Skip to Content

Taking a Quick Lobster Tour in New Hampshire

New England is known for its lobster, so we decided to find out a little more about the lobster industry. Taking a lobster tour was one of the highlights of our summer!

lobster tour USA

My mom’s family is from Connecticut. I come from a long list of boat and fishermen. One of my great grandfathers was even a whaler who was stranded in Pacific for three years.

So, when we head home  to the U.S. for a visit each summer, I get all excited visiting the east coast and eating all the fresh fish, oysters, clams, and especially lobster that I can!

My mom, who grew up on east coast, can tear into a lobster and get every little bit. I have a hard time even cracking the claws; it’s such a skill.

Last summer, Jim, Devon, and I decided to find out more about these delicious creatures. We signed on with Uncle Oscar’s Tours for a one-hour lobster tour.

lobster tour USA

The tour starts out in Rye, New Hampshire and the first thing we learned about was fishing floats. Each float has a distinct color pattern to let you know who that particular trap belongs to. Of course, the early-risers want to get to the best fishing holes and drop their traps first. There have been many feuds in the past fighting over the best-known spots.

lobster tour USA

So the fisherman have a route, where they check their traps, gather the lobsters they have captured, and then bait and drop a new trap to check another time.

In one hour, we checked about five traps. The catch wasn’t very spectacular. The lobsterman must use a special tool to measure the length of the torso, and it must be longer than five inches. Additionally, if they are females they will often cut a triangle in the tail so that she is off-limits. It’s like having a free pass for life.

lobster tour USA

We found the tour to be exceptionally affordable and informative and at the same time a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it to families or student groups.

Do you go to the east coast of the United States?  Do you just love lobster?  If so, let us know your favorite lobster shack, so we can try it out this summer!

Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

Sujin

Thursday 6th of June 2013

I love your pictures! I am from Busan, South Korea where is near the sea. I LOVE seafood and your pictures make me even hungry! Now I am in Austria, the country without the sea! So your post make me miss the sea even more! By the way, the picture from the very above seems like Korea. Am I right??

Corinne Vail

Thursday 6th of June 2013

Thank you so much. We love Busan. We miss Korea and especially the food, so we understand. Thanks for your comments.