By Paul Lebowitz

State’s 2007-2008 recreational spiny lobster season kicked off on Sept 29

October 5, 2007

The excitement came through the phone line loud and clear.

“Oh man it’s crazy out here. They’re really crawling,” Jim Salazar’s voice said, cutting through engine noise and cell phone static. “We just started and we’re well on our way to limits.”

Salazar, a staffer for lobster hoop net manufacturer Promar, was out for a Sunday evening cruise on Santa Monica Bay with Promar marketing director Jason Morton. The pair wanted to take the temperature of the just-started 2007-2008 recreational spiny lobster season. Their assessment? Sizzling!

“Our night was outrageous. I couldn’t believe it. Our first pull had 5 legals and 10 shorts in it. The net came up thumping like it had a motor in it,” Salazar said.

“It was a full shock and awe bug campaign,” Morton added.

The numbers bode well for the season, which has nearly 6 months to go.

Although Salazar and Morton enjoyed an exceptional evening, it wasn’t the same for everyone. The midnight opener produced mixed results. Many divers reportedly scooped up limits; it was tougher for those on the surface.

“There were a lot of divers on the breakwalls. It’s like having a lot of boat traffic on a fish bite,” Salazar explained.

The crowds weren’t nearly as heavy on the second night of the season, when hoop netters logged results ranging from mediocre to good. But Sunday night, that was the trick.

2007 LOBSTER SEASON OFF TO A HOT START – Promar representatives Jim Salazar and Jason Morton found limits of lobsters and a bounty of rock crabs in Santa Monica Bay on the season opening weekend. The buggy fun will continue through March 19. PHOTO COURTESY JIM SALAZAR

START OFF SHALLOW – Water about 10 ft deep or so produced the best results for early season lobster hoopers. Reports had the bugs crawling early and late, keyed to current shortly after the top and bottom of the tide. PHOTO COURTESY JIM SALAZAR

“There was almost nobody out there,” Salazar said.

So far, the lobsters are crawling early in the evening and late into the night. Salazar pointed out that current seems to be the key. “Something triggered them right after slack tide. Also right around 3 am, an hour or so after the tide started to flow out,” Salazar said.

The best scores came shallow, in roughly 10 ft of water. Salazar prospected out deep, but didn’t find a single bug past 20 ft or so.

Results were similar throughout southern California. Salazar said Orange County seemed best. At Dana Point, John Near reported fair results and heavy pressure. Near said limits were possible but “you really had to put the work in.”

Salazar said few reports came out of San Diego – “the guys were really tight-lipped” – but Santa Monica Bay was productive. “It’s always good. There’s no commercial pressure,” Salazar explained. Usually solid Ventura County was another story.

At Ventura, Harbor Master Scott Miller cited safety when he decreed that lobster hooping is henceforth prohibited within 750 ft of any jetty or breakwater. Divers, however, faced no such restrictions. On opening night an irritated crowd of lobster hoopers and local business owners confronted Miller at the launch ramp. Faced with a storm of criticism, Miller agreed to meet with select members of the public on October 10 to discuss a compromise that could reopen the harbor to lobster hooping.

That would be good, because the catching will continue all season. Salazar said the typical pattern is lobsters shallow in the early and late months. Storms push the bugs deeper during the heart of winter.

Salazar strongly encouraged people to get away from the obvious spots, the breakwalls and jetties. “Look for rockpiles away from the walls. You’ll catch more lobsters and crabs if you get away from the crowds and the seals,” Salazar said.

Yes, crabs. Several species of the tasty crustaceans are found along with lobsters in deeper water, 60-100 ft or so. Rock crabs must be a minimum of 4-in wide across the widest dimension of the carapace. The limit is 35 per person and the season is open year-round.

Salazar has lobster hooping down to a science. He shared a number of helpful tips.

Hopeful hoopers should load their nets with oily baits such as tuna, salmon heads, or mackerel. Overstuff the bait pouches or cages to give the bugs plenty to chew on. If fish aren’t available, try using the inexpensive cuts of chicken. Spice it up with a scent offering. In a pinch, perforated cans of catfood do the job.