Florida has a two day mini Crawfish (spiny lobster) season that allows recreational fishermen to harvest bugs before the commercial fisherman set their traps. We got our three person limit of 12 each off of Fort Lauderdale. If you dive in the Keys you are only allowed 6 per person but they are easier to harvest as the water is shallower.
Nice big table covered with oceanic cockroaches... Yummy! 8)
Nice harvest!
Do they keep frozen well, or is this a catch and eat critter?
The tails freeze extremely well as they don't have red blood. I have eaten them a year old and they were "almost" as good as fresh.
Very nice add to all the fish and wild game in the freezer.
I love those Bugs!
Great job. ;)
I like to stuff a few tails in the belly of parrotfish(or anything else) before cooking. Delicious
https://youtu.be/zFQooqS-hIk
Big Cockroaches ;)
YUM!!! :o
Today was the 2018 mini season opening day. We got our 4 person limit (12 each) pretty quickly.
My buddy Don, me, young Nick and his girlfriend Kristy.
Scott
Nice! :P
Wow Scott...good stuff!
What time is dinner🙂
Quote from: Alto Mare on July 25, 2018, 10:54:59 PM
Wow Scott...good stuff!
What time is dinner🙂
Sal, whenever you make it to South Florida you will have a Lobster dinner waiting for you.
Yay !!
that too many bugs I can help you to get rid of them
We got another 48 today. Fortunately the tails freeze very well. The regular season starts August 6th but the limits are reduced to 6 per person but we hope to stock the freezers to get us through the winter when the water temps. drop into the 70s.
Awesome!
I love bugs. ;)
I think they are the tastiest of the seafood.
A Nice Steak and Lobster is as good as it gets. ;)
Quote from: conchydong on July 26, 2018, 10:45:51 PM
We got another 48 today. Fortunately the tails freeze very well. The regular season starts August 6th but the limits are reduced to 6 per person but we hope to stock the freezers to get us through the winter when the water temps. drop into the 70s.
Stock it up Scott, I might take you up on the offer :)...what a harvest!
Sal
Very nice!!!
This is a old thread and I am getting older too. My years of chasing bugs may be winding down but we has another successful mini season. We got our 12 per person limit for four in less than two hours.
Nice haul Scott. How deep are you diving & how far off the beach. It's great when you can catch them so close to home. Rudy
Rudy, we were in close. Less than 30' of water. The limits are double for anywhere in Florida except for the Keys and Biscayne National Park so it is not worth it to trek to the Keys during mini season.
Scott this thread (even being old) educated me. Being here in SoCal and going "bugging" every year for some reason i was always under the impression the spiney's lived out here (Left Coast) and everything on the Atlantic side had claws laden with sweet, sweet meat. I see where you obviously dive for them (they do that here as well) but is there also a trapping/hoop netting season that is "non-commercial"? Any tips? I will gladly tell you what we do; always interesting to see how techniques vary from different regions for the same catch. - john
I can only look at this with fond memories, no more for recreational fisherman.
Permitting, price of permits, limits and just over fishing have made it non viable to still catch those here.
Enjoy your meals.
Awesome!
I have to buy my bugs.
Quote from: Brewcrafter on July 29, 2021, 03:43:04 AM
Scott this thread (even being old) educated me. Being here in SoCal and going "bugging" every year for some reason i was always under the impression the spiney's lived out here (Left Coast) and everything on the Atlantic side had claws laden with sweet, sweet meat. I see where you obviously dive for them (they do that here as well) but is there also a trapping/hoop netting season that is "non-commercial"? Any tips? I will gladly tell you what we do; always interesting to see how techniques vary from different regions for the same catch. - john
John, although legal, there is not much "hoop netting" in Florida. When I lived in Key West, I dabbled in it a few times using primitive hoop nets made out of rebar and shrimp netting. Besides diving, "bully netting" is the most common form of harvesting for recreational harvesters. A bully net is basicallly a net that is set 90 degrees off of a pole. The lobsters feed at night on the shallow seagrass flats. If you have a shallow draft boat you idle on the flats with spot lights and net the lobsters while they are out walking (feeding). Still, diving using a "tickle stick" and net or a tail snare is the most common method used. Grabbing them by hand is legal but not always wise as we have plenty of Moray Eels that also live under the ledges.
To answer your other question, Florida has a annual two day "mini" season that falls on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. This allows recreational folks to harvest before the commercial fishermen place their traps in the waters. August 6th begins the regular season for both commercial and recreational harvesters. Also, we do not have a "report card" system. Just daily posession limits. We can catch daily limits and freeze them for the entire season. I sometimes have dozens of tails in my freezer to get me through the year.
Hope this helps,
Scott