CAMDEN – April 20 was a perfect day to work on the boat. Not too hot and not to cold. Time to pull that winter shrink wrap off and start the sanding and painting. Sadie Samuels lobsters out of Rockport. Her boat, Must Be Nice, was covered for the winter at Chater’s boat yard in Camden, and now her and her stern man, Cory Engle, are getting the boat ready for the 2018 lobster season.

Samuels said they haven't been working on the boat for long.

"We've kind of been waiting on the weather to cooperate with us a little more," she said. "We just started pulling everything off the day before yesterday, so now we're really itching to get going here."

Samuels said she hopes to have the boat in the water by the beginning of May.

"My stern man is actually my boyfriend," she said. "I have no idea how this year's season is going to go. The wisest thing I've ever heard is: the more I fish, the less I know. Every year is totally different, but this year the ocean is cold, so I'm hoping it will be a little more normal."

According to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, last year's lobster catch was down 16 percent from 2016.

"Last year hurt everybody," Samuels said. "Besides that bait and fuel is always going up."

Samuels has been lobstering all her life, but only full time since she got out of college, which was four years ago.

"I got a degree in studio art, but always knew I wanted to lobster," she said. "My dad fishes out of Rockport, too, on the Mimosa."

Samuels said there is always a friendly competition between her and her dad.

"I haven't beaten him yet, but he knows I'm coming," she said.

Samuels’ boat is  28 foot Novi Lobster Pro .

"It's a good boat," she said. "It's 135 horsepower; the engine is a smaller John Deere. I try to do 200 to 250 traps a day. Mainely Lobster comes down to the docks and sells us bait and fuel and then comes back and buys our lobsters, so it makes it really easy."

Samuels said she's excited for the new season.

"It's a new start and a new season," she said. "I'm excited to see what it brings."