Public beach access at Old Marineland (aka Long Point, Terranea resort) is closed “temporarily for 30 days” while construction near the coast takes place.

The last time Old Marineland was closed for 30 days, we didn’t have beach access for almost three months.

Diving has really sucked for the last one or two weeks; cold water (52 degrees), swells, and shitty vis (0-3 feet) has been reported in all the areas around Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.

With that being said, I finally sat down and compiled my “Lobster Hunting Recap For The 2007 Season.”

Number of Lobster Hunting Dives: 25
Total Number Of Lobsters Caught: 37
Number of Trips that I limited on: 1
Number of trips I got skunked: 1
Average lobsters caught per dive: 1.48

All during lobster season, I always took a bag with me in hopes of maybe running across a lobster.

However, I only considered a “lobster dive” if it was at night and I went just to look for lobster; I never was lucky enough to catch a lobster during a casual dive.

As far as the quantity of lobsters caught this season?

It was not as plentiful as in previous years.

I’ve heard that the hoop netters caught most of the lobsters, not leaving many for the divers.

I find that hard to believe

In talking to some friends who work at Quality Seafood at the Redondo Beach Pier, even the commercial lobster trappers had a hard time this season.

At the beginning of the season, lobsters are pretty shallow – 15 to 40 feet.

As the storms and swells approach at the end of the year, the lobsters move deeper.

For a while this season, it didn’t seem that there were any lobsters off shore at all.

A tech diver told us that the lobsters were all at 270 feet when he dove the Sacramento wreck – a depth that hoop netters and recreational divers can’t safely reach.

I think with the bugs that deep, it gave us the impression that the lobsters were scarce.

Late season storms, I think, drove the lobsters back deeper again.

Next year, in addition to a fishing license and ocean enhancement stamp, we will be required to carry a “lobster report card.”

But, I have good hopes for next season.

The bugs were scarce this season, but by next year, the “almost legals” will be legal and the ones hiding deep hopefully will come back shallower.