Lobster season is long, starting the first Saturday in October and ending the third Wednesday in March. We fish the coast and Catalina Island, with the island being the best spot in California for a limit of lobster. Trips have myriad options aside from the standard 10- to 12-hour trip, from combo trips that involve fishing to staying on the island at a hotel and having lobsters cooked at The Lobster Trap in Avalon. With the price for lobster—if you can find it—$35 to over $40 a pound, these trips quickly pencil out given the fact that we’ve scored limits on 90-plus-percent of trips since 2013.
*open party trips are available October 5, 6, 13/14 (two-day, double limit lobster), 28; November 11, 25; December 23; call or e mail for more info