{"id":1655,"date":"2013-07-15T09:03:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T16:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2013-07-16T08:45:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-16T15:45:18","slug":"catching-my-own-lobster-in-maines-casco-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/1655\/catching-my-own-lobster-in-maines-casco-bay","title":{"rendered":"Catching My Own Lobster in Maine’s Casco Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Lucky<\/a>

“Lucky Catch” Captain Tom Martin checks a lobster trap in Casco Bay while leading tourists in search of the prized delicacy.
(photo credit Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

I had visions of \u201cDeadliest Catch\u201d when Captain Tom Martin invited me aboard \u201cLucky Catch,\u201d a 37-foot lobster boat, to go haul up traps from the sea bottom off of Portland, Maine.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we\u2019re not going that far out,\u201d he told me, though, as we began a 90-minute expedition into placid Casco Bay. \u201cWe\u2019ll be pulling up lobster traps from 40-feet down in only 10 minutes. The cold water temperature here is perfect for the lobsters, plus there is an abundance of food for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\"luckycatch\"\n

So I quickly found myself, courtesy of stern man Brian Rapp, in a long orange apron and rubber gloves, putting lobster food \u2013 herring- into a mesh net hanging in a trap. The traps are designed to catch only bigger lobsters, and they are checked every three days. The old adage says be careful what you wish for. \u201cThe clamp of a lobster claw is very painful,\u201d Rapp warned. \u201cIt will create a blood blister.\u201d Lobstermen use a pair of pliers to put tight rubber bands around the creature\u2019s pincher and crusher when they retrieve them from the 300 wooden or steel traps they will haul up via winch and check in a 12-hour day at sea.<\/p>\n\"mshiels\"\n

We\u2019re only checking eight traps on this June day during this tourist\u00a0experience set up by the concierge at Inn by the Sea, in Crescent Beach, for $25.<\/p>\n

But from November through April the\u00a0\u201cLucky Catch\u201d and her crew work commercially over a 20-mile radius, when the stakes are much higher and so are the waves.<\/p>\n

For now, though, it\u2019s optional assistance from the passengers onboard with a touch of marine biology education about \u201ckeepers,\u201d \u201csoft shells,\u201d \u201cshedders\u201d and the like.<\/p>\n\"lobster\"\n

If you don\u2019t mind getting to know lunch before you eat it, you can catch and designate your own lobster while onboard, pay the wholesale boat price \u2013 five dollars for a 1.5 lbs. lobster – upon docking, and literally hand-carry it, alive, across the pier to Portland Lobster Company.<\/p>\n

10 minutes and $9.95 later you\u2019ll find your catch red as a stop sign, steamed, on a plate with a baked potato, corn on the cob and melted butter. I suggest Portland-made Sea Dog blueberry beer to wash it down.<\/p>\n

Back at Inn by the Sea for desert, Executive Chef Mitchell Kaldrovich created a lobster sorbet for desert. \u201cIt\u2019s both a curiosity and a hit,\u201d he said. You might have winced at the thought, but it tasted refreshingly and richly like a spoonful of frozen bisque.<\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0www.InnByTheSea.com<\/a>\u00a0or call (207) 799-3134.<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>\"lobster2\"Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a> or via\u00a0<\/em>www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had visions of \u201cDeadliest Catch\u201d when Captain Tom Martin invited me aboard \u201cLucky Catch,\u201d a 37-foot lobster boat, to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[1976,878518,878508,878509,199,878511,878512,878513,878514,878515,878516,119284,878517],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","tag-maine","tag-mitchell-kaldrovich","tag-deadliest-catch","tag-lucky-catch","tag-portland","tag-casco-bay","tag-brian-rapp","tag-inn-by-the-sea","tag-crescent-beach","tag-portland-lobster-company","tag-sea-dog-brewery","tag-lobster","tag-sea-dog-blueberry","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2013\/07\/3970.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}