Our first time lobstering in Key West was, well… not fruitful. But to no fault of our own, really. We saw over a dozen Florida Spiny Lobsters and caught the majority of them. The problem? They were undersized.

We carry the measuring stick with us as we dive and immediately measure each catch. If it is too small, we can put it back near where we found it for its best chance of survival.

How To Measure A Florida Spiny Lobster

Basically, you stick one end of the 3″ measuring device between the lobster’s eyes and measure the length of its body (carapace). If the carapace is at least 3-inches long, then it is legal to keep.

We had some that were pretty close, but not quite mature enough. The idea behind the 3″ body is that a lobster of that size should be about 2-3 years old and have had the chance to reproduce at least once.

The Art of Lobstering

So how do you catch them? Good question! You go down with a long metal or clear plastic pole called a tickle stick, and you tickle them out of their holes before scooping them up in the net. Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, it’s not toooo too hard. But let me tell you, these little suckers are fast! Especially the larger ones who have been escaping divers nets for years. We found that getting them in your net wasn’t as hard as KEEPING them in the net. As you’ll see in the video below, they have a powerful butt-scoot that propels them backward, fast.

Seafood Festival

While we were bummed we didn’t bring home any keepers to the cats, we still had fun lobstering right in our back yard in the Key West Mooring Field.

Not to fear. We still ate our lobster…. at the local seafood fest that took place that weekend! 😄

The Video…