Freedive-A-Palooza 2010 July 16,17 & 18th

[Whopperhead]

What: Freedive - A- Palooza

Where: Blackhawk Lake Recreation Area

When: July 16, 17 & 18th (Friday, Saturday & Sunday)

Why: Because there is water and fish - we must Dive and Hunt.

What to bring: Camping Gear, All Diving Gear, Spearfishing Gear, $$ and Food and Drink.


If you are New or Experienced you should come and enjoy the time together with other Freedivers of DEEPERBLUE.COM You'll make new friends, hear great stories, do some good diving. Bring your families, Friends and Gear. Prepare for a good time!

Anyone wanting to get into the sport should come and at least check it out.

I will edit this as we go- Check out the website for the fee's and location.


I RESERVED GROUP CAMPSITE G11 - Anyone wanting to stay in the Group site can pay me $5-10.

******NOTE: This is HIGHLAND in the South West Portion of Wisconsin NOT up by Lake Superior. Here is a MAP of it's location: http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH...1Ljk2NTU2ODQ2MDQ4MDElN2UtMTMwLjI2NDEzNzI2OA==

 

[kraftyjack]

Excited about this. Booked my campsite already..got a good one by the water site 93. Hunted blackhawk again today and pulled out 5 12 inch crappies and i grazed the biggest crappie ive ever seen. Man that thing was huge, i thought it was bass. I got too excited and shot from surface before sinking down a bit...just grazed his back. You see a mutant crappie with a chunk out of its back and youll have seen my white whale.

 

[unirdna]

Now this looks like a ton of fun. It's unfortunate that I'm already booked on this weekend. That's the way she goes in the summer - we pack a whole year of fun into four months. Have a good one guys. I look forward to the photos.

As for those crappies, blend up an egg, add a splash of milk - use half regular shorelunch and half cajun to give them a bit of kick, and fry them in light olive oil if you want them at their best. And cut off the rib meat if it smells fishy. You'll get more in the pan and won't soil a great fillet with an attached "chip" of fishy-tasting starch.

 

[Whopperhead]

I RESERVED GROUP CAMPSITE G11 - Anyone wanting to stay in the Group site can pay me $5-10.


Ted, That sucks man! It won't be the same without you.

 

[Dannyk]

I want to come. My wife is not too excited about it, so I may just make a couple day trips out of it.

I may take a run down there tomorrow and check it out if I can get away from work soon enough.

 

[Whopperhead]

Bring your wife with you- There's other things to do and we aren't in the water ALL Day.

 

[Dannyk]

I went to Blackhawk this afternoon till 6:00. Even after all the rain we had recently the lake was still fairly clear. There is a lot of variety and fun things to see. Not too bad for fish either. I got a few medium to large bluegills and crappies. Saw a large school of forearm length walleye. I was swimming along the bottom about 10 feet underwater, when I entered a little clearing. They were all around me. Very fun!!! I also saw three larger perch but they all got away. The largest showed up just as I ran out of air A very huge snapping turtle was having a showdown with a very large bass. I didn't try to referee.

There are several places to enter the water in the park. It would take days to do the whole lake. I use my homemade diveyak to paddle from one spot to another. I wanted to check out the submerged bridge which is 28 feet underwater, but it was too far from where I entered. I will have to check it out another time.

 

[slimsteve]

Hello All
Sounds like fun, I'll definetly be there with fins on !! I have worked every Saturday except one since March and definetly could use a bit of fun.

 

[slimsteve]

Hey Whopper I woul like to share the camp site with you. When do you plan on arriveing Wed night or Thursday AM.:friday

 

[Whopperhead]

I won't be there till Friday around Noon-ish. I reserved Group site G11, which they said, we can have 24ppl on - or 6 tents- so, we'll see how it goes. I also have to leave late Saturday nite as I go back to work Sunday morning. I will be coming off a 49 day suspension at work. Tell you all about it at the Palooza- Long story short: It's a Crock of Sheet for being funny.

 

[Jon]

It's a Crock of Sheet for being funny

Every artist needs to suffer for his craft...roflroflrofl

Jon

 

[slimsteve]

Just for giggles I will be bringing a couple of underwater targets.

 

[Whopperhead]

Facebook Link to the EVENT - if you have a Facebook account: Login | Facebook

 

[Dannyk]

I was at Black Hawk yesterday. A fellow DBer was there with his family checking it out. The vis was OK considering all the storms we have had this week. Hopefully it will clear up if the wind and rain mellow out a bit. My brother in-law was in the Oxford area spearing this week. He said the vis was very bad. Last year this time there was 20' vis now it is about 3 feet.

 

[kraftyjack]

Just got back from blackhawk today, vis was so-so but it has been thunderstorming every night for a week now so i guess i couldnt have hoped for much. Saw alot of walleyes today in the murk, shot a few decent sized crappies. One thing about the murky water that was good is that you can get real close to the bigger fish. I dont see why it wont be clear as long is it stops raining for a few days, the vis today was at least 7-10ft , more in some areas and less in others.

 

[Dannyk]

Just got back from blackhawk today, vis was so-so but it has been thunderstorming every night for a week now so i guess i couldnt have hoped for much. Saw alot of walleyes today in the murk, shot a few decent sized crappies. One thing about the murky water that was good is that you can get real close to the bigger fish. I dont see why it wont be clear as long is it stops raining for a few days, the vis today was at least 7-10ft , more in some areas and less in others.

The crappies were too smart for me. I did get three but the bigger ones wouldn't stick around long enough for me to get my gun pointed in their direction. Move fast and they are gone, move slow and they are gone. They usually showed up behind me. So I started rolling onto my back just as I reached the bottom. I still need to remember to have my gun pointed down so when I roll it is pointed in their direction.

The walleyes are nice. I wonder if I can line fish off my diveyak after I find them diving? Probably tempting the DNR to show up.:naughty

 

[slimsteve]

You could line fish as long as your spear gun is in the car, and no need for a diveyak to line fish for them.

 

[slimsteve]

Anyone have an idea on what water temps run at this lake at this time of year?

 

[Dannyk]

My watch was showing 73.4 but I am not too sure I have it calibrated right yet. My last calibration I wore it over my gloves in the house and set it to match the the house temp. But the reality is I don't wear it over my glove in the water I have it over my wetsuit. Next time out I am going to take along a thermometer to calibrate it under water. Then when I get it right with my 5 mil suit, I will end up switching to a 3 mil and wonder if it is right again

 

[unirdna]

Summertime is "3mm time" in Wisconsin for almost all inland lakes. A hood isn't necessary, unless you are dropping below the thermocline. You could get by with a shorty 3mm for a while, but eventually you'll be shivering while the guy in the full suit is still comfortable.