Hooping it Up for Season Closer!!

I was San Diego bound before 11 am on Tuesday, stopping first at Hogan's Tackle for mackerel.  I met Jason at Fisherman's Landing at noon.  It was Jason's lunch hour so we decided to get a jump on the evening by launching his boat at Shelter Island then we raced out for a bucket of live sardines. We drove back to Fisherman’s landing and tied up the boat next to the Excel again and Jason went back to work (it’s boat work time on the Excel).

I loaded all my gear and our hoop nets (4 new ambush nets Hillary bought Jason for his birthday and my 6 ambush nets) into a cart and rolled it down to the boat. I set out the hoop nets on the dock, then attached the new quick release clips to the bait cages. The new clips make it easy to change out cages while hooping.  Next I cut up the sardines and mackerel, mixed them together then I stuffed them in the bait cages. I finished early so I sat in Jason's boat and read until he got off work which was a little after 5 pm. We had changed over to daylight savings time since our last hooping trip so it was going to be a late night since we couldn’t get started as early.

I had used all the bait so we didn't have enough bait to replenish the cages so we went back out to the receiver and got more sardines. We headed to our favorite spot and dropped our nets. We were in the water by 6:30. Now we had to wait for sundown, which wouldn’t be for another hour or so.

The weather had been very windy (15-20 knots) all day but was diminishing as the evening progressed. It was warmer than last time we were out. It had rained on Sunday and Monday, we had good tides and no moon so we were optimistic.

The sun finally set and it was dark enough by 7:30 to make a pull. I went first. It was a little early and we just got one short. We waited another 30 minutes and Jason made the next pull and got a couple legal sized lobsters. We were really excited now.

It was my turn again (just Jason and I hooping this night). I had a good pull - getting 4 or 5 legal lobsters. We had our dinner in between pulls - (homemade turkey sandwiches on jalapeno cheese sourdough bread, chips and sodas).

By 9 pm, the wind had died down to nothing and the harbor was grease calm - so calm that the lights from the San Diego skyline glistened so brightly on the waters that it was difficult to locate our buoys. It was beautiful though - thoroughly pleasant on the water.

We had each done two pulls by 11 pm and our count was 9. We decided to stay for another two pulls before calling it a night. I pulled first then Jason made the last pull which rounded our catch to 12 with one big lobster at 3 lbs. 5 ounces. It was a great way to end the lobster season - which ended at midnight, March 21st.

We drove over to the Excel and tied up the boat to unload gear and lobsters. Jason helped load my gear in a cart and put it in my car. I left San Diego at 2:45 am and got home around 3:45 - just as Mike was leaving to workout at the club. It's been many years since I pulled an all-nighter! I did manage to sleep a few hours before cleaning gear and dispatching the lobsters.

I BBQ’d the big lobster for dinner Wednesday night.  I used the method the commercial lobstermen (aka John Coniff and Brian Kyohara) use – drizzle garlic butter on the lobster tail while grilling.  It was superb and plenty for three of us!  Michelle joined us again and we had saffron rice and brussels sprouts with it.  Yummy!