Well, by now mini-season is over and the regular lobster season has begun. I’ve been away from the writing on the blog and diving since mini-season so this is my first chance to report in on how we did. Where was I? I was busy welcoming my newborn baby girl into the world! The day after mini-season ended, August 1st at 8:05 Abigale Grace was born! She weighed in at 6lbs 4oz.
Thank you, thank you! Now - back to the lobster. Well, we did manage to get a few that matched Abi for size but the pickings were pretty slim. Day one wasn’t a good start, we spent about five hours in the water and only came out with eight lobsters to show for it. The bugs we got were all of good size, most of them four pounds or over but there just wasn’t many of them.
The year before we did well but had to pick through a bunch of females with eggs to get our limits, this year we just didn’t see many bugs at all. Day two ended up being only slightly better with nine lobsters, a small Spanish lobster got us up that one little notch. Again, we caught all we saw but just weren’t to many to be had. Not many shorts or pregnant females to throw back. I don’t know but I’m guessing they were just late coming in this season? I hope anyway.
The bugs we did manage to catch were mostly on deeper tank dives. We dove in the 50 foot range and both days got the vast majority of our catch in a single dive. After exhausting two tanks each we went inshore to try to supplement our haul on an air bouey but ended up just getting a good workout swimming across an empty reef. After about two hours I managed to only pull out two lobsters from the shallows. Again, just not many to be had. Didn’t even see many legs or antennas from any divers who may have hit the water overnight. At least the water was pretty clear on day two - making for at least a pleasant dive.
Photos coming soon.
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I mentioned last month about a volunteer-run organization that was looking for fishermen to tag dolphin, in the hope of finding out more about their migratory patterns, and helping towards conservation of the species. I wanted to share with you one of his typical news items, and the info to sign up for the program if you wish to participate.
Enjoy….
Marine Anglers;
Well it appears that we are into another typical year of dolphin fishing. That translates into a different dolphin seasonal occurrence and abundance pattern along the East Coast than observed in previous years. All of the six years studied have been different. Subsequently, I do not know what constitutes a “normal” dolphin season. But what I am happy to report is the number of fish tagged so far in 2008, while below last year, is well above the average number.
One of the articles in this newsletter shares some of the information from my self-imposed study of ocean currents 101. Having recognized these energy transfer systems as the main conveyor of dolphinfish and other highly migratory fish throughout the North Atlantic and world, I knew I needed to know more about them. Information presented here is just a taste of information available at the Universities of Miami’s Web site. The other article deals with the numerous inquiries received each year from anglers wanting to tag fish too large to bring in the boat. A simple solution is offered that converts the hand-held tag applicator into a long tag stick for tagging fish in the water.
Anglers, please remember that I would like to receive your photographs of fish that you tag, unusual fish and your trophy fish. Please email high resolution files of your photos (1 MB to 5 MB) to me. Be sure to identify the people in the picture, where and when it was taken, and who took the photo. Keep in mind that I can not use photos with large amounts of blood on the fish.
Good fishing,
Don
Donald L. Hammond
Marine Fisheries Biologist
Cooperative Sciences Services, LLC
961 Anchor Rd.
Charleston, SC 29412-4902
(843) 795-7524
cssllc@bellsouth.net
www.dolphintagging.com
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12 year old Ken Marks catches his first dolphin ever weighing in at 50.5 lbs aboard Hungry Bear Charters.
Hungry Bear Adventures - 772-285-7552
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