Do what you love, love what you do. It’s an age old quote, but it still applies today. So many people work in a profession that they don’t enjoy, but simply do it for the paycheck. I couldn’t live that way. This could be difficult for me because there are very few occupations that even remotely interest me. This is why lobster fishing is so important to me.

I get good grades in school, and though I enjoy the reward of a good score on a test the work that I put in is purely miserable. I’m discouraged to think I’m wasting some of the best years of my life doing something I hate. But there’s only one year left. Soon enough, next spring will come and I’ll be on my boat doing what I really enjoy. Well, I’m actually fishing currently, but lobstering is seasonal so to speak, and as far as bay fishing my season is about over. I go every Saturday now that school has started back up, and even though I can’t make as much money as I could going on the boat several days a week, it’s still profitable.

That’s also very important to me. I need to be able to work and make money to be happy. I need to have a nice house, an old truck, a cellphone, etc. Materials don’t provide happiness, but some things are really necessities. Lobster fishing is a great way for me to be able to make the money I need to have these necessities.

There is money in lobstering, and you get out of it what you put into it. Every year I have built up my gang of traps. I now have 210. I hope to have at least 400 by next spring. I’ve had three boats, an outboard, a 22’ Sisu, and current 28’ Alan Johnson model. The latter is by far the best of the three, but also by far the most expensive. But the boat, “Already Gone,” is big enough for me to be able to make larger profits, and in a few years upgrade to another larger, better boat.

I enjoy lobster fishing, but it isn’t always fun and easy. More often than not, problems arise that can complicate things to the point of frustration. Fog, wind, rain, bad snarls, and poor fishing can all help ruin your day, if you let it. That being said, I actually like rain sometimes. If it’s a calm, lonely day on the water, rain can be very peaceful.

I love the strategy associated with lobstering. It keeps me constantly thinking about what I’m doing right, what I’m doing wrong, and where I can improve. I religiously study nautical charts, searching for places that may be productive. I like areas that aren’t too crowded with gear, but where the fishing is still good. The rugged bottom on the backsides of the outermost islands is where I’ve found that, for now. But lobsters are unpredictable, and a few weeks from now I may be completely dissatisfied with the current locations of my traps.

Fall is beginning to set in here in coastal Downeast Maine. For me it means deer hunting, apple picking, but most of all the end to another successful season of fishing. Fall brings higher lobster prices, balanced out by much poorer lobster catches. It can often be a difficult time of year. The weather gets colder, the wind gets stronger, and hurricane threats are common. There is also the added stress of needing to take traps up. But yet, I can still enjoy myself on the water. I look forward to that cold, clear October Saturday when I’m on my boat, alone, hauling my reduced gang of 100 or so traps. The lobsters are sparse, but the price is good enough to keep me motivated. As morning turns to mid-day, a lonely fall breeze kicks up from the North. The air gets a bit warmer, but retains its distinct fall feel. I get done hauling around noon, with a barrel full of the fiercest lobsters on the East Coast. Waiting at the wharf will be a decent paycheck, my reward for doing what I enjoy.