A while back I was snorkeling with some guest and I found a piece of wreckage in about 25-30 feet of water and when I dove down to investigate it I found two dozen lobsters hanging out. Needless to say I was excited and thought was a great way to surprise them. Plus I wanted to use my new snare, which I think is the absolute beset way to catch lobsters. This way you can have fun hunting, but if you decide you don’t want one or the one you gets has eggs then there is not harm to the lobsters and they can go their merry way.
As I dove down I got the snare around one of the lobster’s antenna and worked it down until it was right next to the head before I cinched the snare tight. This is when the lobster will go nuts and do everything he can to get away. You need to pull him out and grab him with a gloved hand before he breaks the antenna off. The next couple I ended up getting them to leave the wreckage and when they were in the open I brought the loop of the snare behind them and worked it up to the middle of the body and then cinched it down. By the end of the hunt I had six lobsters and chose three of them to serve for lunch. The others I released back into the wild to catch another day. 😉
To prepare them I took the tails and did a quick boil before cutting them in half. This sets the meat and makes it much easier to get out of the shell. Once I got the meat out I chunked it and sauted them three different ways. The first was in your basic butter and garlic sauce, the second was in spicy mustard, and the third in a chili lime seasoning. Surprisingly, my favorite was the mustard one. I think doing this with some cheddar cheese would make a really impressive meal. Something for me to keep playing with. Maybe it will show up in the squeal to the Cooking on the Guiding Light cookbook. 😉
