Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

    I have a mass rec license, 10 pots max, $35 a year. You will need
    a license for the state you fish in. As far as worth your while
    you will have to decide for your self. Some things to consider
    are once the traps have fish for a few weeks they start to
    get very messy. The top 10 feet of rope get alot of
    growth and the traps get all sort of creatures growing on them.
    You also need a source of bait (fish racks). I fished
    5 traps this season and got an average of 2-3 keepers per
    week. The best/easiest way to get lobsters is to dive for them
    if you are a diver.
    
    Bruce

    re: .1
    
    Wrong, Bruce. Diving is hardly the easiest way. It is the most fun way.
    You obviously don't spend much time around lobstering divers. <grins>
    They moan and groan a lot more loudly than commercial lobsterfolk about
    the dearth of keepers in MA waters, what with MA being the only state
    here in the north that lets divers take lobsters.
    
    re: .0
    
    I suspect you may have a problem proving to the local EPO that the
    traps from which you retreived the lobsters were indeed in NH. The
    lobsters don't wear license plates, after all, but your boat does wear
    a registration sticker. If your boat is moored in MA but has a NH
    sticker -- is this allowable??? -- then you've already taken a long
    stride away from the wrongful wrath of the law. 
    
    If I were you, I would be a lot more worried about NH lobsterfolk
    taking offense at a MA-registered boat retreiving lobster traps in NH
    waters than about the rules MA has imposed. Lobsterfolk on the open
    water tend to be a lot less circumspect than the legal system.
    
    FWIW
    
    John H-C

 I dunno, John. I saw a massive cooler full of lobsters (~100) that four
divers picked on a single tank of air. Seems an awful lot easier than
hauling traps. Do you have any idea how many traps you'd have to haul to
get 100 keepers?

    
    re: .2
    
    John, you are quick to jump to conclusions.  I ask one simple questions 
    about lobstering and now I am a law breaker on how I register my boat.  
    
    FYI I am legal.
    

    re .3
    
    so that's why all those traps were empty!;)  must've had a new type of
    regulator, 4 on one tank:)
    

    re: .2
    
    Mark --
    
    Sounds like they found a pile of ghost gear to plunder. Then again, you
    may have encountered some of those renegade outlaws who *do* steal
    lobsters from working trawls.
    
    re: .4 (?)
    
    I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. I just didn't (and still don't)
    know whether one can moor a boat registerd in NH in MA waters. If you
    can, then it's a moot point whether the NH lobsterfolk will take
    offense at your pulling trawls in "their" water.
    
    I don't take lobster, though I do note size and approximate age when I
    see them underwater. Most divers who join me underwater don't take
    lobster when they're with me, either, even if they have the numbers.
    
    John H-C

    John, how do I know how old a lobster is?
    
    Bruce

    Guesstimate. I don't have it figured out yet. Next time I talk to the
    Lobster Hatchery down on Martha's Vineyard, I'll ask. I don't think one
    can age a lobster any more accurately than one can age a turtle.
    
    I figure that one of these years I will reach the point where I will
    have seen enough lobsters to be right within a year or two. Maybe it's
    just hopeful thinking, but WTH.
    
    John H-C

    I estimate the age of the bug by the pressure he/she exerts on the
    finger I place between the crusher claw. ;<|
    
    I figure when separation occurs....he's in the vicinity of 20-40 years.
 	;<|		;<|		;<|   YeeeeeeeeOWWWWWWWWWWCha.
    
    RE: Back a few about the many lobsters taken by divers on a single tank.
    
    I've been diving for 7 years.  Took many lobsters the first 2 years....
    gained some weight,...got over the lobster thing a now enjoy diving
    alot more.  Surrre, I'll take a bug if they cross my path however,
    that's not the #1 goal when I dive anymore.  I do enjoy searching for
    LobZilla though.  My biggest: an 11# 3oz. MALE. Anyone who hits the
    dock (even 4 guys) with  single tank dives, that show up with 100+
    lobsters is suspicious.  You can't just run around under water and
    gather that many bugs.  I suspect 'shorts' -or- a fishing spot that I
    wouldn't reveal to anyone.
    
    /MArk

    
    What time did they depart?
    
    What time did they return?   Same day?
    
    Any flashlights around?    :^)
    
    Fred

    
    
    Sounds like the easiest and cheapest way for me to enjoy fresh lobster
    is to invite all my tank sucking friends for a boat ride.  This would
    eliminate the need for me to buy a license/traps and would be a great
    benifit to all.
    
    thanks for all the input.
    
    	George
     

    Well, as long as they all have *their* licenses and properly numbered
    tanks and flags, you're probably right. Of course, they can't do it in
    NH or ME, and their luck in MA will be spotty at best.
    
    John H-C

    Last summer I took two divers off Salisbury/Hampton Beach
    both had lobsta liscense's etc. By the time the found the lobsta
    location they were nearly outta air but managed to bring up
    6 of um but only 3 keepers :-( 
    
    That was their first time off a boat.
    One of them went back (from shore) the next day and got 25 keepers.
    
    -< Tuna Tail >-
    

    
    re: -1
    
    	It is easy to find where the lobsters are, the area's are marked
    	with little colored bouy's.  For some unknown reason lobsters
    	like to mark their houses with those brightly colored bouy's.  
    
    	George
    

    In case anyone reads this note late (as I have), the answer to the age
    of a lobster:  It takes about 6 years for lobsters to reach keeper size
    according to the folks at WHOI.  I used to spend a lot of time there
    and they have a neat little museum which shows the growth and life span
    of the lobster.  I also used to dive for fun and lobster.  We could
    fill a cooler if there were three of us.  We had some might memorable
    meals and I still haven't lost my taste for it!
    Karen