Gulf of Mexico yields some tasty creatures from the depths

Growing up on Warners West Bayou in the 1970s, Tim Lehman became a “water rat” at a very young age.

Early in life, Lehman began diving in the Gulf of Mexico for what became an obsession. In his life he has made countless dives from shallow to deep water.

With experience, Lehman has learned a few tips and tricks helping him capture tasty creatures from the depths. On a recent venture about 10 miles into the Gulf, Lehman and crew found a few treats many people may not realize exist off our coast. While not a regular occurrence, Lehman has seen his share of spiny lobster, and this trip captured a jumbo one for the broiler.

“I was working a ledge and I could see him under there,” Lehman said. “I was able to tickle him. At first he was fighting me and shot back into the ledge. I was trying to put my speargun behind him to block him off and he got ticked off and moved. Once they get into a crease in the bottom they don’t want to move. For whatever reason he shot away from the edge of the structure and he was sitting more exposed under the ledge. That’s when I was able to get him.”

For Lehman, he said experience helped him coerce the lobster to his possession.

“It’s not the same as working lobster in the keys, especially the bigger ones,” Lehman said. “If you’re not practiced at it or know what you’re doing, you are not going to get them. They don’t really like to be tickled to the open and that is what you need to do.”

The delicacy was brought to the surface, where Lehman estimated it weighed about 8 pounds. His biggest from local waters is about 12 pounds. After a few years of seeing few lobster, Lehman has noticed a resurfacing of lobster in local waters.

“There seems to be a minute crop out there right now,” Lehman commented. “I think the bad red tide we had a few years ago really hurt the local lobster population, and I’m just now starting to see it rebound.”

In addition to the lobster, Lehman and crew had a good day of spearing hogfish and grouper in depths between 45 and 55 feet. One of the grouper was a “true” black grouper, something normally seen in deeper waters of the Gulf.

While this weekend’s cold front may slow down the fishing for a week or so, Lehman said it could benefit us on the back end.

“Visibility has been pretty good, about 20 feet, but I would expect it to be clearer than this. It’s kind of a funky color right now, and I think the cold will help remove some of the plankton. When the water is cold it helps clean up faster.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Gulf of Mexico yields some tasty creatures from the depths."