Chicago, Lake Michigan???

[BladeRunner]

Hey anyone know where I can do a shore dive in the Chicago, valparaiso area at the end of july? I have to go to a wedding for family! I've never been to Chicago before but my soon to be better half??? said we could probly get there early and I could do some freediving! Any help?

[Jon]

I don't know about shore diving in CHicago, but Milwaukee is just a short drive to the north and there are a few wrecks that I could steer you to to dive on if you want.

I was out in Milwaukee last night freediving on a 258' freighter that went down in the 50's. Depths ranged from 60'-93' and vis was around 30'- last week vis was over 60'. We also have wrecks right off shore in 10'-25' of water that you could swim to.

Freedive-A-Palooza is the third weekend of July at Lake Wazee, about a 4-5 hour drive north of CHicago. We should have even more divers this year than last and your invited to come along if you want.

Another option, if your stuck in the Chicago area, is to just hook up on a local charter boat and go freediving on the wrecks just off Chicago. Most of them are only 30'-40' deep and the deepest one that I can think of, in that area, is less than 60'. You need to go north, to Wisconsin, to start hitting deeper depths, or take a 20 mile run straight out to dive the sub in 250', but people aren't giving those numbers up on that one too easily.

Water temps that time a year should be warm down there. We had 53 degree surface temps up here last night, but things warm up much quicker down there since the water is so much shallower. I would think a full 3mm would more than keep you warm. In early August around here we can usually dive in our swimsuits down to around 110' since the warm water starts to pool on one side of the lake or the other- depending upon the winds.

Here's a side scan image that my father-in-law did of the wreck we were out on last night. There are at least another 2 dozen wrecks in the area that we dive on a regula basis.

Jon

[BladeRunner]

Jon I'm only going to be there for three days and when I wanted to take my gear I had to deal with whole lot of Bitchin. Something about this will be the first time you will meet EVERYONE in my family. So there's no way in hell your going to bring your dive stuff and let my family see you do that weird sport you do!

I was able to talk my way into atleast 4 hours of diving though.

So Milwaukee is out of the question!

[Jon]

I just checked with three different captains that I know very well and not a single one of them would vouge for anyone running in the chicago area at the moment. In the past there have been some fine boats down there but the economy has hit the Chicago dive scene pretty hard and more places are going under all the time.

Haivng siad that, there are still a boat or two running down there, but don't know anyone who has acutally dove with them. Water templs should be in the 60's and vis should be at least 30' when you are there- unless a big storm blows in. Many of the wrecks are less than 50' and there are some nice schooners around that depth that you could dive on. If you don't want to dive I could also suggest going out kayaking for a day, since your into that also. I believe they have a very active sea kayaking club down there and it would be a nice way to see some of the shallower wrecks- just paddle over them.

Jon

[Pieral]

Hey Jon,

I do have the eaxct same question & hope regarding the freediving opportunities in the Chicago area.
Since I've moved recently from France to Chicago, I was wondering if it was possible to practice freediving and eventually Spearfishing in the lake Michigan. Are the spearos allow to practice their hobby and try to spear salmons & trouts ??
Anyway we are not allowed, I am really cool with that, I've bring my underwater digital camera from Europe and I would really like to realize several "cliches" of shipwreck and freshwater fishes...

Last year in Sydney, Australia, I am met some really cool buddies on a similar spearfishing' website, I hope I will have the same opportunity to meet some Wisconsinites or Illi' that practice freediving/spearfishing.
I have got some relatives in Wisconsin so I would be more than happy to drive up there to discover the cristal clear water of the lake Michigan. ( or any other lakes. What is the average vis. at this time of the year ? I have no clue...) I already missed the Atlantic Ocean shore so badly ( Brittany, North West part of France where the Seabass is kind of the "king fish") but I am pretty confident that the Midwest has many cool spots and treasures to offer...

Is there any freediving/spearfishing clubs in the Chicago area ? What about some underwater hockey clubs ? I would really appreciate if somebody has got some infos...

So, feel free to contact me at any time for Week end dives, ( freediving) hope to meet some cool local guys and I will do same if anyone wants to freedive and spearfish in Brittany, France sometime.


Cheers !

[Jon]

The only things your allowed to spear down there are rough fish- like carp. If you come up to Wisconsin you can tag panfish as well- which are actually good to eat.

I know of one or two other freedivers in the chicago area and a few scattered around Southern Wisconsin. Your best bet is to make it up to Freedive-A-Palooza next month to meet everyone. You can do a search on this site for more details, and a write up from last year's event, but it's going to be the weekend of July 23+24 in LAke Wazee.

I play unerwater hockey in MAdsion, and there's a club in the Milwaukee area, but Chicago has a really good team that practices 3-4 days a week. I think they would be your best bet to get into the water.

There's another freediver I just met who lives in the Lake Geneva area but only has Tuesdays off.

As far as lakes go Lake Michigan is the clearest one around. There are some lakes close to my house which are fun in the winter and early spring, but right now they are so thick with weeds that you could almost golf on them. Lake Michigan runs 40'-70' of vis this time of year, depending upon the winds and currents and the surface water can get pretty warm the end of the summer. I think that I just saw the NOAA bouy read 69(F) degrees surface temp in the Chicago area today!

