976-KayakHoopNetting November 3rd

Ironically, the evening was a “swimming” success - but fun? Not exactly; though it did have its good moments.

On Monday Tim said the group was going out hoop netting again and wanted to know if I was coming along. It wasn’t supposed to rain until after midnight so I thought “why not.” I took a trip to the tackle store for light sticks and asked about “bait.” I ended up buying a 25 lb. box of small (1 to 2 lbs. each) skipjack for $40 and took it over to DP Jet Ski & Kayak Center to thaw.

I went home, packed up my gear and returned to the kayak center at 2:30 pm to load my kayak, cut up bait and set up the nets. Tim loaned me his son’s new Eclipse style nets so I could see the difference between these and the standard nets that I used last week. These nets had very large buoys with reflective tape but I had forgotten my big light so I added bottles with light sticks to the buoys. The nets stacked higher on my kayak than the other nets slightly changing the kayak’s stability. I moved my seat forward to be sure there was plenty of room to load the nets on the back of my kayak.

I hoped to stay dryer hoop netting so I put on my foul weather gear (Grunden’s). I looked like a Halloween pumpkin but Grunden’s are impervious to wind and water (unless, of course, you take a swim in them). I filled out my lobster report card then put on my safety equipment (flotation vest, SPOT, marine radio) and we departed the harbor at 4:30 pm.

The water had looked calm and beautiful all day so I wasn’t concerned. Once we rounded the point of the jetty, I became concerned. We were heading into 6 foot swells and heavy chop. I took it slowly and almost returned but Tim said he had been out in much rougher water. I hadn’t but I didn’t want to chicken out so I continued.

Tim wanted to try an area a couple miles down the breakwall but I decided to fish closer to the harbor entrance in case the weather worsened. I started looking on my fish finder for a good place to drop my first net when a big swell rolled my kayak and threw the nets off balance and dumped me and the nets in the water. I had no problem getting back on board but getting the nets back on board was another story. Fortunately the big floats kept them on the surface but the lines had tangled in the rough water. I managed to get two back on board but the kayak wasn’t responding well. Two of the nets were tangled in my kayak somehow.

I called Tim on the radio and he came to help. It turned out the tether to my lobster scale was tangled in one net dragging it underneath my kayak and its lines were tangled in the second net. No wonder the kayak wouldn’t maneuver. Tim untangled the mess and helped me set the nets. All my other gear was properly tethered to my kayak so I didn’t lose any gear. As I was told, “never go kayaking alone.”

As I bobbed in the rough water, light quickly disappearing, fear seeped in stealing my joy of hoop netting. I was soaking wet, sitting in a bucket of water and needed to bail out the kayak. At this point I seriously considered returning to harbor, however, I would have to pull all those nets and load them back on the kayak. I just wasn’t up to that challenge yet. So I pulled the big sponge out of my hatch and started bailing. I noticed a strange taste in my mouth – very dry and astringent. Must have been the adrenalin racing through my veins paired with fear.



I peddled up and down the breakwall keeping track of my buoys while trying to calm my fears and stay warm. I decided to make my first pull at 5:45 pm before it was completely dark. There was nothing in any of them so I dropped them back down moving the ones close to the breakwall into deeper water. I didn’t like pulling nets so close to the breakwall in this swell and current.

I made my second pull 30 minutes later. Second net contained a nice bug that I didn’t even need to measure. I had no problem quickly grabbing this lobster as I didn’t want to lose her. I shoved her in my bag then pulled the rest of the nets – all were empty. Time to wait for more bugs to crawl into my nets.

There were only a few folks out tonight – 4 kayakers and about 6 boats. Two guys in a small skiff came by and asked how I was doing. I cheerfully said “one bug” and they commented that I was doing well as they had none so far. They chatted for a few minutes asking me about my kayak and hoop netting in something so small. They were impressed – I was terrified! They took off saying “good luck young lady.” Young? I guess it had gotten dark out.

Tim called on the radio to say he just got a 3 lb. lobster. I peddled up his way to see it. It was a huge bug. I peddled back and made another pull. I got another legal lobster and 4 shorts. I really appreciate Brady showing me last week how to hold the head so I could measure the carapace. At least this was easy now and so was grabbing the flipping, squeaking bugs. My next pull produced another legal. I called Tim and said I put number three in my bag. He said he didn’t want to hear it. He still had only one. On my fifth pull I put number four in the bag and had a couple more shorts.

Another couple pulls produced nothing. Tim was having the same luck so I said I was pulling the nets and heading in. It was around 8:00 pm. Just as I got the last net on board, the young guys in the skiff came back asking if I was heading in and how I faired. I said “four” and they said they were still skunked. As they drove away I heard them say. “Nice going young lady!” Instead, I’m thinking that those four bugs are the only thing keeping me from quitting hoop netting altogether.

Thinking about tonight’s catch, I realized all the legal lobsters were out deeper – in 32 to 35 feet of water instead of being close to the breakwall. They were all in Eclipse nets and with skipjack for bait. The nets kept moving southeast and closer to the breakwall partly because each time I pull a net onto the kayak, the current moved me closer in. The other part was because the nets were bouncing off the bottom with the swell and the current was pushing them southeast as they bounced. By the end of the evening, all the nets were close to the harbor entrance.

I pulled the kayak out of the water and unloaded the nets, gear and catch. We took photos and weighed our catch. Tim’s bug weighed 3 lbs. 12 ounces. John had one barely legal and my four weighed a little over 5 lbs. the biggest, a female, weighed in at 1 lb. 12 ounces. The other three were male. The female has the larger flippers on the underside while the males have the smaller ones. Tim remarked that the local market sells live lobsters for $20 per pound. That’s $100 worth of lobsters in my cooler.







Tim's 3 1/2 pound lobster that his wife will use for their New Year's Centerpiece


The Large Lobster Tail is a female


No extensive clean-up tonight! Tomorrow is soon enough for me. Tim brought out beer for the four of us. Two guys, both named John, had joined us tonight. First I emptied the bait out of the nets and washed them down. Then I changed into dry clothes before cleaning up my kayak. Now I know why I threw dry clothes in the car – I must have had a premonition I would take a swim. I put my wet and dirty gear in the truck then cleaned up the kayak and stored it on its rack and went home.

As I related the events to Mike, he calmly asked a couple questions. Did you have any lights on you when you took a swim? “Yes, my headlamp.”

And if it comes off, how will others see you? “They won’t.”

Where is the SOLAS strobe light I gave you to wear when you first started fishing? “In the drawer in the other room but I’ll wear it on my floatation vest from now on!”


Reward for a rough nights hooping