MLA Jr Harvesters: Leah and Luke Ames

Leah Ames, 10, and Luke Ames, 8, know how to get about on the water. Or at least on the waters around their home island, Matinicus. The two siblings each run ten traps which they fish under the watchful eye of their father, lobsterman David Ames Jr.

It’s part of the family tradition, according to Leah.

“My dad has been a fisherman since he was a kid and his dad and grandfather too,” she said. She started going lobstering with her father some years ago, as did her brother. The two like being part of the family’s fishing lineage.

“It’s pretty cool on the water to haul up traps. Not many people can do it,” she said.

Leah and Luke generally head out to haul around 9 o’clock during the summer months when the whole family lives out on the island. “We do everything. I’ve been pinched a couple of time banding lobsters.” “I let the lobster grab a glove,” Luke chimed in, “but I’ve gotten pinched too.” During the school year the two live in Spruce Head and attend school in St. George.

Photos courtesy of S Ames.

They haul from the Jaybird, a 16-foot Calvin Beal, keeping close to the Matinicus shore. Leah is looking forward to increasing her traps from 10 to fifty in the next year. She thinks she’ll keep lobstering as she grows older but also might get another job for the winter months.

During the summer she also goes fishing for menhaden with her father when the season starts. “I do the hydraulics sometimes,” Leah said. “But I like lobstering better. Pogy fishing you go all day!”