4-28-09 canal lobster report

[robc22]

Boy, talk about a quick trip into summer. it seems like only a couple of weeks ago I was pushing snow with a shovel. I am definitely NOT complaining though I Will be happy to welcome an early summer. I made the mistake of wearing my 5mm neoprene waders,I think I just sweat ed off 10 pounds.
The lobstering is very good this spring. It usually doesn't pick up until the herring are running hard but this year the lobsters have started moving early. Again  I am definitely NOT complaining.
10 keepers, 6 egger's and 3 or 4 shorts out of 10 traps. I managed to get back the onetrap that was badly hung up last week. 3 of my keepers had a very bad case of shell diesease they were however, still quite tasty.
I am over the moon about a new style trap I'm trying. It's shaped like a pentagon, narrow at top, wider at the bottom. It will not roll in the canal current which can be a problem with more conventional traps. It's a large trap which I also like. As I learned from my commercial experiences, the bigger the cage the better.It also has only one kitchen(entry) head that extends 2/3 of the way across the trap. This should cut down on the number of lobsters getting out of the trap. This trap caught 4 of my 10 keepers this week. The downside to the trap is its pretty pricey.

pic 1 - setting the gear
pic 2 - the new trap
pic 3 - lobsters

Still trying to get the hang of the camera/resizing the picture thing.

[tattoo]

Nice, 

[SHELLFISH]

Thanks for the report!

You raelly can't see the picture of your new pot design very well. Could you please post some more?
Sounds interesting but I can't grasp what you are talking about!

It looks like the current really rips through the canal!

Enjoy those lobster you got!

I'm still trying to decide if I want to go through the trouble of Lobstering this year.
Last year my total take was only 39 Lobster and each one cost me about $14.00!
Get's tough when you see them being sold in the market for $5.99/pound!
In this area of southwestern CT the population has been hit hard and pops are low.
Next year they are increasing the minimum size for take; they're letting the Lobster grow another two years before it will be legal to take! They are also doubling the price of the permit...$240.00 for 2010!
All this is their attempt to bolster the populations.

[robc22]

$240. for a rec. lobster permit! thats terrible how can they charge you guys so much! we pay $40. here in MA

I'm still learning my camera so please be patent on the pics. My big problem is when i resize(640x480) the pics for the forum its still to large a file size. I resize the pic down to 300x200 and it fits the file size but is a small picture. I think turning down the # of megapixels in the camera when I take the picture will allow me to resize at 640x480 and post a bigger picture. If anyone could give me advice on this I would very much appreciate it.

As far as the shape of the pot goes the top of the pot is not as wide as the bottom.I mistakenly called it a pentagon....very sorry. It's shaped like a isosceles trapezoid.The current tends to roll off the trap instead of grabbing it and flipping it over.

[suzyq52]

Try using MS Picture Manager (it's included with Windows). Click on Edit and then click on Compress Picture, making sure you click the radio button for web. That'll both resize them and make them more web friendly.

[robc22]

thanks suzy-q I will give that a shot. This is the pic of the new trap using the ms picture manager I hope its a little larger pic. Thanks to suzyq.

[Greenhorn]

Hey Rob

   Great news  what is the price and where do you get them on those traps?

[robc22]

I bought that trap at ketchum trap in new bedford. When I go to ketchum its like I've died and gone to heaven. I love that place.Anyhow, the trap cost me $60 with no skids on the bottom.I double the bottom of my traps by hog ringing another piece of wire to the bottom of the trap. This increases the weight of the trap at the bottom, makes the trap more grabby so it moves less and it also much extends the life of the trap.  This will add another $8 to the price of the trap.

[jack1747]

Man that looks allot like work Rob..    Nice pic's thanks.  I assume a egger is like a sponge crab?    And you have to release them? 

[SHELLFISH]

Jack, An egger Lobster is exactly like a sponge crab. All sponge Lobster must be released.


Rob, My mistake on the CT Lobster permit price for 2010. It will be $124.00, not $240.00.
It is $62.00 now per year.

Thanks for explaining your pot design; I understand it now. The pentagon is what threw me off.
Ketchum is a pretty good operation. Never been there but they have a very good website.

[masspi]

Nice report Rob............you are getting your share as usual

I have seen the traps you are using at Ketcham Traps and wondered what they were used for............now I know.  Bob Ketcham is a great guy and is always helpful.  I have used his crab traps and lobster traps for years and can vouch that the quality is great.  I always drop off a couple of dozen crabs to Bob when I stop in to make a purchase.

[unclebuttsy]

Rob,

Ever try the sinko runners?

I know Bob sells them.

Curious to know... am I see the bridge on your traps one third of the way across? If so, is it a bigger kitchen or parlor?

Ever think about Friendships?

[jack1747]

Will you guys speak english please.... 

[unclebuttsy]

Sure, I speak plenty good English...

