Lobstering equipment:

1. A Florida saltwater fishing license with a lobster stamp.

2. Heavy gloves - they don't call them spiny lobster for nothing!

3. A tickle stick and net, OR a lobster snare.

4. A catch bag - you want more than one lobster, right?

HOW TO FIND A LOBSTER:

Don't look for a whole lobster. Look for the tips of his antenna sticking out from under a ledge. Sometimes you will see a lobster leg or two instead. The trick here is not to focus on seeing the whole animal, but rather pieces of him instead. Look under ledges or in holes in the reef. These are his hiding places during the daytime.

HOW TO FIND LOBSTERS:

Note where the MALE lobsters are hanging out. Is it in cover at the top of the reef or down by the sand at the bottom of the reef? Are they facing the current or in the lee of the current? What depth do they seem to favor today? Note that they are gregarious creatures and hang out in pods of around a dozen members, so if you find one, look around in the same general area. Conversely, if you're NOT finding them, change your tactics. I.e. go deeper/shallower or to a different part of the reef.

HOW TO CATCH A LOBSTER:

OK, you've found the bug, and he looks legal size; there don't appear to be eggs under her tail, and you won't have to trash the reef in getting to it's lair.

Step one, pause for a minute - formulate a plan for where you're going to "plant the net" and how you are going to walk the bug into the net. This small pause also calms the bug down a little.

Step two, approach the bug with your net extended in one hand, tickle stick in the other. He will attempt to touch your eyes with his antenna - it's how he drives off turtles and such.

Step three, plant the net. Hold it very still, you want him to think that it's part of the reef. Once planted, you should not move the net.

Step four, reach behind the lobster and "tap" him on the upper part of the back of his tail. This is called "tickling", and the taps should be fairly firm, about as hard as you would knock on someone's office door. Note that they are taps - you are NOT trying to push, pull or pry the bug out.

Step five, maneuver the bug (by tickling him) so that, when he scoots backward, he will scoot into the net.

Step six, make him scoot backward by hitting him in the face with your tickle stick.

Step seven, trap him in the net by laying it flat and sliding your tickle stick up the netting to trap him.

Step eight, carry him, still in the net, out onto the sand where you will remove him from the net, check for eggs, measure him, and bag him tail first. DON'T show him off to your buddies underwater unless he's in the bag! They can scoot right out of your hand!

HOW TO CATCH LOBSTERS:

Teamwork. You want to catch a bunch of lobsters? Team up with your buddy. Agree to share your catch and assist each other with the catching and spotting. All too often, divers try to compete with their buddies to get to the best lobster cover first. The result is that a lot of cover isn't inspected properly. Also, many times two divers can capture a group of bugs much more efficiently than one. Share the workload to increase your bottom time as a buddy team: One diver carries the flag, the other the catch bag. When you find a bunch of bugs in a hole, GET FRED FIRST! "Fred" is the biggest bug there, the leader. He usually is the farthest back in the hole. Tickle him out and bag him first.

The remaining bugs won't have a leader then, and you can usually get them all. If you miss Fred, he will lead his group to safety. Usually, we work a group of bugs one diver at a time: Capture a bug, FLOAT up (don't disturb group with finning) and move out over to the sand to bag him. After diver 1 floats up, diver 2 moves in. Keep tag teaming them as necessary! Do not leave lobster "parts" all over the reef - that spot will become unattractive to the survivors and to future bugs.

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR CATCH:

Lobsters will live out of the water for at least a whole day if you keep them out of the sun and cool & moist. Their gills are in their bodies and will work very well out of the water if they're kept moist. A good method on small boats is to keep them in a large catch bag, out of the sun, and dip it in the ocean about once every 15 minutes. Fresh water will kill them very quickly. This is especially true of the ice cold water in the bottom of a cooler. If you're going to ice them down, keep them on the top of the ice. Another common mistake is to put them in a small container off salt water. This will kill them as well because they quickly use up the oxygen dissolved in that small amount of water and then die. A circulating live well works fine. If you can't give them oxygenated sea water, it's best to leave them out of the water, dipping them occasionally. 

HOW TO CLEAN A LOBSTER:

Wearing gloves, grab the body with one hand and the tail with the other. Twist him in half - the tail should separate from the body. Break off a tip of one of the antenna where it is about 1/8 inch in diameter. Shove the thick part of the broken antenna tip into the vent at the base of the tail, up about 3/4 of an inch. Twist it a half turn and pull it out. The vein and all it's contents should come out attached to the antenna. Dispose of the antenna & vein and release the lobster body (to grow a new tail ;). Note that lobster blood is green and will turn into a gelatin very quickly, so keep washing the cleaning area down. Refrigerate the tails in a zip lock bag, or freeze them in water.

HOW TO COOK LOBSTER:

I like to let my lobster tails refrigerate over night - the meat comes out of the tail much more easily. Tails stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week, frozen tails (in water) can last for months. Serve the cooked tails with melted butter, cocktail sauce, or lemon and lime.

Boiling:

Bring a pot of water with a little salt in it to a rolling boil. Put in lobster tails. Wait until water boils again before timing. Pour cold water on tails after the allotted time. Small, barely legal tails take 6 minutes. Tails from lobster up to 2 pounds take up to 8 minutes. Tails from lobster over 3 pounds should be split to allow for even cooking, which keeps the outer layers from being overcooked and tough. When boiling lobster of several different sizes, start with the biggest tails first, adding the smaller ones at appropriate intervals. I.e. put in the 8 minute tails first, then 2 minutes later put in the 6 minute tails...

Broiling:

Split the tails, brush with butter, cover with Romaine lettuce (thanks Jim) and broil for 2-3 minutes, depending on the heat. Do not burn the shells. If you like spicy stuff, sprinkle with jalapeno pepper powder.

Stuffed lobster:

Break off antenna and split whole lobster. Clean out body cavity. Stuff body cavity with stovetop stuffing. Brush whole bug with butter. Cover with Romaine lettuce & bake approx. 10 min. at 350F.

Other ideas:

Lobster salad: Check out Bruce's tips archives.

Lobster and shrimp Fajitas

Lobster el diablo (lobster in Ragu & red pepper sauce over pasta)

Bachelor bug (lobster nuked in a mug of beer)

Buffalo lobster (lobster cooked in hot wing sauce)

Surf & Turf