Trapped

What a wonderful treat we enjoyed at our island jewel, the Hendricks Hill Museum of Natural History (as I call it). No fancy hors-d’oeuvres, dancing ponies, dinosaur bones or door prizes, just plain and simple, worthy of YouTube video presentation, and arranged by the museum staff, led by the indomitable Bruce Joule, present captain of the ship.

We got to see how the now abandoned, long employed and moderately evolved wooden lobster trap was built. Gerry Gamage, local notable personality, took us down the long and winding road of oak wooden lath, spruce curled like a rainbow, pot nails and twine. Such a fascinating process which Gerry may well be able, still, to assemble in his sleep, whenever that is. He started helping to build wooden traps at the tender age of 5 working alongside family elders. Eventually Gerry chased the lobster bug until the early 1980s.

For many years, Gerry said, he had a standing order for material to make 100 traps. Back in the day, wooden lobster trap materials cost about $3.50-plus – a lot of work to build and maintain. Today, metal traps go for in the neighborhood of $100 each.

This was a fascinating story. Gerry shared all the intricacies of the building process which included an original wooden buoy used by his great-grandfather on his mother’s side, Jim Seavey, who fished out of Cushing, Maine. Even buoys have changed, due I think, in part, to damage to boat propellers. Gerry mentioned, as he hammered pot nails, securely into oak lath, old friend, legendary Cecil Pearce and his times with wooden traps. Cecil, ever inquisitive and creative, designed a “spacer” in the lower portion of the wooden trap which would allow short lobster to escape the trap. It was such a good idea that the state of Maine eventually required it of all wooden traps.

Red fish was the bait of choice for lobstering, due somewhat to cost and availability, but Gerry stressed that everyone who lobstered had preferences. Whiting was available, but herring was preferred by many, although herring required a small bait sack to fish in place inside the trap. Lobster do not have particularly refined taste but to each his, or her, own. Whatever works.

Some of the coolest things I found in Gerry’s presentation were the little gimmicks employed to help build a trap. I have found this to be true for many skills – little short cuts or gizmos that help a process along. Gerry mentioned that he shaped the handle of his special assembly hammer to give the proper space between lath. And the way he spun twine for the bait line. And making the cement weight and leather hinges for the door.

He even shared how discarded ginger ale bottles were once used to help float line off the bottom – you could get corks designed for sealing the bottle. This practice could be a bit shaky when hauling a trap, if the bottle collided with the hauling device!

The grand finale, as Gerry continued to assemble his trap, was the knitting of the head with a special “needle.” The process resembled knitting as we know it with yarn. He said that many fishing people would, in their spare winter time, knit heads to sell. That along with a good game of cribbage and some libation!

Thank you Gerry and Museum staff for a terrific show and tell with hopes for continued good lobstering along the way. Gerry will finish the trap and auction it for a table.

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