Lobstering in Maine is a working day that usually starts before sunrise: hauling traps, emptying them, measuring every lobster, putting back the ones that are too small, too big or carrying eggs, then rebaiting and setting the traps again. Each lobsterman's gear is marked with registered buoy colors, and the whole fishery runs on conservation rules that fishermen have shaped for generations.
Captain Matt knows that routine firsthand. He grew up on the water around Vinalhaven in Penobscot Bay, one of the great lobstering communities on the coast, and worked on lobster boats before he founded Bird's Eye Maine in 2020. So when guests ask what all those colorful floats are, or why a boat is circling slowly off a ledge at first light, we answer from experience.
Lobster is Maine's most valuable fishery and the backbone of many small harbor towns. By the end of this guide you'll be able to read a buoy field, spot a boat mid-haul, and explain to your kids why that lobster went back overboard.
What Happens on a Lobstering Day?
A typical day runs from the dark at the wharf, through hours of hauling traps string by string, to selling the catch to a dealer or co-op in the afternoon.
Before the First Trap
Crews load bait (traditionally herring, plus whatever the bait dealer has that week), fuel up and fill bait bags before they leave the wharf. Anyone who has stood next to a bait barrel on a warm August morning remembers the smell. Many boats carry a captain and one sternman, and some captains fish alone. The captain runs to the first string using plotter marks and years of knowing where lobsters move at that time of year.
How a Lobster Trap Works
A trap is a wire-mesh box built so a lobster can crawl in easily and has a hard time getting out. Every new sternman learns the parts on day one:
Heads: funnel-shaped mesh openings the lobster climbs through.
Kitchen: the first chamber, where the bait bag hangs.
Parlor: the back chamber, where a lobster ends up when it tries to back out.
Escape vents: openings sized so short lobsters can slip free on their own.
Traps are usually tied together in strings with a buoy marking the line. The crew gaffs the buoy, runs the line through a hydraulic hauler, and the traps come up one after another, dripping kelp and sometimes holding a surprised crab or two.
What Lobster Buoy Colors Mean
Every licensed lobsterman registers a buoy color scheme with the state, and it works like a signature on the water. Buoys also carry the license number, and many boats display a matching buoy on the wheelhouse so anyone can match a boat to its gear. Two boats in the same harbor may both use red and white, just in different bands. Guests on our boat love spotting the buoy on a passing wheelhouse and then finding the same colors scattered across the water.
How Maine Protects Its Lobsters
Maine's rules come down to measuring every lobster, protecting breeding females, and limiting who can fish and how many traps they set. The Maine Department of Marine Resources manages state waters, and the rules change from time to time, so treat the details here as general background and check DMR for current regulations.
Measuring Every Lobster
Each lobster is checked with a brass gauge along the carapace, from the eye socket to the start of the tail. There is a minimum size to keep and, unusually, a maximum size too, so the biggest lobsters go back. Large lobsters, especially large females, produce far more eggs, so letting them go protects the breeding stock. Seeing a sternman toss a huge lobster back over the rail surprises most visitors.
Egg-Bearing Females and V-Notching
Any female carrying eggs under her tail gets a small V-shaped notch cut into a tail flipper before she goes back in the water. The notch marks her as a proven breeder, and notched lobsters stay off-limits until the notch grows out over later molts. Maine lobstermen started V-notching voluntarily long before it became part of the rules, and it is a big part of what old-timers mean when they talk about taking care of the bottom.
Licenses, Tags and Trap Limits
Anyone setting or hauling traps in Maine needs a state license and tagged traps. Commercial licenses come with trap limits and limited entry, and young people can work their way in through student and apprentice programs that require logged time on the water. Touching someone else's gear is a serious offense on this coast, legally and socially, so visitors should never pull on a buoy or a line, even out of curiosity.
When Can You See the Most Lobstering?
Lobstering goes on year-round in Maine, but late summer and fall are when visitors see the most of it near shore.
How Molting Shapes the Season
Lobsters grow by shedding their shells, and many molt in summer. The new soft-shell lobsters, called shedders, hide while their shells harden, then come out hungry, which is why catches build through the summer and stay strong into fall. In winter, lobsters move to deeper, steadier water, and many inshore boats come out of the water or fish less.
What You'll See on Casco Bay
From midsummer into fall, buoys dot the water around the islands and ledges of Casco Bay, and boats work their strings from first light. Early morning is the best time to watch boats heading out, and late morning is often busy hauling time. Wind and fog call the shots for a lobsterman just as they do for us, and state rules also restrict hauling at night and at certain times in summer, so a quiet day on the water doesn't always mean a slow season.
Seeing the Working Side of Casco Bay
Portland's working waterfront is where the lobster industry and city life sit side by side: traps stacked on the wharves, bait trucks backing in, and boats unloading a few blocks from Old Port restaurants serving the catch. Getting out among the boats and buoys fills in the rest of the picture.
How to Recognize a Lobster Boat
A Maine lobster boat has a high bow, a small wheelhouse forward and a wide, open deck aft for working gear. Look for the hauler mounted beside the wheelhouse, bait totes on deck, and sometimes a stack of traps on the stern when gear is being moved. A lot of them are named after a wife, a daughter or a grandmother.
Seeing It With a Former Lobsterman at the Wheel
Captain Matt's years on lobster boats shape the way he runs a trip. He'll explain why a cluster of buoys sits off a particular ledge, what the boat working nearby is probably doing, and how the tide pushes gear around. You can read more about his background on our about page.
We don't haul traps or run lobstering trips. What we offer is a private trip on Casco Bay past the working waterfront and through the buoy fields, at whatever pace your group likes, with plenty of time for every question you've been saving. On the way to sights like Portland Head Light from the water, we pass right through gear you can't really appreciate from shore.
Sharing the Water With Working Boats
Working boats get plenty of room from us. We keep clear of a boat that is hauling, slow down to cut our wake, and steer around buoy lines. Seals and gulls often trail lobster boats hoping for scraps of bait, so wildlife tends to turn up near the action. Our guide to Casco Bay wildlife covers what else you might see.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best month to see lobstering in Maine?
Late summer through fall is the busiest time near shore, as lobsters move inshore after molting and boats fish close to the islands. September and October add cooler air and quieter harbors.
Can tourists go lobstering in Maine?
Not on their own. Setting or hauling traps requires a Maine license, and touching anyone else's gear is off-limits. The easiest way to see the fishery is from the water, at a respectful distance from the boats at work.
Does Bird's Eye Maine haul lobster traps?
No. Our trips are private sightseeing outings. You'll see working boats and buoy fields up close, with Captain Matt, who worked on lobster boats himself, explaining what's going on.
Where can you buy lobster in Portland?
The waterfront fish markets and lobster dealers are the most reliable places. Most boats sell their catch to dealers and co-ops at the wharf rather than straight to the public.
Is Maine's lobster fishery sustainable?
It is widely regarded as well managed, thanks to size limits, V-notching, trap limits and limited entry. Landings rise and fall from year to year, and many lobstermen see the warming Gulf of Maine as the bigger long-term question.
If you'd like to cruise through Casco Bay's buoy fields with a captain who has worked the deck of a lobster boat, come out with us. You'll have the boat to yourselves, up to 6 guests, setting out from Fore Points Marina right on Portland's working waterfront. Have a look at our tours and rates, then call 207.632.9369 or email info@birdseyemaine.com and we'll plan a route around what you want to see.
