lobster season??
 

Is there a season for lobster, or are they trapped all year. Thinking of a wk on the coat in June or July. Remember a great trip 10+ yrs ago with lobsters and blueberries. Your ideas, suggestions,,will fly in from chicago.

Lobsters are available year round. There are debates over what time of the year they taste best and whether soft shell during molting is a good buy or not. We think lobster tastes best when it is boiled just a few feet from the ocean and we eat it sitting at a picnic table. In August, fresh blueberries are sold along Rt 1 in mid-coast Maine. But in June, lupine are blooming and tourist season hasn't started yet. July is nice, too, and the windjammers are sailing along the coast. Bring binoculars and bag chairs, a good book and a picnic lunch. Best viewing spots are Pemaquid Point and the top of Mt Battie overlooking Camden Harbor (there's an auto road). Also take the short, easy hike to Owl's Head light in Rockport (or maybe it's Rockland). Then follow the signs to Waterman's Beach for great lobster. Get a picnic table out front so you can look at the ocean but you'll need a hat and sunglasses. There's a covered deck in back if you burn easily.
Air fare is probably cheaper to fly into MHT (Manchester NH) but you can be on the Maine Coast in an hour via Rt 101. That would also give you the opportunity to visit Portsmouth NH. Our favorite spots in Maine are north of Portland so we usually get on Rt 95 and don't get off until Brunswick.
Have fun!

With minor exceptions, the lobster fisherman out of Gloucester (Mass biggest Lobster port) mostly fish spring through fall.

Keith

There are "fisherman" who lobster all year, but,yes,some of them do change gear for dragging in the winter.

There will be plenty of lobster in June or July. IMO, this is the best time to eat lobster since the lobsters are just about to "molt",and the lobster meat is more tender. I dont care for soft shell lobster, just doesn't cook as well.

Best time for plentiful blueberries and cheap lobster is August.

I agree with doc - soft-shell lobster isn't very good. The soft-shells have recently moulted, so you end up with a small lobster in a big shell - mostly full of water, and what meat there is is rather insipid in taste and texture. Best bet for picking a good lobster is to get a hard-shell that has a couple of big barnacles or other crud growing on it - that indicates a lobster that's been in that shell a long time and will be full of sweet-tasting meat.

To each his own. I actually prefer the 'shedders'. I had the luxery of growing up with a lobsterman in the family and have eaten plenty of both. I find the soft shell to be sweeter.

I think it depends on how they are cooked. Lobster always seems to taste best cooked in vats of boiling saltwater ... at least I think it's salt water... and you can sit outdoors to eat it.

You are all magnificent. Got air tix to manchester...cheapest fare. Since I'm in Wisc. may bring along my own butter (LOL!) I can taste it now. We'll be traveling with a wine opener, and a few extra hand towels! Does it get better than lobster and antiques shops? more ideas and suggestions? I'll bring the cheese.

if you go to the outlets in Kittery Maine, there is an area called Kittery Pont where "the Lobster pier at Kittery point" is. You go down a ramp and sit at wooden tables facing the creek, numbered so your waiter knows where you are after you pick the lobster you want from a tank. You can bring anything they don't sell. We bring a table cloth, wine, beer, olives bread and cheese. Some bring candles for dusk and flowers if a birthday. Tell Jean and Ron(owners) Maryann(mimi) says hello.