The Outlet Jan 19, 2008

[dotey]

One of four set of pictures!

[dotey]

Two of four

[dotey]

Three of Four

[dotey]

Four of Four!

[dotey]

First of another set of four pictures.

[dotey]

Second of four

[dotey]

Three of four

[dotey]

Four of four

[dotey]

just so you all know that my wife had put these pics on here lastnight when i was at work so sorry they are here

[Jon]

Since my wife wouldn't let me go yesterday I made sure I got in today. I even had a buddy- although he was on scuba. Actually, he was in full tech gear with an argon bottle strapped to his side, for extra warmth, and a set of doubles full of trimix- so as not to get narked in those 20' depths. To be fair, that was all he had full in his garage. He felt kind of dumb wearing all of it, but it worked and he had a nice dive.

I brought my gun to try and spear a bluegill to hand feed the musky, but they were so interested in trying to swim into the grate that I just swam up and grabbed them by hand. I spent a good amount of time trying to get this big guy, who was somewhere between 4'-5' long, to eat it out of my hand but he wasn't interested. After about 15 minutes i noticed that he was missing his right eyeball, so much for catch and release, and couldn't even see the fish i was trying to feed him When I would get on his right side, or should I say his left side, he was so skittish that he would just bolt away.

Eventually I did grab my gun and shoot myself a carp- the only one I saw today who wasn't stuck on the inside of the pipe. I also had a muskrat swim by to check me out- picture isn't the best because it's a still shot I lifted from my video camera.

Water coming out of the pipe was 64F! The steam coming off the water was so thick I could see further under the water- and that's how I navigated back to shore.

I also found a number of fish stuck on the inside of the pipe who were trying to get out, but were locked in. More than a few have gotten tired and were slammed into the grating to die. I knocked a couple of them out, but they just drifted back in a few minutes later to become hopelessly pinned again.

Jon

[Jon]

A few more shots from today.

Jon

[Whopperhead]

That is a big Muskrat! 64- dang- how many stacks were going? I never noticed the eye missing on that big one. dotey- did you have something to do with that?

[ILDiver]

Originally Posted by Whopperhead

I never noticed the eye missing on that big one. dotey- did you have something to do with that?

LOL, I just had this image of him like a 3 year old that just slowly reaches out with one finger.....

Glad you got to go Jon. It the shanty would have been there on Sunday too, I'd have gone back!

What's next on the agenda? The Freeze? Not sure I'll make that one.

[Erik]

Great pics you guys! I'm jealous as hell.

[Jon]

Brian and I hit it this morning and the water was off- must only be on when it's really cold outside so things may be better next weekend.

Water was 36f and there was very little of it open. We did manage to bust some of it up so we could swim around, but I didn't even bother with fins as there wasn't anywhere you couldn't get to with just your arms.

Brian's suits were pretty impressive for a DIY project. HE bought bulk rubber from Elios and ripped a pattern off of one of his Picasso suits. The end product looked just as good as anything I own- just needed the Elios sticker and they would have been a matched set.

I know he said that he only has one pattern for suits, but he does happen to have a pretty slick pattern for gloves- taken from and old Unisuit mitt. If any of you have cold hands I suggest harassing him into making you a pair- they looked that good!

I was trying out my first generation Hawaiian sling that I made. I have it rigged with a tag line so I don't loose the spear- or the fish! It's going to take some more refinements, and a lot of practice, before I'm able to hit anything more than a half frozen bluegill.

If any of you have been following some of the other cold water threads from Laminar or Fattah I would suggest checking them out- especially the diet ones. I've been eating Raw coconut oil with my breakfasts on the days that I've been diving and have been staying much warmer as a result. I haven't gone with anything as full blown as MCT oil yet, but it's in the works.

Here's some pics form today- not too many fish so not all that interesting.

Jon