A Lobster Story

i caught a lobster.

The end.

The story....
Just got back from a road trip and had some time to kill. So I grabbed my freediving gear and headed out for a quick late night solo lobster dive.

Tonight was going to be interesting. For I had brought along a slightly fresh, strongly pungent halibut carcass. I've heard tell of spearos using dead fish as bait to lure out lobsters unwilling to leave their holes. Tonight was the night to test this rumor out for myself.

Down on the beach it was cold and dark with no moon in site. The waves still pounding against the sand. Only I stood to greet them on that desolate shoreline. Pushing through the whitewash I noted the visibility was slim, eight feet at most. If I had not visited this site before in the day I might have abandoned the dive then and there. But with the landscape forming in my mental view I was glad I knew where I was going. A short swim out to the first reef and a few wide circles later brought me to the reef I was looking for.

With a calm last breath I arched my body forward and pushed into the world below. The bottom opened before my eyes and I examined my surroundings for signs of life. Right away one bug eyed me while sitting under a ledge, another spent his time crawling over some weeds, while others moved about the reef in their own fashion. The bugs got me excited. Unfortunately they were all a bit too small and not large enough to take home, legally that is. Even so I was getting exited! Anytime you start to see lobsters it's a good sign of more to come. Though I didn't need a limit. I was out for just one big, a big one. And I knew exactly where he hung out.

During the day this bug stuck to a hole hidden far below under a ledge and in a rocky outcropping. You couldn't see it unless you were looking at it horizontally from the seafloor, which made finding him hard. Still I thought I'd give it try tonight. Although after half a dozen excursions into the murk I reached my limit of frustration. That hole was just too hard to find. I recounted that, "He's got to be only around 4lbs, not worth the trouble." Fortunately I knew of one more spot to try that held an even bigger lobster. One that was well worth the trouble.

For almost a year now I've known of him... and his lair. Each time I peered into this bug's abode I saw him sitting there at the farthest reaches of his cave. Since the first time I'd laid eyes on him in January he was always staring back at me, practically taunting me with his enormous size. His cave was large, at least large enough for me to swim inside, but it narrowed halfway, barring me from entering any further. In that narrowed expanse, in a space almost too small to fit in, sat that oversized crustacean. All I could do was watch him. But today I wasn't planning on simply watching. As I looked back at the halibut carcass in tow I knew I would finally lure him out. This time he was going to be mine! I mean, how could he resist this succulent feast I was bringing him? He'd be drawn to it like a dog to table scraps. With this in mind I continued on to the next reef, keeping my eye out for the special cave that held the bug I was after.

A short swim over and I arrived at the next reef. Locating a particular hole on an entire reef, especially at night, takes time and luck. Your frame of reference is limited to only your single beam of light instead of a panoramic view of the reef. Half a dozen dives of searching brought more familiarity yet I still couldn't find the hole. Knowing I was in the general area I dove down to the bottom and almost did a double take when I saw the massive bug just sitting under the lip of his lair! The big guy spotted me right away and consciously backed into his hole but I wasn't about to let him get away! I dove in after him, headfirst into his narrow home. The small cave was shaped like an L so when the bug backed into the hole his tail bumped into the corner wall. Clawing up the wall he began twisting his tail to the back of the hole, but by mid twist I reached him! Dropping my light I threw both hands forward aiming for his carapace (the thickest part of his body). Pinning him against the rocky wall I quickly tried to wrestle him out of his hole. The giant bug flicked his oversized tail two solid times trying his best to escape my grasp, but I pulled him in close, flipped him around, and hugged him tight against my body.

As soon as he had something to wrap his big legs around he gave up the fight. Sandwiched between my hand and chest he knew he was stuck. His strategy switched to squeezing me as tight as possible with his meaty legs and sharp pointy claws. It was the first time a lobster managed to pinch me through my 5mm wetsuit. Meanwhile I was almost out of breath! Kicking out of the hole with the lobster I felt my lungs screaming for a refill.

Splashing through the surface I breathed in that sweet salty air. As my nerves calmed I glanced down at the now tranquil beast wrapped around my stomach. Bobbing there in the turbulent water I thought, "Wow that was pretty easy". Still wondering how everything had worked out so perfectly I began to swim away from the rocks. I made my way to the deeper water and out of nowhere something yanks me back hard! Shit! It jolted me to a dead stop. Gone were my dream like thoughts of wonder as I looked back to find my floatline is as tight as miser's fist against my weighbelt. I look up and watch the line disappear into the darkness as it points to the rocky outcropping I had just triumphantly emerged from. Guess this wasn't going to be a piece of cake after all.

