Hoop netting for lobsters is a lot of fun. I have been able to go lobster hooping a handful of times with some cousins/friends who have the gear needed to do the lobster hooping.
Here on the west coast of the US, the lobsters are very different then they are on the east coast. The water is much colder, and our lobsters are a bit more compact, hearty, and do not have the big lobster claws like the east coast lobsters do. Here is a picture of me with a couple of legal lobsters:
To catch them, you bait the hoop net, drop the hoop into areas they like (such as rock piles), and then wait an hour or two and pull the hoop up to see if you caught any. Most of the lobsters you catch are too small to keep, so those must be thrown back. The lobster fishing industry is watched very closely, and there are only certain times when you can catch them, you need a special license, and they have to be a minimum size in order to keep.
The lobsters are most active at night, so that is the best time to go lobster hooping. When I have gone hooping, we have used a bigger boat to anchor down and use as the home base, and then use a small skiff to run around the areas we are hooping to drop the nets and bring them back up. The nets are fairly heavy and it is definitely a workout to haul lobster nets by hand all night, but it is very worth it, as the lobsters are delicious… I like to bbq mine on the grill!
Thanks for stopping by!
Brian