Another Orange Monster from Orange County

Got this puppy a few days ago :thumbsup2: Oh and if you can't tell, I shot this pic in a different location from where I grabbed it. Just wanted to get a good picture of it in the daytime before I cooked it up.

Went out on a solo night dive this week with a goal of grabbing a massive bug. But through out the dive I couldn't find anything even remotely close to what you would call big. Everything looked undersized, bug after bug, maybe 30-40 lobsters seen and not a single one that was worth grabbing. Finally when I saw my first larger scale lobster I decided to grab him. He was clearly bigger than the rest and I didn't want to go home skunked, so it was a win win. But as I measured his back it came out to be barely legal, which both surprised and depressed me. I mean I thought this place was supposed to be a secret spot. Why are there practically no legal bugs here and absolutely no large sized bugs? Did the scuba divers wipe this spot out or something?

Well I kept diving with more of the same undersized bugs running about and just as I was about to call it quits I shined my light over a high rocky reef from the surface. I stopped and couldn't believe what I saw! Just below me a truly massive lobster was sitting completely still in a one foot trench! Staring at the carapace I swore he was the biggest lobster I'd ever seen. I quickly looked around him and didn't see a single cave in sight. He was just there for the pickings, with no way to escape, and only 15ft down! Well what was I to do but scoop him up? Dove down, grabbed him with both hands, and swam back to the surface.

That was, by far the easiest lobster I've ever grabbed for that size. Sure he kicked his tail a bunch and my grip slipped slightly, but I quickly pressed him against my body and he wasn't going anywhere, except for my lobster bag :D. Although he fought tooth and nail when I went to shove him in my bag. I tried for at least 5 minutes to get him in and just gave up. Halfway in was as far as he would go. I looked down at him and thought, "Halfway in or all the way in, you're still a bagged bug and you're coming with me!" And home he went.

Quote from sdeisen

siickk,, you gonna preserve this one like the last?

You know I don't really know. I couldn't decide what to do with it and just stuck it in the freezer whole for the time being. If I can get Mark to help me cook it I may just eat it and save a few of it's legs in the freezer for when I catch an even bigger bug and some of its legs are missing.

If I ever get one that breaks 10lbs that's going to be mounted for sure!

Quote from Chris lupin

Nice bug Daniel, puts mine to shame.

haha don't worry about my bug being bigger Chris. Every time I hear of Dave Plossel's lobster reports it puts all my lobsters to shame.

Any big bug is an awesome find! They're definitely hard to come by on shore dives.

Thanks guys for the nice comments. Definitely stoked on this bug. It's been over a year since I've even seen one this size. :thumbsup2:

Quote from LunkerBuster

SICK...and great report as always.

especially to me, a lobster retard exraordinaire...seriously, I suck..but I'm getting better

Hey but can't you guys out in Florida use tickle sticks? Should be much easier out there. Just got to find a spot that's holding and keep poking em' till they jump in your bag.

Quote from fuzz

Nice catch Daniel!

I like your pics - always have a cool perspective or take on the traditional glory shots.

It's practically a requirement of mine to do a photo session after I catch something really nice. And I'm always thinking of new ways to take my fish pics, cause the "holding a fish strait out in front of you" method never impressed me much.