Spots for Lobstering in the Keys

[ShaktisBoy]

I'm going to chime in here. I don't post too often because as they say "opinions are like aholes, we all have one and they all stink". But alas this issue is near and dear to my heart. There are simply far too many pots in and around the keys. In fact they are a real hazard and damn hard to see at times. I don't have a solution because its obvious there are way to many fisherman for the space available. To my admittedly uninformed eye it looks just like what the Japanese do. Rape an area then move on leaving very little for the rest of us. Another thing that sticks in my craw a bit is this holier than thou attitude some in the fishing community seem to have towards other users of the ocean. They literally drop their pots in all directions for miles creating a navigation nightmare. I dare anyone to try and steer a strait course down there. We hit a trap with a black 3 inch float are you @$@^$ kidding me? So forgive me but I don't give a sht about that couple of hundred dollar trap when its disabled my 300K yacht. If I can I will try and keep the trap attached to its float but believe me its the last thing I will take care of and only after my vessel is looked after. If however I find the trap unrecoverable for the fisherman I will empty any live critters and invert the trap rendering it harmless to other sea life. Anything less on my part would be morally corrupt IMHO. The law be damned, its a stupid law.

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

. We hit a trap with a black 3 inch float are you @$@^$ kidding me? So forgive me but I don't give a sht about that couple of hundred dollar trap when its disabled my 300K yacht. .

Shame on you
How can you be so selfish
Because you have a 300k yacht you think you own the sea?
Have a little respect for those working so hard for just a few hundreds
Heard about compassion?

[ShaktisBoy]

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough for you Alecadi. The cost of the yacht was mentioned because its relative to the damage that can be brought by the careless placement and low visibility of floats that are often used. You don't know me. You don't that know my wife and I sold everything we own, houses cars dishes! EVERYTHING! You don't know it took us decades to get this far. You don't know that a trap with a friggn 3 inch black float disabled our floating home less than 150 yards from awash rocks, right in a navigation channel. How about the fact that if you go to any of the marked fish havens and popular dive sites you can find a ring of traps all the way around the parameter that must be negotiated just to be able to get to a mooring ball to be able to snorkel or dive? Is this what you are defending? If so we will never see eye to eye. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination so I ask "who the hell are you to say I think I own the sea?" Read my post! I mention all users of the sea and yes that means you even. What I am trying to point out is simple, the way the traps are placed in the keys is dangerous. Peoples entire net worth can be lost or seriously damaged and for what? a cheap wooden trap. Do you think a fisherman should be liable for a situation where his trap caused this kind of accident? I sure as hell do. At the very least there should be a minimum size and highly visible colors of floats mandated to at least give other users of the sea a better chance of not ending up on the rocks. Otherwise I think we should be able to sue fisherman for the damage caused by their equipment.

[tamicatana]

Keys Florida is something else when it comes to traps. Phenomenal numbers, and right in the channels. In my neck of the Gulf, fishermen aren't allowed to set traps in navigational waters.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

................. a trap with a friggn 3 inch black float disabled our floating home less than 150 yards from awash rocks .............. I think we should be able to sue fisherman for the damage caused by their equipment.

All licensed commercial spiney lobster fishermen in Florida are required to use floats with a minimum 6" diameter and to have their license number posted on the float and the trap. You likely came upon an illegal private trap that was not placed by anyone in the commercial industry.

[ShaktisBoy]

Wow thanks for the info. What do you think should be done about the situation and what about the dropping of traps in the channels? We sailed from Snake creek out into the hawk channel then up towards Miami when we got fowled adjacent Molasses reef. There was no number whatsoever on the float. It was black and it wasn't alone.

[hellosailor]

Poaching traps is usually enforced fairly mercilessly, but if you are lucky you'll get caught by law enforcement, not the fishermen. At least in the Northeast, the fishermen tend to discuss poaching over a shotgun. Which makes for a good way to negotiate the market price of your catch.

[ShaktisBoy]

Poaching traps is usually enforced fairly mercilessly, but if you are lucky you'll get caught by law enforcement, not the fishermen. At least in the Northeast, the fishermen tend to discuss poaching over a shotgun. Which makes for a good way to negotiate the market price of your catch.

I don't know who that last comment was directed at. I don't and I don't think anyone else is advocating poaching. But I will add not all sailors are pacifist and at least way down here in the Free south, so poorly armed as to only have a puny shotgun on board. Just sayin. If Fisherman are defending their traps with shotguns instead of calling the local authorities, then situations like you describe above could turn needlessly deadly for all involved. including the poor fisherman.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

Wow thanks for the info. What do you think should be done about the situation and what about the dropping of traps in the channels? ....................

This site www.myfwc.com/contact/fwc-staff/ is available for questions, phone contacts and reporting violations. I do see little enforcement of preventing floats in many of the channels not only in Florida, but also in the Chesapeake and in Maine.

[ShaktisBoy]

In rereading this forum I apologize for taking it astray from the OPs question. Both Capngeo and Mrohr both give good advise. Under ledges, under logs or any form of cover during the day. Now at night sit on the bottom between the reef or other lobster cover and the baited trap. Pick up what ever bug that happens to pass by on its way to the trap. hehe J/K

[ReMetau]

On the bay side, ride around looking for red spots. These are small amounts of fire coral that line the limestone holes where the bugs hide. The amount of red is a good indication of the size of the hole.

Once you find a hold, jump in and take a peek. If you see antennae sticking out, then pole around with your tickle stick.

This approach usually requires more than a dinghy since you may need to run about looking for holes.

Another option is bully netting at night while the lobsters are on the march across the flats. This is a great approach for a dinghy, but you may need some high powered lights to spot em.

[skippy]

ok, i started this thread. Trust me, i won't be stealing anyone's bugs. grew up on a farm in the back woods of WVa and know all about making a living off the dirt. Didn't mean for this thread to go so negative. Geezzzz!!!! Would rather buy from locals than steal anything not mine. Drop this line!! Thanks for the info!

[skippy]

Just letting you know we went lobstering- didn't take anyone's lively hood but husband did manage to get a couple after fighting for his life in the current around bridges etc. We laughed more than anything and found it is a whole lot easier going up to the boats coming in at the docks and offering some "green" for the fish and bugs. Weather was not so great till planning on coming back and of course the seas were like glass and smooth. We knew where to be if those were our conditions while we were there but needed to head back up the coast.
thanks for all the help!!!!

[skippy]

I'm sorry - we didn't offer "green" ---- we made a beer "donation"!

[fjwiley1]

Glad you all "recovered" from this thread. It's always enjoyable in Marathon for our family. Unfortunately this year for us the weather wasn't the best, didn't even get to Sombrero but that didn't keep us from still having fun. Great place to go each year.

stay safe going up the coast.