SoCal Lobsters 10/1/11

Opening day is Saturday, October 1st.  About 2 months from now.  I'm wondering if anyone is interested in being there for the opener or being there sometime that first week. 

Also, I've never dove for lobster before and am hoping some people will reply to this thread with some general tips/info from your experiences.  Is the Santa Barbara area too far North for good lobster diving?  Further South better?  Are the Ghosts still biting around that time?  Combo trip?  So many possibilities!  So many questions!

Lets talk bugs!

Thanks homies. 

I've never dove Santa Barbara, but have heard that the nearshore vis. has a reputation for being poor.  I've dove for lobsters when I lived in San Diego, so I'll offer my personal experience night diving for them. 

Night diving can be a lot of fun, especially when it's calm and the vis is good.  You can lay on your back on the bottom and look up at the moon through the water column and it's just a magical experience.  Or it can be a living nightmare, like when your light goes out and you're getting sloshed around then the next second you're laying on the reef because the water has receded and the only thing you can do is bite down on your snorkel and claw onto whatever reef you can hang onto because you know the next wave is just going to detonate right on top of you. 

But that probably won't happen to you 

I went on opening night, at 12:01am because it was tradition, but I always resented it a little.  I like my sleep.  I've done just as well, actually usually better in the morning the next day.  The first week or two is pretty good at even the hard hit spots. 

For night diving, I would recommend you go and check out the area in the daytime first.  Check out the entry/exit and what the current is doing.  Decide which direction you want to go after you get in and check out suitable alternative exits.  Make special note of landmarks for these exit points as you'll have to find something easily identifiable in the dark, from a very low vantage point.  If you're doing the opener, this can be hard as you may be getting back in at 2am, 3am, or even later.  There probably won't be many lights on and what lights there may be will all look the same.  I've seen people attach chemical lights to poles and place them at the top of the exit spots, but even those aren't much help when you're a few hundred yards offshore looking for something the size of a (lit up)  pencil on land. 

Look for terrain that is rocky/reef.  A lot of the bugs will be out in the open for the opener.  They won't be conditioned to hide yet.  The name of the game for me was speed and ferocity.  My dives were quick up and downs and while I was down, I was sweeping my light which was on my left hand while my right was slightly bent at the elbow in front and below me.  If my light swept across one that looked big enough, I'd shoot the right hand out (like a quick jab).  When you shoot the arm for a grab, do it like you mean to hurt it.  It's a quick jab that stays on the target.  Your aim is to pin the bug.  Don't think about grabbing it as in wrapping your fingers around it and picking it up.  I read somewhere that their reflexes are faster than ours.  In the time it takes your brain to curl your fingers, it's already flicked its tail and is out of your hand.  Go for the pin.  So shoot your hand out to pin it to the ground (side or roof of a cave), then grab it. 

I wouldn't go to places with thick kelp.  I wouldn't dive deeper than 20'.  If you can stand it, dive in eel grass, although I've had better luck doing that in the day. 

I had a gauge mounted to my light, so when I caught one that had to be measured, I just put the light/gauge on the carapace.  This is usually how I catch, measure, and bag my bugs.  I catch them with my right hand, then immediately I put my left hand on it as well just to secure it.  Next I maneuver it so my right hand is holding onto it by the underside (so my palm is touching the underside of it's tail) with it's head pointing towards my elbow.  It's tail by my fingers.  This will make it much easier to bag later because when you loosen your grip on the bug, it'll naturally swim away tail first.  What happens is that the bug will naturally dig it's legs into the forearm.  Bring your light/measure onto the carapace and measure.  If it's legal, drop the light (which should be tethered) and grab your game bag (with the left hand).  With a swift motion, put your right hand (lobster tail first) into the opening that should be kept at a size just big enough to allow your hand and bug to pass through till the bug is inside of the opening of the bag (this is important when you already have a bug in there).  Let go of the bug and draw your arm out of the bag while making sure the inside of the arm is in contact with the bag.  So it's like you're scraping the arm of the bug.  I do this as a precaution because usually when I stick my hand in the bag and let go of the bug, it swims backwards into the bottom of the bag.  Do this six more times. 

I'm not sure what else to tell you, but feel free to ask if you think of anything specific. 

If all you're after is a lobster dinner, I would recommend you soak some hoop nets at night, then maybe dive when you've figured out the lay of the land a little.  Or dive in the day till you're more familiar. 

Good luck,
Nate

Are there any piers that you can soak nets at?

Have never been but would love too.

Great info Nate. Very detailed, well written and useful.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

When do you want to go Nate? 

Are there any piers that you can soak nets at?

you can soak nets at most piers, though you are limited to 2 nets and i would not waste my time.

As for SB I can verify there are bugs (lobster) there. However farthest north I have seen the commercial guys fish is that Synthetic island just south of carpenteria. SB is about the northern limit.

-Garet

Are there any piers that you can soak nets at?

you can soak nets at most piers, though you are limited to 2 nets and i would not waste my time.

As for SB I can verify there are bugs (lobster) there. However farthest north I have seen the commercial guys fish is that Synthetic island just south of carpenteria. SB is about the northern limit.

-Garet

Yeah, the piers get well fished, plus they don't have much structure other than Goleta Beach which has the sewer outfall. I've heard there are bugs in there but you would have to dive it. We used to foul hook to occasional shorty back in the day.

Last time I dove for bugs in SB was about 10 years back. We found them on the reef closest to the harbor, and since the vis was good we got a few. There's still a dive shop on Hollister in old town Goleta that should have decent intel, but it is the only one left in town. The oil island out by Rincon has always been a go-to spot for hooping.