MUNCHIES Presents: Lobster Luke

when you're diving for lobsters the risks are there the eels that'll come out and bite you I know a guy that lost his hand you have stingrays and sting you I got hit my wrist right here in this whole part of my hand is numb still from it you have the risk of drowning just something you gotta be really careful about when you go and you're not a good swimmer not good at holding your breath just don't do it my name is Luke Samberg and I hunt for spiny lobster in Los Angeles California difference between the spiny lobster and a Maine which is the lobster that you'll find in any restaurant the spiny lobster do not have claws it's sweeter almost salty it's just it's perfect California's fighting lobster is probably one of the most expensive seafood it's about 38 dollars a pound they ship all the commercial ones off to Japan and it leaves you with nothing unless you go out and get it I work at brick-and-mortar waiting tables later buddy - done with work tell them to get on the bike and cruise down to the boat this is the last days of lobster season you got till midnight so we should go out and have a good time looks like it's gonna glass off a bit and let's see if we can't catch anything ride my bike to work every day no reason to drive say from work to the boat say three miles yeah Erin what's up we are in the heart of Venice Beach a lot of action going on on this Sunday so it's wintertime unusually warm about 85 degrees right now this is pretty nice so I can't complain so I moved here we're out here on Venice pier right now checking out the visibility of the water to see what we have to look forward to tonight looks like there's a little bit of swell though which stirs up the water the waters pretty bad there no matter what so if you can see a little bit there you're pretty much golden it's like we got about eight feet of visibility which isn't that good but it should be better over there first star loves for diving I had a friend Albert Colin he used to swim around Paulo's birthdays and he saw lobster in the water so he told me one day that hey there's Lobster in there all we need to do is have mass and fins and snorkel and after that I was addicted I was hooked I live on my boat and Marina del Rey this is the cheapest way to live on waterfront 325 a month for mine I wouldn't have to really buy food if I focused on that little lobster I catch I can trade for other things if I had a big enough freezer it definitely fries it make it a full year and it season probably the most amount a lobster when I was doing it almost every day probably about a hundred lobster I kept most of those lobster that I caught I sold a few friends of friends that wanted to have lobster and it always helps out you know especially when your gears needing fixed up or getting new gear most of the funds that I get go back towards it at the fins tank mask and a snorkel the Kevlar gloves when you're grabbing a lobster we have the California spiny lobster so they have spines everywhere help to protect your hands when you grab them and still get punctured every once in a while but every time you get punctured you have a nice little infection for a week or two but worth it all right you'll kayak ready get have to launcher we're shooting a porn David you want to get in it we need a bottom for my boat to where I go dive for lobsters about 45-minute paddle like freedom it's probably only a hundred two hundred yards off of Venice Beach so very very close Oh right now we've got to set the anchor I got to put the gear on then I drop into the water got to make sure that we're far enough away from the rocks we don't get pushed into it while we're under it always takes a while to find the lobster because it's your senses aren't focusing on that there's so much going on in so many colors and they blend in really well until you see your first one it seems out the bad you start seeing them everywhere I ended up grabbing a whole lot of lobster that were just that close to being legal they're too short you can see because you have a lobster gauge that you put on the carpus which is the top body it's right in between the prongs where their eyes are and where the tail is not diving is definitely a whole different world it's something that not many people probably would do or want to do go down and you have a light you still have that sketchy feeling right something's always behind you when you're doing it I had the GoPro on the top of the light and then I noticed a second later that it was gone and I couldn't find it anywhere I had to turn my light off and have it there until my eyes adjusted that I could see a red light flickering and I was able to go grab that camera when I set off that light and I was sitting in the darkness the only way to describe it is when you stand up too fast she completely black out and have to hold on to something you see the little sparks so underwater there's dinoflagellates that have bioluminescence in them so when I shut off the light they were kind of sparking around it's blocking that that's about all it was usually a 500 psi I come up that's when you're pretty much out of there I was at 15 feet of water and you can safely surface at that zone fortunately right when I started running out of air giant Lobster was hidden in a hole all I could see were these monster antennas and I went up grabbed it and I struggled pulling it out as I was pulling it out my hair started getting going out so when you can't really breathe on the regulator so I took as much breath as I could and got him out yanked him yanked him yanked him finally got him out grabbed him bear hugged him and swam straight to the surface and when I got up hold what was I glad I looked at that thing it was huge one of the biggest lobster I've caught ever that'll feed everybody it's got to be 5 or 7 pound lobster right here it's got to be at least 10 15 pound lobster it's probably a 20 pound lobster right here about a 50 pound lobster right here we got three doesn't seem like much this guy's about probably 2 pounds put them inside the hatch shut it down lock it up and I paddle back to the boat it's just something so peaceful about that all the rush that you had right free while you were diving and then you kayak back and the whole water is lit up by the city lights and the reflection is just beautiful there's no more wind it's just complete calm and it's just like Oh success and just the feeling is euphoric you can't really describe it I made it back up loaded the kayak you bad day hey nice California spiny lobster sometimes just got to let him car all over you let's call the friends oh what's up guys you made it you how are you doing good you brother so I called up five of my boys and they all shot down pretty quick yeah it's good got a few good ones gonna gonna eat really good tonight guys just giving these guys a hug it's one happy family it bugs so with these lobster threw them on ice let them cool off a little bit they get into a coma state with that it's gonna break right in half oh it's screaming at me so pretty simple what I'm gonna do I'm just gonna get a little bit of butter cut I'm just gonna stuff the cavity right now because it'll drain out of the cavity fresh lemon oh squeeze down the line with that and a little bit of rub I like this one it's a chipotle cinnamon garlic rub and off to the grill we go a couple small officers right there Oh we'll get it in there at least half at a time that is what you call a full gorilla lobster it barely fit onto that barbecue I had to push the legs into cheddar even then that barbecue wouldn't shut so it's kind of nice having a lobster that doesn't fit on the barbecue the fourth and final special ingredient little mama's boy infuse tequila I got to flip that bottom one though no Luke and joy that enjoy a little enjoy your Lobster seriously well right there oh so good that's super special on it you know the little ones are sweeter huh oh yeah super sweet killer you know what the big ones amazing yeah it's actually I think the big ones the bestest that's a super yeah the big ones the best it's way above average sir this lobster is way above average

Channel: Munchies

Views: 1,985,496

Rating: 4.8373899 out of 5

Keywords: lobster luke, lobster, venice beach, brick + morter, spiny lobster, munchies, vice, hunter and gatherer, Luke Sandburg, how to, cooking, Munchies, Munchiestv, food, drinks, eating, chef, restaurant, VICE, VICE eats, being frank, documentary, documentaries, interview, interviews, travel, funny, journalism, vice guide, vice presents, vice.com, vice mag, vice videos, vicevideos, sustainable agriculture, seafood, slipper lobster, lobster recipes, west coast

Id: yQ4ThkwTtP0

Length: 12min 44sec (764 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 21 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/illegalerb]

Quick question. Is it legal to sell recreational caught rock lobsters like he said? In New Zealand that would be illegal.

[u/zdani001]

This video made me realize how little we truly need in life

[u/Macbettz]

You need better friends and not ones that show up empty handed to a lobster feast. At least show up with a six pack of good beer. Did enjoy the video. Well done.

[u/Imabum]

Where can I meet this man? I want to learn how to do this!!!