Lobsters
No hoop netting section would be complete without a page about the most commonly pursued quarry, the tasty lobster AKA "Bug". Though you can also hoop for crabs, there are so many types and compared to lobsters, they are pursued alot less.
Lobsters often live in rocks or around reefs that offer protection from predators and the elements. If you were to dive on a reef, it would be a common sight to see lobsters present. If you were to dive on a breakwall or jetty, you would likely see them in the cracks and crevices. Lobsters don't swim like other fin fish do, so for them a location has to offer protection and food nearby. That protection can come in the form of rocks, any type or bottom structure and to a lesser degree kelp. Lots of species hide in or around kelp, and also feed there because of the smaller fish that are attracted to it for cover themselves.
Lobsters are hunters, but they are also scavengers They eat snails, slugs and other life that usually inhabits the ocean floor like them. They are also cannibalistic, and will dine on smaller weaker lobsters. Every so often they are caught on plastic swim baits or other baits when using them on the bottom, even during the daytime. They use smell as well as sight for getting food. They also scavenge, and this is when we make use of hoop nets. It's hard for a lobtser to resist a bait pouch or bait cage loaded to the brim with fresh cut fish or some type.
When they come out to eat or return to their habitats after feeding, it is called a "Crawl", because they crawl on their legs to move about. If they get startled and need to flee in a hurry, they have a very powerful tail that they rapidly flip and scoop water and quickly move at times a great distance. They usually crawl a couple of times a day. Once when they go out from where they live to search for food, and the second crawl is when they return after feeding. Sometimes crawls last several hours, sometimes an hour, sometimes half an hour. There is no set time the crawl starts and stops. Sometimes the first crawl is at sunset, sometimes hours later. Sometimes the second crawl may be around 10:00pm, maybe 2:00am in the morning. Also, there is not set depth you will find them crawling at. At times, you'll put a set of hoop nets at 15 feet and have good action in them. The next night, you'll put a set at 15 feet and a set at say 30 feet. The seat at 30 feet may get all the action that night, and just one lobster or maybe none in the hoop net at 15 feet, you just never know.
Because lobsters mainly feed at night, this when most of us pursue them. Even though lobsters are sometimes caught in the daytime, I'm going to go when I have the greatest chance of getting them, and for me that is at night.
Lobsters also do what we call "Molt". Molting is basically when a lobster has outgrown it's shell, and had to get rid of it so it can make a newer larger shell it can grow into. A lobsters shell is actually made by it from calcium that it secreets. Without a hard shell, the lobster is extremely vulnerable. After the lobster molts it shell, it is believed that they will eat it. Some believe they do this to speed along the process or making another protective shell.
When a lobster is very young say one to two years old, it may molt up to thirty times. Up unto about five years old, it will molt about three or four times a year. Over about five years, it may molt every other year or so. Other factors such as water temperature and habitat can have an influence ofthe frequency of molting.
Not alot is known about the breeding habits of lobsters although most believe they venture into deeper water offshore to reproduce. The male deposits sperm packets on the underside of the females tail, also known as "plastering" the female. The female releases her eggs through the packets which fertilizes them.