If you can visualize it, my weight belt has a 50ft floatline tied to it that in turn is attached to a boogie board. On the boogie board is my lobster bag, where I store any bugs I catch, as well as the halibut carcass tied on top. Pulling the rope again it responded in turn with an abstinent refusal to budge even an inch. Yep I wasn't going anywhere.

"Well," I though, "that's what I get for towing this floating barge around everywhere I go." Stuff like this happens every now and then so I wasn't too surprised at the situation I was in. Although it was a strange feeling knowing I was completely safe floating there away from the rocks with bug in hand. But in a few moments I would have to put myself back into the precarious swell and waves that surrounded the rocky outcropping . There was no avoiding it. Looking down at the large bug clutching my side I just shook my head, smiled, and moved forward with my resolve. There was a high chance my floatline was snagged deep below on an underlying rock ledge. Holding the lobster and untangling the rope below would not be easy. Not an impossible task, just somewhat difficult.

But by the time I reached the rocks I found out that luck was on my side. My boogie board had just wrapped around an above water rock. So swimming around the rock with the floatline in hand I was free again!

Once in a calm area away from the rocks I opened up my lobster bag on top of my board. Lifting up the huge bug I tried shoving him in the bag, but he just wouldn't let go of my dive light. I thought, "Hell he can have it! I've got more than enough lobster with just you.". So I happily bagged both light and bug. Which then gave the bag an interesting blue glow from the LED light shining through the fabric. Now without a light to use it was time to head home.

Pushing my board back to shore a tinge of fear began its crawl through my emptied mind. Eating it's way through my morale while I continued gazing ahead into the dark expanse. My bag swaying on top of the board, casting it's eerie blue glow across the random chop below. I moved alone in the frigid water. All was silent. Randomly the sudden and unnerving crash of waves sounded nearby. I felt odd. But more than that I felt afraid. Afraid of an unknown threat that waited for me somewhere out there. I was alone and encapsulated by the darkness. In silence I continued for the next 10 minutes.

The first clear view of land returned my spirits and with each kick forward I felt a little safer. By the time I reached the shore my childish fears had disappeared. And as I crawled myself up the beach, pushing my board past the waves, past the wet send, and up to the dry sand it brought with it a renewing sense of excitement. Poking the bag on the sand and watching it curl in response I smiled once more. After almost a year of trying I finally did what I thought I'd never do.

I caught him.

I wish my cooking was as exciting as my diving, but I just fried the lobster meat in a pan, with a dash of spices and olive oil. Wrapped upn in a tortilla with beans, rice, salsa,and lemon juice.

But man as I'm writing this I could really go for another lobster burrito right now! I'm freakin hungry!

Oh and I moved my post so the lurkers can't see it. Not that it has any valuable info or anything. I just don't like lurkers.

Quote from seaweed

With all the fun you had with it I thought you were going to keep it as a pet.

I was contemplating donating him to someplace with a big enough saltwater tank, preferably a non aquarium setting. Then I could come by and see him whenever I want, or at least for a while until he died from some mishap with the tank.

But for me, that would have put a lot of unknown variables into making a complete lobster mount. And making a lobster mount was a goal of mine.

So I chose to eat him and save the shell for mounting. That last pic I posted is the finished mount.

Mike[/QUOTE]

Quote from Marco

HAHAHA! The lobster is beautiful, but frying it and mixing with beans....

Why don't you just steam it and eat it with garloc butter and lemon? Easier and much better

Because I was mounting the shell and didn't want to cook the shell. That last pic I posted is the finished mount. I've tried steaming lobster meat out of the shell before and it ended up sapping the sweetness out of the meat in the process. So steaming was out of the question.

Quote from Dawn patrol

JW why'd you post this now?

Well I only half wrote the story back when I caught the bug. But after I read Chris Oak's story it motivated me to finish it.

Quote from sdeisen

u were alone at night in cali waters,?,, ur a beast.

Well I couldn't just bring a friend along. That spot had to stay secret until finally caught that big old bug.

On a side note I asked one of my friends if he'd ever caught a big bug. He told me about a time when he was diving this reef and happened across the most massive bug he'd ever seen just sitting where the sand met the reef. He immediately dove straight for it. The bug didn't even move and he snatched it right up. And that's when the bug crumbled to pieces! It was just the molt of a giant bug. My friend was so disappointed because he thought he had a record lobster in his grasp. I asked him where he was diving and he told me which reef it was on. Now I hadn't told him where I caught this bug before, so after he said which reef there was no doubt in my mind. I'd caught the exact same lobster. It's a small world after all, especially when it comes to big bugs.