Sport Lobster & great family time: Upper Keys (photo heavy)
Posted: August 1st, 2013, 11:40 pm
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything lately - it’s been a darn busy summer! My family had a great time hanging in the Upper Keys last week during the 2 day Mini Season. This has been an annual extended family get-together tradition for eleven years now and it was another great one with great company and lobsters that were quite plentiful. Rather than me explaining our trip the photos give a good idea of how our trip turned out. The upcoming August 6th opener for Regular Lobster Season should be a great one for everyone! Catch em up!
Tuesday: We scouted our lobster numbers on Tuesday and found lobsters on most of our holes. We then prioritized the order of which we would hit the spots for Wednesday.
Wednesday am: With 7 family members on board Wednesday morning we were fortunate enough to catch our limit of 42 by 8:10 am. After heading back in we cleaned the bugs, got lunch, and a few of us went back out to scout a new area we’ve never looked over. Plenty there too.
Mini Opener 2013 just prior to dawn
Hittin’ the 1st hole: Uncle Steve, my daughter & wife Pat
First hole/hotel
Wahoo!!
Uncle Steve
My wife Pat
Nicky in action
Nettin’
Heading up
Well done Nicky!
Daughter Kaitlyn
2 for 1
Happiness is a live well full of lobsters…
Happy Crew!
Wednesday’s dinner: Mojo pork, black beans & rice
Thursday: With 7 divers on board we caught 30 bugs in short order. We headed back around 10 am to pick up a good friend who had just arrived with my 14 year old son who was returning from the 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. With 9 divers on board we headed back out and we managed to find enough lobsters to fill our 54 lobster limit. High tide was mid-morning which gave clear water with water temps of 85 ˚F, winds were lite and it was some of the best weather we’ve had for mini season in a long time. Not as many boats as in years past either.
Thursday morning on the reef
Kaitlyn scoping out some bugs
Future dinners
Close up
First lobster for Rich!
(he successfully survived the First Lobster Initiation……)
Deck of bugs
Another Happy Crew
Friday: In the morning we headed into town and purchased some poles spears to introduce another aspect of enjoying some good family time on the reef. After lunch we went to some shallow patch reefs looking for hogfish. Winds were kicking up and it was getting choppy but everyone got plenty of pole spear practice in the sand before they started hunting for hogs.
Pole Spear’ers
First hogs
Fun times
Thursday’s dinner: fresh hogfish, BBQ chicken & fettuccini
Saturday: With light winds at dawn we headed out for a quick yellow tail trip before we came back to take the girls to snorkel the Carysfort Lighthouse. The current was hopping but we managed some nice yellowtails for Saturday’s diner (sorry no pics).
Carysfort Lighthouse
Father & daughter
Small Mouth grunts
Juvenile Trumpetfish
Stoplight Parrotfish (terminal phase) w/remora
Stoplight Parrotfish (Initial phase)
Stoplight Parrotfish (Initial phase)
Blue Tangs
Blue Tang
Small moray
Soft corals
Daughter & wife
Scorpionfish
Tubin’ back from Carysfort
GREAT family time!!
You can’t get any better family time than that spent on the water!!
HooYah!!
Brian
Tuesday: We scouted our lobster numbers on Tuesday and found lobsters on most of our holes. We then prioritized the order of which we would hit the spots for Wednesday.
Wednesday am: With 7 family members on board Wednesday morning we were fortunate enough to catch our limit of 42 by 8:10 am. After heading back in we cleaned the bugs, got lunch, and a few of us went back out to scout a new area we’ve never looked over. Plenty there too.
Mini Opener 2013 just prior to dawn
Hittin’ the 1st hole: Uncle Steve, my daughter & wife Pat
First hole/hotel
Wahoo!!
Uncle Steve
My wife Pat
Nicky in action
Nettin’
Heading up
Well done Nicky!
Daughter Kaitlyn
2 for 1
Happiness is a live well full of lobsters…
Happy Crew!
Wednesday’s dinner: Mojo pork, black beans & rice
Thursday: With 7 divers on board we caught 30 bugs in short order. We headed back around 10 am to pick up a good friend who had just arrived with my 14 year old son who was returning from the 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. With 9 divers on board we headed back out and we managed to find enough lobsters to fill our 54 lobster limit. High tide was mid-morning which gave clear water with water temps of 85 ˚F, winds were lite and it was some of the best weather we’ve had for mini season in a long time. Not as many boats as in years past either.
Thursday morning on the reef
Kaitlyn scoping out some bugs
Future dinners
Close up
First lobster for Rich!
(he successfully survived the First Lobster Initiation……)
Deck of bugs
Another Happy Crew
Friday: In the morning we headed into town and purchased some poles spears to introduce another aspect of enjoying some good family time on the reef. After lunch we went to some shallow patch reefs looking for hogfish. Winds were kicking up and it was getting choppy but everyone got plenty of pole spear practice in the sand before they started hunting for hogs.
Pole Spear’ers
First hogs
Fun times
Thursday’s dinner: fresh hogfish, BBQ chicken & fettuccini
Saturday: With light winds at dawn we headed out for a quick yellow tail trip before we came back to take the girls to snorkel the Carysfort Lighthouse. The current was hopping but we managed some nice yellowtails for Saturday’s diner (sorry no pics).
Carysfort Lighthouse
Father & daughter
Small Mouth grunts
Juvenile Trumpetfish
Stoplight Parrotfish (terminal phase) w/remora
Stoplight Parrotfish (Initial phase)
Stoplight Parrotfish (Initial phase)
Blue Tangs
Blue Tang
Small moray
Soft corals
Daughter & wife
Scorpionfish
Tubin’ back from Carysfort
GREAT family time!!
You can’t get any better family time than that spent on the water!!
HooYah!!
Brian
That's awesome, love your reports. How deep do you have to freedive to get the bugs? 
