Even though we've lived in florida for numerous years, neither of us had ever been lobstering until Ryan went on a guys fishing trip last year. He and some guys spent a weekend in the keys fishing and looking for lobster. Ryan came back so proud of the one lobster they brought home and when we cooked it up - it was delicious!
So this year, Ryan decided he wanted to try to get some lobsters during mini season. As usual, he didn't decide until the last minute so we didn't have time to make any real plans but I got my fishing license and some snorkeling gear the night before and we decided to meet in Sebastian right after work. Right after work, I changed clothes into a swimsuit and board shorts and drove to the beach near Sebastian Inlet. When I told my co-workers what we were up to, they said that we were crazy and were going to get eaten by sharks so I was pretty nervous about that. When I got there, Al & Doreen were waiting for us and Ryan and two co-workers were getting ready. Doreen and I decided to sit on the beach and wait to see how far out the boys were going before we joined them.
They loaded up a kayak with a cooler, nets, tickle-sticks, measuring sticks, nylon bags and a buoy/dive flag. They started carrying the kayak into the water and only got a couple feet deep before...WHOOSH...the kayak gets swamped and all their stuff starts floating out of the kayak. Doreen and I were cracking up laughing while the three stooges raced around trying to pick up shoes, boogie boards and anything else that was floating away. After about ten minutes they finally got the kayak back up onto the beach and decided not to bring it with them. They headed back into the ocean with just the necessities and eventually got out past where the waves were breaking. We saw two of the guys dive down so we thought maybe they found some lobsters but then just a minute later all the guys swam back...apparently the water was so murky they could barely see their hand in front of their face. Bummer!
We were going to try to go again today but it just didn't work out. Hopefully next year we will plan a little farther ahead and then get a real shot at catching (and eating) some delicious spiny Florida lobsters!
