CATCHING TECHNIQUE

Tickling a Hole

Many times you will come across a single lobster staring at you from a hole in the ground. In the water a lot of times it will look like this (I realize it is a terrible picture but you get the idea):

The hard part can be coaxing the bug out of the hole. These holes can be deep and if you make the wrong move they will shoot down to the bottom of it and you may as well give up at that point.

Before you get all excited about the find and blow your load, do a quick check to make sure there are no back door exits for the lobster to escape out of the hole. If there is one and you don't check for it, they will definitely find it.

If there is a back door, place your net over it while you are working on getting the lobster out (just in case). I typically don't recommend using the escape route as a method to catch the bug, as they may just shoot to the bottom of the hole instead.

Next, take your tickle stick and slide it down into the hole without touching the lobster. With the bent end of the stick tap the lobster gently on the bottom of its tail (Which is why I refuse to use a straight tickle stick, see below). Usually this will cause the bug to slowly walk out of the hole towards open ground. Be careful not to hit it in the face as this will cause it to shoot off and your chances of a catch will be crushed. As soon as the lobster is out in the open follow these steps to complete the catch.

*Some people claim the easiest way to get a lobster out of a hole is to just reach your hand in and grab it. While I would be a liar if I told you I've never done this, but I do NOT recommend it. There are several reasons for this:

1. You will often spook it down to the bottom of the hole.
2. You will eventually be bitten by something else in the hole (I have friends who have been bitten by eels, yes multiple).
3. You will undoubtedly rip the antenna off of the lobster before you know if it is a keeper or not (which is not cool).
4. Lobsters are strong underwater and you will lose them out of your hand every now and then. I have literally had a lobster swim off, pulling my glove off of my hand. I watched it swim away with the thing still attached to the spines on its back.