Every morning from May through October, Frank Sprague and his black Lab, Rue, have lobster for breakfast. They eat it plain, with no butter and none of the mayonnaise Sprague would like on it.

“We're watching our figures,” he said.

The owner of Sprague's Lobster on the Wiscasset waterfront hasn't lost his taste for lobster meat, despite working with it since the 1970s. His started out by catering out of his Gibbs Road home and later operated a take-out at the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant.

His first experience in food service was at Dodge Inn in Edgecomb at the age of 16. He cleared tables and also “attempted to be a cook, but that was a lot of pressure,” he said.

For about the last 14 years, the family-run business has been where it is now, on Route 1, opposite and just north of the famous Red's Eats. He gets some spillover business from there, like when a husband will leave his wife in line there and cross over to Sprague's, he said.

Sprague doesn't mind being in the figurative shadow of Red's Eats, a business so popular with tourists and others that locals often blame the summer Route 1 bottleneck on the crosswalk traffic it generates.

The two businesses sell some of the same kinds of items, like lobster rolls. “There's nothing negative about it. There's enough business to keep both of us busy,” he said.

Business at Sprague's was good this year, thanks partly to a lot of nice days. The weather seems to affect business more than the ups and downs of the economy, he said.

When the tourist season is rolling, the lifelong Wiscasset resident puts in long days, about 12 to 16 hours, seven days a week.

Along with other family members who work at the business, Linda, his wife of more than 30 years, is indispensable. “I couldn't do it without her. She's very driven,” Sprague said.

Sprague may not see as many celebrity customers as Red's Eats does, but he remembers a visit from movie actor Oliver Platt. “He was very friendly.” Platt had one lobster roll, then bought another and finally a third one, which was “to-go,” Sprague said. “So I'm guessing he must have liked them.”

Sprague said he likes to take the time to talk with customers. Some of the more interesting conversations have been with people who choose to buy a live lobster from the tank and set it free in the Sheepscot River. When he tells them to make sure to remove the rubber bands, they ask why. Sprague then explains the lobsters couldn't survive without the use of their claws.

Sprague buys his lobsters from Atlantic Edge Lobster in Boothbay Harbor. Businesses helping to support one another is “good for the whole area,” he said.

Sprague recently closed up shop for this year. He spends the off-season doing catering out of his home and being a grandfather.

With no plans to retire, Sprague, 59, said he expects to keep spending his summers serving up seafood on the waterfront. “I really do enjoy the job,” he said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.