Sinko runners are reinforced, fortified concrete runners for lobster pots. Use Sinkos and eliminate the 3 bricks a typical 36" usually contains... bigger floor plan, happy lobsters.

Friendship traps usually feature 2 parlors... that's where the lobsters wait for you. The kitchen is where the bait bag is.

The bridge is the structural element up top that holds the pot together and from which the bait bag depends...it usually ends up in the middle - half parlor, half kitchen.

Rob's pots look like the bridge has shifted to left of center.

Rob, 10 ga. hauling ends?

[SHELLFISH]

Unclebuttsy, Great description for Jack! 

I don't use sinko runners, I use just wood held on with rubber tire strips held in place by ss screws.
Each 48" pot holds four bricks to keep them in place but in bad storms I've chased them over 1/2 mile!

In CT the "pots may not exceed 22,950 cubic inches in any combination of length, heigth and width".

I am still considering getting the permit for 2009. I will not get it for 2010.

[125blackfire]

Nice catch. WTG

[unclebuttsy]

Thanks Shellfish,

I used to have some 48", 4 brick friendships. Lost them in Boston Harbor.

Sinkos don't grow worms and you don't have 8' of bouyant material on the underside of your 4' traps. Sinkos drop straight down.

And you don't have to make room for 4 bricks, or haul the water weight they absorb... presuming you haul by hand. Those bigguns make you feel it.

[robc22]

Shellfish.....get your permit....You know the ones you catch taste that much better!

I don't use runners/skids on my traps. I want maximum grabbing from the bottom of the trap. The more surface area in contact with the bottom the less the trap moves in the current. I double wire the bottom of the trap to extend the life of the trap. In you look in the picture the trap is green but towards the bottom of the trap its black, thats the extra wire. You can also see no runners.Wish I knew how to blow up the pic,save it then post it. So you guys could see what I'm talking about.

I checked out the friendship trap site. I had heard/read of them in commercial fishing news and national fisherman.I also worked some of there gear when I was a young buck working on a offshore boat. Nice site...good stuff. They sell a lot of double parlor gear. To bad their so far away in maine but then I'd probably just spend money I don't have on more gear!

[mrscharms]

I just want to say that this was a very informative post for me.  I have always been curious about lobstering....we are considering eventually moving to New England...if I can't crab....I'll lobster!  I saw a few lobstering shows on Discovery Channel...but they were not quite as entertaining as Deadliest Catch, that's for sure! 

Please keep posting about lobstering!

Janice

[masspi]

Rob knows what he is talking about......the current in the Cape Cod Canal can be wicked and a trap that can't grip the rocky  bottom will roll and won't fish.  I have friends who have a sea farm in Cushing, ME and raise oysters.  The entire area of Friendship, Union, Rockland and Cushing is Maine lobster central.  In the summer season, there are so many lobster traps in the water, it seems that you can walk across the water on the buoys.  There are huge commercial lobster pounds and the area gathers more lobsters than anywhere else in the country.  Jeff mentioned the Friendship traps with the concrete weights...........great quality commercial trap, but made for a boat with a pot hauler.  All traps, with concrete, sinko's, or brick will test your back when pulling them in.  Definitely a young man/woman's game. 

Because of the demise of in-shore lobsters throughout the NE, people are forced to go off-shore.  You might have seen the "Lobster Wars" show on the Discovery Channel............huge bugs, big money, great risk.  I know several of the people featured on the show and let me tell you, it is a very risky business.  I fish the Canyons where they lobster (Georges Bank) and have no desire to be there in the winter.

Canal lobstering is an entirely different game.............no buoys, sinking rope, and a long pole to pull your trap.................Rob should give us all a lesson on what it takes to get a bug in the Canal..................how about it Rob ??

Give us the ABC's of Canal lobstering

[jack1747]

I noticed the pole in the pic's.  I thought it was a boat hook.  Is it attached to the pot? 

[jack1747]

Wish I knew how to blow up the pic,save it then post it. So you guys could see what I'm talking about.

Try this topic in Forum Info -> http://www.bluecrab.info/forum/index.php/topic,26953.0.html

[unclebuttsy]

I'm sorrly tempted to fish the canal, but stories of poaching and gear cutting have kept me away.

No offense meant to Rob, but he talks about 'his spot' which I think he's entitled to... but I wouldn't know if I accidently stepped on his patch.

That canal is only just so long... not looking to p=** anybody off, just wanting my share and wanting my gear to come home.

Pots without runners, fascinating. Runners only work in trawls, w/ a hydro slave right? Grabbing the bottom with wire sounds okay. But I fish on cobble, not sure it would matter.

[SHELLFISH]

I use the wood runners more to protect the boat; when I haul up the pot I rest it on the gunnel.

I don't care how much the pot weights I've got a hauler.

I posted pics here a couple years back on my Lobstering.
See it here:  http://www.bluecrab.info/forum/index.php/topic,10780.0.html

[robc22]

great pics shellfish.....hey is that a set of tongs in the corner(upper left hand) of the pics?