Spearing/clarity report 2010

[Jon]

Time to erase some of those old threads and start a fresh one for a new year.

Speaking of which, I just got out for my first dive of 2010.

Everything is frozen over around here right now, even the outlet, so I jumped into the only body of openwater I could find- the Yahara river. It's actually a nice dive this time of year because there are no boats and the vis is as good as it ever gets. There's a bit of current to swim against up river which helps to keep you warm. When you turn around the current flies you along at a nice clip, but freezes you out at the same time. You never know what your going to find under the bridges when you go- as you can tell from somde of my photos.

Water was a balmy 33(F)- which was a whole lot warmer than the -3(F) air temps we had outside. Some jogger came by and couldn't believe I was diving, but one look at her frozen red face and I knew that I was a lot more comfortable than she was.

I also got a chance to try out my new INON lens- which really was the whole point of diving today. I really missed having a wide angle wetlens on my last two cameras and am very happy to be shooting with one again. Next time I just need a couple of buddies to photograph.

Jon

 

[foxfish]

The lens seems to working beautifully!

 

[Whopperhead]

Sweet Jon! - I almost went there on New Years Day- but My Oldest wanted to see me. If We get a warm spell, I might check it out- as I'm sure it's fairly iced over now. Nice Pics

 

[Jon]

Let me know when you have free. Next time I'd like to do it with two cars. We could park one on each end and ride the river from one lake to the other without the swim upstream.

 

[Whopperhead]

Jan 16th is the next time I have off on a weekend otherwise I get done at 3:15pm everyday if you want to do it on a sunday or during the week later in the day. Good Idea though- that would be a blast and probably some sweet video.

 

[kalin]

I want to do it too..I hate the cold so much but I want to try it

 

[Jon]

I've been eying up the outlet the last few days as at least one stack is running and thee water has been open. Today was the first day that I could dive it, and they turned off the pipe some time last night. That means it was frozen over solid when I got there this morning.

Since I drove there i decided to try and bust through the skim ice and make a dive of it. It turns out that it takes less than 24 hours to freeze it over so solid that i could walk on it and had a heck of a time busting any kind of a whole. I gave up and moved on to my next dive site- the Yahara river.

I moved up river from last week's dive and started out with the monofin. I had on my 6mm socks and gave up after about 25-20 minutes because my feet were cramping up.

So, back to the car to switch out my monofin for my C4 Mustangs- which are the warmest footpockets I've ever used. The river was nice and clear so I jumped back in for another 45 minutes- or so. No fish to be found, but plenty of birds and junk on the bottom. Swimming up current keeps me warm and makes to ride back down river that much more fun.

Water temp was a typical 33(F) degrees and the air was slightly warmer than last weekend- about 3(F) when I jumped in and warming up to 9(F) by time I got done.

We'll see if I get Scott to join me next weekend so we can swim the whole thing from end to end.

Jon

 

[Whopperhead]

I'm about 90% sure I can do it on Saturday the 16th.

 

[foxfish]

Amazing!! I look forward to seeing the pics from your planned dive.

 

[Jon]

I was planning to swim the whole length of the Yahara today but there was a change of plans.

It seems the warm weather has opened up part of the outlet over the past few days and I haven't had a chance to dive it all winter. The power was off, so the water was only 34(F) degrees, and the wind stirred things up a bit so the vis wasn't the best, but there were fish!

I didn't see a single carp, panfish, or any other thing that I could/would shoot, but I did run across more than a few musky. These are just about the biggest fish that we get around here, next to sturgeon, and are fun to try and hand grab in the winter. The really huge ones weren't there, but there were some pretty respectable ones to swim around with. None of them let me get close enough to grab a ride, but it was still a great day.

Only downside was the hole I put in the crotch of my wetsuit and I climbed out the jagged edge of the hole in the ice.:duh It sent a nice cold jet of water into my groin and chilled me out pretty quickly. I was in for more than an hour, but up until I cut my suit I was fairly. Luckily, it wasn't a huge tear and I'll be ready to dive by next weekend.

Here's a few picks from the day:

Jon

 

[foxfish]

Musky look like Pike? Are they not edible or are they protected?
Fantastic pics, again.

 

[Jon]

They are both protected, and so full of chemicals and other pollutants that you wouldn't want to eat them even if you could- at least in this part of the State.

 

[unirdna]

You are way ahead of me when it comes to making that camera do good things. I can barely take a photo that doesn't look like a water color painting. I have one day to get my S#!t together, or I'll be taking my S80 with me to Cozumel.

 

[Jon]

The weather has turned quite a bit warmer, and wetter, around these parts. We're looking at 40F degrees and rain today- which is pretty odd for January in Wisconsin.

Water is still the same old 34F, but the pipe must have been on this week because there was quite a bit more openwater to dive this weekend. I didn't see a single musky or carp, but I did find quite a few panfish and bass hiding out in the weeds- which only makes sense because I left my Hawaiian Sling at home. :head

Here's a couple of photos, and some video frame captures, from today's dive.

Jon

 

[foxfish]

More great shots!
The bass is great, really sparkly.
The last one has worked out well too.

 

[kalin]

DANGER- warm water I Like it

 

[Jon]

It was 40(F) degrees and lots of rain when I wope up this morning, so I just had to go diving.

The rain worked to open up the lake a bit more than yesterday- and had the good sense to stop as soon as I got to the lake. Once I stepped into the water the sun even came out!

Lots of fish, and no speargun or sling, made for a fun dive, but no dinner.

Here's some video stills of my dive buddies from today.

Jon

 

[unirdna]

That bluegill belongs in your belly. Bring a weapon next time!

 

[Jon]

I know, I know, that blugill was pretty huge. I don't know how well the picture shows it, but it was one of the larger ones I've ever seen.

Jon

 

[mulcrone]

Awesome pictures Jon! Looks chilly. What kind of camera are you using?