You don't have to be rich to eat like the elite. Catching lobster using memphis nets is so much easier than you would think. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a boat, you do not need a lot of experience and you do not need fancy equipment to go out and get your own food.

I wonder what the rich people would eat when the fishing industry goes kerplunk? When the seas have been over fished and they are left to depend on themselves as hunters and gatherers to survive? When it gets really ruff, the wise do for themselves what the rich wish they would have known.

Heck, you could probably even make ends meet by selling these roaches of the sea to your local restaurants for way less then what the commercial industries are asking. So, you would not only be doing yourself a favor by being able to feed yourself as well as others but you would also be doing the oceans a favor by downsizing the amount of overfishing done to support these chains.

No kidding it would probably never actually work like that until it is too late but you can easily get ahead now by preparing for tomorrow, a lobster can stay good frozen for up to a year. With that said, let me start you out with a few tips to catching these lobsters fit for kings using just yourself and/or with the help of lobster bait nets.

As stupid as it is, you do have to get a fishing license and a separate one for catching lobster. You can get them for a day or for the year. The cost is pretty cheap but it depends on where you live. I would assume that the cost is anywhere from 35-50$ for a year depending on where you live and another 7$ for a lobster license or catch card.

If you live in California, click here for fishing license, for other states click here.

You can get these at any sport store or places like Kmart even. So go get one, if you catch one lobster then the license just paid for itself, catch two then you just paid for at least two lobster fishing nets or you have made yourself a profit, whether dinner for two or sold for 17$ to your local grocer or restaurant, you cannot go wrong when it comes to lobster.

You may want to pick up a book on lobster behavior and special fishing tips for your area as well as understanding the regulations so you don't find yourself with a fine of $500.00 or more because you didn't know which kinds of lobster crab nets are authorized. I can tell ya, Fish and Game doesn't care, you are expected to know them and they are there for a reason and they are good reasons no matter how ridiculous they sound.

In my area, southern California you can grab a lobster off the rocks in water that is a foot deep. Yes!!! If you have your license and a wet suit a light and some gloves, get in next to the rocks just after dawn and grab yourself some dinner. Living in San Diego, it is pretty typical to see a diver or three looking for dinner next their homes.

If you have a raft, do it, though I really don't recommend a rubber raft, lol if you catch my drift, but a kayak or dingy will do just fine, heck just toss your crab lobster hoop nets out next to the rocks and you will probably catch something!

The best time to catch these night crawling roaches of the sea is just after dawn if I hadn't mentioned that before. They come out to eat when the sun goes down, and even better when the tide is coming in. You can check the tide schedules online.

There is a superstition that fishing is always bad during a full moon, but I put that to the test and it is not true, though I did notice that when you feel a warm wind, stop and drop your line cuz I got my own superstitions too!

If you didn't know, lobsters are pretty friggin fast, they jump and they fight. Do yourself a favor, wear gloves.

Now, I am not a pro fisherman, not at all but I do know from experience that using crab lobster catch nets are easy, light and affordable, compared to cages which are so heavy that you would need a wench to get them up, they are expensive and you would probably need a boat.

Hoop nets on the other hand are cheap, I found some discount lobster crab hoop nets on Amazon that are (do me a favor please hint, hint) light and work very well. You can buy lobster crab hoop net traps all set up so all you have to do is add your bait. I do have a secret though for keeping the seals out of your bait but that will cost ya!

If you are poor like muah, very effective and cheap baits to use are either:

1. Old stinky fish! The oilier and stinkier the better.
2. cat food. Who would have thunk it eh?
3. chicken, guess everyone likes chicken. lol.

Tip: If you happen to pull up a Sculpin, keep it! (make sure it's legal though) Lobster love Sculpin! (Oh, I almost forgot, Sculpin are poisonous too so be careful when handling them.)

If you have a little more money then us poor folk, get some live biat from the bait doc, cost ya about $20-25 for a half tank, so it is not too bad, until you add in the cost of gas and all the other expenses that come with boating, then it starts to get expensive, on average, at least for me, you can expect to shell out about $40.00 a trip, so cut cost where you can and when you can.

Now you gotta catch them! These tips may very depending on how many traps you have and how deep the water is and whether or not you are on a boat. So here are some free tips you can use before you toss in your gill net.

1. Pull the slack up on your line. If you are fishing in 2ft. of water, you do not want a 20ft. line. Having too much slack give the lobster more time to escape. And they are fast!
2. If you are using glow sticks to keep track of your traps, try to keep them all the same color so that you don't get them confused with someone else's traps. No fights at sea please!
3. While circling your traps works best, laying your traps down a line is easier when scooping them out.
4. Depending on how many traps you have and how often you want to pull in your traps; should determine how far apart you place your traps ie: if you have five traps and plan to pull every 20 minutes, then set your traps about 20-30 yards apart. (this also depends greatly on how proficient you are at setting, pulling and measuring your lobsters)
5. Try to drop you traps straight down so that the inner ring is in the center of the outer ring. This reduces the chances of getting them tangled in the mesh, and decreases their chance to escape. You may want to check out the Promar 36'' Eclipse hoop net as well.
6. Wait. Traditionally, you should wait 30-45 minutes before pulling up your traps, but for me it seems that 10-20 minutes works best.
7. When pulling up your trap, gently pull in all the slack, try not to disturb the trap itself. When all the slack is pulled, tug and pull fast. The force of the water keeps them held down in the trap.
8. When removing the lobster from the hoop net or cage, try not to come in contact with their feelers. They will cut you, their tails are also weapons of mass destruction! When you go to measure them, curl the tail under for easy and safer handling.
9. If you are in doubt about whether or not the lobster is legal, throw it back.
10. Finally, some days you wont get a nibble, other days you will catch your limit within a couple hours, so ergo this is why it is called "fishing" not "catching".

There is nothing like being part of the great and unfathomable circle of life. Having someone else do for you, what you can do for yourself is destructive and less fulfilling because you miss out on being in the elements we as humans were born into.