California Spiny Lobster Diving

  • Nice Bug!


    Thanks - very interesting to see this. I pretty much funded my youth, treats, dates, and more growing up in The Panama Canal Zone catching and selling spiny lobsters in bth the Atlantic and Pacific but mostly from shore along the Causeway on the Pacfic entrance to the Canal. There were no limits, other than self imposed ones; no small and no femails with eggs. Not unusual to catch and sell 50 or more pounds of lobsters pretty much whenever I needed money. A 100 pound day was a real good day but there was no comercial fishing for them and rotating locations we never hurt the population.


    Went back this year after commercial netting was started a few years ago and didn't see ANY!


    Did the Florida Keys Spiny Lobster diving pretty much every year for a long time too. Now that is very different from your California and Panama Pacific lobstering as well.


    But what was so interesting was the difference in the environment where spiny lobsters may be found and the wide range of water temperatures. We would get the upwelling from the Humbolt Current into the shallow bay of Panama and the water temps would drop from mid 80's to upper 50's at times and 60's often during the dry season (December - April) and the Spiny Lobsters would become lethargic and slow in the cold water that you could catch and bring up 4 at a time (hands, bathing suit :crazy:, underarms :laughing3:) but you needed to put them in the inner tube fast before they warmed up ha ha.


    I miss my lobster diving and EATING (not the selling). :laughing:


    Would love to have our Aussie mates show us their REAlLY big Spiny Bug/Crayfish they enjoy". My biggest was a monster of about 12 pounds caught in the San Blas Islands in the 60's. Tail dragged on the ground with me holding it by the base of antlers. :thumbsup2:


    Great to see the difference. All of my lobstering was freediving which of course is another difference in methods.


  • Thanks Oscar. That is a really cool story about our diving history

    i like to spear fish

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