Outdoors Column | You don’t have to go to the Florida Keys to catch some nice lobsters
The last Wednesday and Thursday of July usually sends anglers to the Florida Keys to participate in the lobster mini-season. But much like most other things occurring in 2020, not nearly as many people found themselves traveling south on the Overseas Highway.
However, that did not stop anglers from finding a few delicious underwater bugs for the dinner table. Most associate Florida lobster with the clean waters of the Florida Keys. That’s for good reason. The clean waters of southern Florida are known lobster havens, but lobster can be found in more areas around the state.
Ty Cobb decided to take a last minute trip across the state for Thursday’s opening day. Even without a boat he was able to get his limit of lobster in short time.
“I planned it out around 3 p.m. on Tuesday when my day was dragging on,” Cobb said. “I loaded my gear and was on the Skyway by 10 p.m. I used some satellite imaging near public access that dictated a launching point in south Florida.”
After making his trip across the state he was in the water by 4:30 a.m.. Armed with a pair of scuba tanks, safety gear and a flashlight to see in the dark, his planned worked.
“I mostly dive Gulf wrecks and bottom,” he explained. “This was only my third time diving from shore. There was a long surface swim in some swells, but the actual diving time was very short. I was out of the water by 6 a.m. with my limit and back home that night and into work the next day.”
Diver Jacob Brown also went across the state to Daytona where he ran into the Atlantic Ocean for lobster. In addition to lobster he pulled cubera snapper and gag grouper from the depths.
“The big lobster still had eggs, but we got plenty of medium sized,” he said, after releasing the egg-filled lobster. “We had an amazing day and got some really nice cubera snapper and big gags.”
Closer to home Brian Visnovec traveled only west to find his mini season lobster.
“We headed out of Little Harbor in Ruskin,” said Visnovec. “We see them at some spots and we mark them for the season to go back to. We dove 55- to 65- feet at some spots we had marked with lobster.”
The lobster were still home and there were some monsters in the mix. The biggest one measured a whopping 42 inches from the tip of the tentacles to the tail! Another was 38 inches.
“We caught three other keepers and saw probably 10 more shorts in my new spot that was probably picked over opening day. Usually we find them on reef bottom under ledges.”
Regular lobster season opens statewide Aug. 6 and will run through March 31, 2021. The daily bag limit is six per person with the carapace needing to measure three inches for legal size.