Lobster puts up two-fisted fight
by Kevin Cody
Greg de Lamare’s brother Dave won the Dive N’ Surf Lobster Monster contest about 10 years ago. Their dad, Ron, holds a second place finish. And finally, after missing just one Lobster Monster contest since 1993, Greg has his own podium finish, a first place.
The de Lamares left Alamitas Marina aboard their 24-foot SkipJack on lobster season opening day (Friday, September 29), for an undisclosed location. Ron, 84, gave up diving at 80, so he and cousin Clark Massey drove the boat.
Ghost Boards founder Dav Malone, of Palos Verdes, with the Lobster Mobster first place trophy.
Shortly before midnight, Greg said, he saw what proved to be the winning lobster retreat into a hole in about 15 feet of water. As Greg entered the hole he dropped his dive light.
“A lobster that size takes two hands, so you just have to reach out and hope you find it,” he said. After a brief wrestling match, during which the lobster grabbed his regulator, he swam the bug to the surface. It was too big to stuff in his dive bag. His dad grabbed the bug and put it in their bait tank.
The lobster registered 9.5 pounds on the Dive N’ Surf Lobster Mobster scale, three pounds heavier than the second place lobster caught by Rob Brykalski, of Manhattan Beach.
Greg de Lamare with his winning 9.5 pound lobster. Photo courtesy of Dive N’ Surf
After collecting his first place trophy, an engraved acrylic skateboard by Ghost Skateboards, Greg put the winning lobster back in his bait tank, drove it back to Alamitas Marina, where he released it.
“It was a female,” the Rancho Palos Verdes resident explained. He expects to dive another couple dozen times this season, and is confident his freezer will soon reach the seven-lobster limit.
Over 100 divers participated in this year’s contest, Dive N’ Surf manager Cris Kelly said. ER