How to Fish With Lobster Pots
Anglers go fishing for lobsters with wire cages commonly known as pots, which are baited with dead fish and lowered from a boat to the bottom of coastal waters. Similar to as a crab trap in design and function, a lobster pot has a conical opening on one end that enables the crustaceans to get inside and devour the bait, but unable to escape. Follow these steps to have freshly caught lobster for dinner.
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Things You'll Need
- Lobster pots
- Fish heads or chicken necks for bait
- Bricks
- Buoys
- Rope
- Twine
- Net
- Ice chest
- Boat
- Fishing license
- Lobster stamp (where required)
- Air pump
Instructions
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Check local regulations governing pot limits, lobster catches and sizes, and other seasonal rules that may apply to the waters you'll be fishing.
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Get out on coastal waters near the edge of reefs where the ocean floor is sandy. Keep an eye out for other anglers tossing pots overboard -- a sure sign you're in the right vicinity.
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Bait lobster pots with fish heads or chicken necks, using a piece of baling twine to tie the bait inside the cage. This keeps smaller fish and crabs from making off with your bait before a lobster takes notice.
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Add three to four bricks to the pot for weight to secure the trap to the bottom. Less weight can be used in relatively calm water.
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Tie a line for the buoy to the top of the lobster pot.
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Lower the pot overboard with a rope, playing out buoy line as you go until the pot hits bottom.
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Tie on a buoy marker to remember your location. Lobster anglers typically paint their buoys in distinctive designs and colors to distinguish their pots from others.
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Check your lobster pots daily for your catch. Release lobsters below the local size requirements and re-bait traps as necessary.
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Use heavy work gloves and a net to coax the backward-swimming lobster out of the pot. Place your catch in an ice chest filled with saltwater and connected to an air pump to oxygenate the water.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep an air pump circulating oxygen in your ice chest at all times with a fresh catch of live lobsters. The crustacean begins to decompose rapidly after death, so discard any dead lobsters in the trap. Likewise, throw away any lobster that dies at an undetermined time before you are ready to cook it.
Stay away from lobster pots that do not belong to you. In some regions, it is a felony to tamper with another angler's lobster pots. Depending on the mood of the pot owner -- lobster anglers can be a temperamental bunch -- people can get seriously hurt if they are caught pilfering lobster pots.
