Dive In With Chiefy- Lobster Mini Season

Near perfect weather conditions on the ocean for this year’s mini-season, found many divers out on the water in southeast Florida. This year mini-season fell on July 30th & 31st, the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July.

chiefy-pier

This tradition was started in 1975 allowing only recreational divers to harvest spiny lobster during this two day period before the regular season begins August 6th through March 31st. And in this area of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, we are allowed to catch twice the normal limit of six lobsters during mini-season. So the hunt is on to Catch the BUG!

The Chiefy crew left the dock at 5:30 am and ventured out of the Boca Raton Inlet to a spot in 35 feet of water. The good news is we are only a few hundred feet off shore, well within sight of the coastline. After getting some spiny lobster, we then jumped in to a few spots in 45 feet of water, off of Deerfield Beach and Hillsboro Beach. These were very productive as we finished getting our double limit by 11am.
So the final count for the Chiefy crew was 5 divers catching 60 spiny lobsters. Not a bad day out on the water.

chiefy-mini-season

Chiefy

Jim “Chiefy” Mathie is a known lobster slayer for more than 25 years and author of “Catching the Bug, The Comprehensive Guide to Catching the Florida Spiny Lobster.” Jim was given his Chiefy nickname by his dive buddies while spear fishing off South Florida in 2004 after he encountered and survived a shark frenzy witnessed by his friends. Later that evening, for entertainment, they watched “Jaws.” During the movie, boat captain Robert Shaw, who later gets eaten by the Great White, nicknames Police Chief Roy Scheider Chiefy. It is Chiefy who ends up killing the shark. At the time, Jim was a fire chief, so a new Chiefy legend began. The web site www.chiefy.net was established to showcase numerous Chiefy adventures, keeping the legend alive!

Posted by Scott Q Stories from the Sea

Florida Lobster Mini Season

With Florida Lobster Mini Season just over one week away, it’s time to get out on the water and scout out these tasty Florida creatures. Yesterday, I ventured out on my first prospective dive of the season departing the Hillsboro Inlet on the east coast of Florida in Pompano Beach. The wind was light, visibility was great, but I experienced an unusual and strong south current that brought some confusion to the dive. There have been many scattered reports for the season, and I decided to start off with a deep dive on the third reef in 100′ of water near the Commercial Pier in Ft. Lauderdale. Throughout the dive, I came across about a half dozen Hogfish in the 12-14 inch range. I was fortunate to land my spear shaft in one of these hogfish, and the fish got off my spear and swam into a hole in 93 feet of water. As I swam up to the hole, not only did I see the injured fish, but I found lobster! It is common when diving to find grouper and hogfish seeking shelter in a hole with lobster. Throughout the dive, I came across 4 lobster which were small and well hidden. Of these four, two of the bugs would have met the legal size requirements if season were open.

hills inlet

It is important to remember that the Carapace of the lobster needs to be at least 3 inches and needs to be measured in the water. My favorite technique to catching the lobster is to use a “tickle stick”, a 2 foot metal prong, and a small net. Throughout the state of Florida with the exception of Monroe county, divers can harvest 12 lobster a day during the 2 day mini season which is double the regular season limit of 6 per person. However, Monroe county only allows 6 lobster per person to be harvested during the mini season. Remember to get your Florida Fishing License with a lobster stamp and get out on the water and enjoy the great Florida tradition of lobster mini season on July 30th and 31st.

losbter measure

-Kyle Good

Posted by Scott Q Boating Pro Tips Fishing Reports