How to Set Up Your Boat for Lobstering

Setting up your boat for lobstering is key to a successful and safe day on the water. While we all want to find that honey-hole packed with lobster at the first spot, the reality is most days we're going to end up diving several spots to get our limit. The goal is a setup that lets you anchor, dive, recover everyone back aboard, quickly. Here's how to set up for it.

Anchor or drift?

For most lobster spots you'll anchor, but anchoring well is an art, especially where there's current.

• Anchor when you can hold over or up-current of the structure. Set the hook in sand near your target spot, not on the reef or rocks.
• Drift dive when a spot is too hard to anchor, or the current is strong and divers getting back to the boat may be difficult. One person stays on the boat and recovers divers as they drift down-current. It can be very productive, but it takes an experienced, well-coordinated crew, and it's not advised when there are lots of other boats around.

If you're not confident you can anchor a spot safely, drifting it is often the better call, or moving to another spot.

The right anchor and ground tackle

For the sandy bottom you should be targeting:

• A Fortress-style aluminum anchor with 10 to 15 feet of chain holds very well in sand.
• Aluminum is light enough that you can dive down to check it and reposition it by hand if it catches in rocks.
• Avoid anchoring directly on reef or rock: it damages coral and the anchor won't set reliably in broken rubble.
• Avoid seagrass, where anchors are very difficult to set and destroys sensitive habitat. Aim for adjacent bare sand instead.
• Always confirm the anchor is set before anyone gets in the water.

Rig the boat for in-and-out diving

You'll be getting in and out a lot to check spots, so make that smooth:

• Marker buoys, ready to deploy. Drop one as you pass over a spot so it's easy to locate the exact spot once you're in the water. Carry several.
• Dive gear easily accessible, not buried under coolers.
• A good boarding ladder. Getting divers back aboard safely, again and again, is half the battle.
• Scout first. It often pays to send one diver down to check a spot. If the lobster are there, everyone jumps in.

Know your draft and the tide

This is the one that catches people out in the Keys:

• Know your boat's draft, and know it well. Some of the most productive spots (grass ledges and cuts through the flats) are also very shallow.
• Watch the tide. Don't get caught in a shallow channel as the water drops. Deep water might be only a few dozen feet away, but if you run aground on a flat or sandbar you could be waiting hours for the tide to come back.

Safety and courtesy

• Fly your dive flag whenever anyone is in the water. Make sure to put it up at each new spot and take it down once everyone is back aboard.
• If drifting, make a clear plan for who's on the boat while others dive and where the boat will be in relation to the divers.
• Carry all required vessel safety gear, and see our gear checklist.

Find and save your spots

The fastest way to check more spots in a day is to know where they are before you leave the dock. Lobsterly maps 3,000+ proven lobster spots from Haulover Inlet to Key West, lets you save your own waypoints with notes (which honey-holes produced, where you anchored), and works offline once you're past cell range. New to it all? Start with how lobstering works.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of anchor is best for lobstering?

A Fortress-style aluminum anchor with 10 to 15 feet of chain holds very well in sand, which is where you should aim to anchor. It's light enough to dive down and reposition if it catches in rocks. Avoid reef, rock, and seagrass.

Can you lobster without anchoring?

Yes. Drift diving, with someone staying on the boat to recover divers down-current, can be very productive, especially in high current. It takes an experienced, coordinated crew and isn't advised in crowded areas.

What size boat do you need to go lobstering?

Almost any boat that safely gets you to the spots will work, and many nearshore areas are reachable by kayak. What matters most is knowing your draft, because many productive spots are extremely shallow.

Always confirm current regulations on the FWC spiny lobster page before you dive. Last updated June 2026.