Among the lobstermen, hauling traps day after day for their living, are a few boats up and down the coast that seem to be having a little more fun than the others.

One local lobster boat is among those that give tourists a glimpse into the trade.

Every Thursday and Saturday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Caleb Hodgdon and Bruce White work together on Hodgdon’s lobster boat Amy Gale, taking tourists and residents on a ride around the bay while they haul traps and show how lobstering is done.

Hodgdon is a full-time lobsterman and White owns Hay-Val Charters, a tour company.

When White is unable to join Hodgdon, Sally Lloyd joins the crew.

On July 12, the boat set out from Kaler’s dock off Commercial Street in Boothbay Harbor once the passengers are briefed as to what to do while out at sea.

After about a half hour of gentle bobbing through the calm waters of Boothbay Harbor, the boat reached the first buoy. Passengers fidgeted with excitement as they waited for their first glimpse of a real Maine lobster trap.

Hodgdon grabbed the buoy and retrieved his trap from the ocean floor.

Sally Lloyd was co-pilot that day, and pulled the trap onto a table in the center of the deck. Passengers gathered around as she and Hodgdon explained how to determine if a lobster is male or female, if it is regulation size, and if it has to be kept or thrown back. About half of the lobsters caught were either too large, too small or marked as breeding females, and had to be thrown back into the water.

Rider Strano, 11, from Ivoryton, Conn., was soon able to identify which lobsters had to be kept and which ones should be thrown back. He looked on as Lloyd sorted through the traps, as he waited to shout out “Keep!” or to let the captains know which ones had to be thrown back.

Lloyd then banded the claws of the lobsters that were to be kept, and tossed them into a holding tank before re-baiting the traps, carefully removing any crabs that had wandered in by accident and returning the trap and the unfit lobsters back to the bottom of the sea.

The boat continued to some seven or so more traps as passengers snapped photos of everything from the traps to each other holding lobsters to the Maine coastline, before turning around at the edge of the harbor and heading back into town.

Back at the dock, everyone carefully stepped out of the boat. If they wanted, the passengers could select their very own lobster that they had seen caught to be cooked for them by Kaler’s for the cost of a lobster dinner.

The lobster boat tour costs $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under. For more information, call Kaler’s Restaurant at 633-5839.

Don't feel like hauling lobster?

There are a number of local dealers happy to fill your craving for bugs. Of course, most local restaurants will serve you a fabulous lobster dinner as well...

Boothbay Lobster Wharf
Soft shell: 1.25-pound lobster, $4.50/pound; 1.5-pound lobster, $4.75/pound
Hard shell: 2-pound-plus lobster, $8.50/pound
Where: 97 Atlantic Ave. in Boothbay Harbor
633-4900

Atlantic Edge
$4/pound and up depending on size
Where: 71 Atlantic Ave. in Boothbay Harbor
633-2300

Robinson’s Wharf
Soft shell: $4.25/pound
Hard shell: $6.50/pound
You can also buy them straight from the boat for $2.35/pound
Where: 20 Hendricks Hill Rd. in Southport
633-3830

Pinkham’s Seafood
Soft shell: $3.99 for a 1.25-pound lobster.
Where: 140 River Rd. in Boothbay
633-6236

Lobster Maine-iac
Soft shell: $5.00 for lobsters up to 2 pounds
Hard shell: $7.50 for hard-shell lobsters up to 2 pounds
Special: five for $25, 1.25-pound live soft-shell lobsters; five for $30, 1.25-pound cooked soft-shell lobster.
Where: Route 27 in Boothbay
633-0831