looking for a few lobster pots

[Banshee]

Anybody got a few lobster pots they want to get rid of and rigging instructions. This could be a plan B.
JW

[Storm]

Sure, buy my boat for $180,000 and I'll throw in my nine hundred traps to go with it.

[Kahi]

Is that how many traps you guys put down? 900? Wow. I hear that 70% of the worlds lobsters come from Maine...True? What kind of depth do you lay the traps in?

[Storm]

We have a state-mandated 800 trap limit, but I usually have a few spares. Depending upon the time of year, my traps are placed from a range of one fathom to one hundred fathoms. During the spring and summer my gear is typically fished in ten to fifteen fathoms and as the lobsters migrate offshore during the fall and winter my gear is typically fished in fifty to one hundred fathoms. I more or less follow the offshore migration out, and then follow it back inshore to some extent.

[skirt chaser]

JW
the guy from chincoteague that has his pots in the washington canyon lives here in VA . I can PM his number if you want it he might have a few he wants to part with .
Kevin

[merry marlin]

We have a state-mandated 800 trap limit, but I usually have a few spares. Depending upon the time of year, my traps are placed from a range of one fathom to one hundred fathoms. During the spring and summer my gear is typically fished in ten to fifteen fathoms and as the lobsters migrate offshore during the fall and winter my gear is typically fished in fifty to one hundred fathoms. I more or less follow the offshore migration out, and then follow it back inshore to some extent.

Storm, make us dream a little and post up a few lobster catch pictures!!! Anyway you can ship a dozen down to NC once in a while???
MM

[Storm]

I have spent my entire life (since about five years old) lobster fishing and sadly I have very few pictures. On the top of my "To Do" list, is to buy a digital camera and take a pile of pictures while fishing. I'm still using a 35mm SLR. I will make picture taking a priority this spring.

The days when I could catch two thousand lbs. in a day are probably gone. I used to fill a six hundred pound tank, two fifty-five gallon barrels, and about twelve or so fish totes. That would have made for a nice picture. Now I'm down to about twelve hundred pounds on a good day.

Here's a pic of the boat loaded with sixty wire traps ready to splash:

This is an eight or ten pounder. I cropped the crewmember's head because I didn't ask his permission to stick his picture on here.

This is a row of half-round wooden traps in my backyard, before I went to all wire traps. There was about six hundred traps in the stack.

It's funny, or not, how people take things for granted. I'm on the water all year and I never think to take pictures.

As far as shipping lobsters, I can check into it. Usually shipping cost is more than the price of the lobsters, at least through Fedex. I used to ship lobsters to my sister in Virginia. My cousin has a retail store and ships lobsters across the country, so I have shipping containers and gel packs available. One of the problems with small volume shipments is that you have to pay for the weight of the box and the weight of the gel pack. I think large volumes can be shipped cheaper. Another factor driving the price is the need to ship first or second day air. Hard shells can be shipped safely by second day air, which is much cheaper for shipping, but typically more costly for the product. Soft shells are cheaper but need to ship first day air.

Currently, lobsters are pricey (6.50 lb.) as March/April is always the most expensive time to buy them. Supply is typically at the lowest point in March and then begins to increase as the water warms up. As supply increases, prices will drop to meet the decrease in demand. We have almost no supply this spring and the market is already soft. I expect prices to be below average again this year, maybe in the 2.50 lb. to 2.75 lb. range.

One of my friends just set up a lobster tank in his garage for local retail. Maybe this season we can work together to arrange shipping. I think with below average wholesale prices, there's a good opportunity to take advantage of the internet for orders and deliver fresh product at a much lower price than people are accustomed to paying.

Storm

[merry marlin]

Wow, What an answer!!! Very Cool operation. I used to help out a fisherman in the French Channel when I was a teenager. Thought 100 pots was a hell of job....
You guys mean business up there! Makes me want to take a retail license... how are these usually delivered in bigger quantities?
MM

[ElMar2530]

Nice post and great looking boat Storm!!!

[Storm]

Wow, What an answer!!! Very Cool operation. I used to help out a fisherman in the French Channel when I was a teenager. Thought 100 pots was a hell of job....
You guys mean business up there! Makes me want to take a retail license... how are these usually delivered in bigger quantities?
MM

Trucking is usually the cheapest way to deliver large shipments. But with persishable product, I don't think many of the local lobster dealers truck lobster much further than New York or Canada. Air shipment is still the best way to go for long deliveries. Lobsters are packed the same for large volume air freight distribution as for smaller volume distribution. I've never been involved in the shipping end, but I suspect the airlines charge less per pound for large volume shipments than for small volume shipments. Flight delays make air freight a bit risky. I know the airlines won't guarantee first or second day air delivery in the event of a snowstorm, for example.