I'm suppossed to be going out on the Lake to do a little salvage work tomorrow so I can let you know a little more about dive conditions then- if the weather holds.

Jon

[Pieral]

Hey Jon,

Thanks much for all your infos. It sounds great !! They are few options in the Midwest and it really seems to be worth it to give a shot.
Ok for the legislations, not allowed to spear the "nobles" fishes like salmon and trouts. I may have kind of a naive questions but I am wondering if you have personnaly ever seen those two species while you were freediving on the lake Michigan. (on the Shipwreck or regular spot ?) I don't know what to expect from those species in term of behavior ( depths, curiosity...) . Anyway, thanks again for you infos and your quick reply, I assume that very few people enjoy the freediving in the Midwest, it s probably not as popular as Baseball so I was kind of worried if I'd get any infos for that activity.

I will investigate for the Hockey club in Chicago but I probably don t have the level for competitors guys that have a training 3 times a week.

I will come up to Richland Center, near Madison this week end and I might bring my fins with me just in case I feel like golfing on a "weedy lake" !

[Jon]

I've seen both salmon and brown trout on in LAke Michigan, During certain times of year they come in to spawn and die. During that time you can pick them up and pet them. I've also done some search and recovery stuff on my scooter and had them follow me along at depth because they seemed to like the noise that my scooter was putting out.

You'll find carp along the break walls and shalow rubble close to shore. You can spear them if you want but I just stick with panfish since they taste the best.

Monday we had 50'-60' of vis at 150' without a light. The water was a beautiful blue color that reminded me of the ocean. I don't remember what the bottom temp was, since I was too busy working, but at
my 50' stop water temps were in the mid 50's at my and on the surface it was in the mid 60's.

IF you come up I would skip the Madison lakes and just drive up to Devil's LAke- short drive from Madison and the best park in the state. Water is only 45' deep, but it's warm and has at least 15' of vis- making it the best "local" dive around. No spearfishing allowed in that lake anymore- just changed the rule last year when they started planting trout in the lake.

I'd still give the hockey a shot. If it's too much you don't have to go back, but it's worth at least going once to see how things stack up.

Jon

[BladeRunner]

Jon this is the place I'm going to got dive. I find this info on scubaboard webpage!

Evanston Beach
Evanston Illinois - Resting in 10 to 16 feet of water is the Wreck of the George Morley, a wooden shipwreck that burned and sank in the 1800's. Intact below the gunwales, the wreck is just 150 yards off shore and is marked by cans. Ask the beach office for directions to the wreck site. There is also an old PT boat located off Main Street. Suit up at Greenleaf St. Beach.

Do you know of dive shop in the Chicago area that I can get some more info on the PT boat which sounds like it's in the gerneral area of Evanston itself. I just need info so I locate it in the water!

I know it's a shallow dive but atleast I can dive in totally different part of the country and I only have a a couple hours. So have to work with what I have!

[Jon]

You could try and give Nancy and Larry a call over at Scuba Systems
(847) 674-0222

Jon

[BladeRunner]

Thank you Jon I appreciate it very much !

[Jon]

A captain I know just emailed me this:

"Jon,

That's my old back yard. I cut my chops diving on the Morley. Not much left. It's sanded in now just some ribs sticking out of the sand. There is a daily fee to use the beach. Not sure how much it is these days. As to the "PT Boat" off of Main St. (actually Kedzie) There a wreck named the "Carrier" It use to be the club house for one of the yatch clubs down in the city. They wee towing it north when it waterlogged and sank. Not much there unless you have an air lift to clear the sand. I have the number for it somewhere. A better wreck is the Wells Burt about 3 miles off of Kedzie...In about 40 feet of water 3 masted schooner. They did find an old Navy Patroal Boat of of Zion IL. It's pretty shallow the sand covers and uncovers alot."

GPS numbers that I have for the Morley are: LAT:4202.67
LON:8740.14


Jon

[BladeRunner]

Thank you for hunting down that great info for me. I'm kinda confused about the locations of the Pt boat though was it close into shore where people could do shore dive then later moved out 3 miles or what? I won't have my zodiac with me on this trip so I can't make it out the schoonerthat sounds really awesome though. I want dive on wreck really bad so want find something worth looking at!

[Jon]

It sounds like the PT boat is in closer to shore, but covers a wider area burried in sand.

The wreck 3 miles out is the Wells Burt- a 120 year oldwooden sailing schooner that is intact and rests in only 45 of water. You would need a boat, or a charter, to get out to her as boat traffic wouldn't make it a safe swim even if you were up for it.

Jon

[BladeRunner]

Jon I know you posted before that you had smooth skin suit. I'm about to buy a picasso smooth skin that's made for spearfishing. (view pic)
what do you think about them and how long did yours last you. Iown three picasso suits 3,5, and 7mm. My 3mm is in need for replacing and I wanted to replace it with this one before my big dive vacation in September!
I've never had any of mine tear on me so I'm pretty careful when putting them on. My 3mm is just to faded after 2 1/2 season of the harsh sun down here the south. So I really want to try out this suit! along with my new Zodiac inflatable before my vacation! Thanks for any info!

Laxson OUT