outside the jetties are

many lobster traps, with their marker buoys floating on the surface.

Also, there will be marker buoys up and down the coast, most likely

within a couple of miles of the shoreline.

I recommend navigating a course between the offshore red and white

vertically striped NWP buoy and the jetty entrance, and do not cut

the corners at the end of the jetties, especially at night.

Wrapping a lobster trap line around your propeller can actually

break some shafts, and the line can damage transmissions. If you do

wrap a line, first try reversing that prop slowly. If you lose your

engine(s), then be prepared to drop your anchor and set the hook to

prevent your vessel from drifting ashore.

Lastly, after a storm or heavy seas, some of the traps may drift

directly in front of the jetty, so keep a good lookout, as I am sure

you always do.

Tune in to the No. 1 boating talk radio show in the nation, “Capt.

Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show.” It airs every Saturday from

noon to 1 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join me, Chandler Bell and

Eric Hovland by calling the listener line at (888) 344-1170.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit

o7https://www.boathousetv.comf7.