Spearing/clarity report 2010

[kevincook]

Pompano Beach. Water around 78F degrees. Air around 78F degrees. Vis 25'-35'. 150 feet from the shore about 20 feet deep. Unfortunately I only had mask and fins. On the bottom some kind snappers and someone else. But what I saw later was the biggest event in my life. Three huge fish slowly crossed in front of me... I think it was tarpon around 6' long. I never seen before so big fish in wild water (except shark).
Kalin I'll call u if I can go to Lake Geneva. I got already my carp limit for this year but I go in the water and not just for that ...

 

[kalin]

Good you did not shoot.....Sometimes not having a gun is the best....But what about this "carp limit"?....Have I been abroad for too long? Carp is what I'm coming back for.

 

[Jon]

A little bird told me that there might be some vis in Mendota right about now so I took a nice long bike ride to check out a bunch of my favorite spots. The further west i got the better the vis got (leeward shore), but I never had more than about 3'-4' of vis anywhere that I looked- and 4' is really pushing it!

I also checked out Monona on my way back home and it was even worse than on Thursday due to the wind. Everything around here is still crap for the time being and I'm not sure when the lakes will ever turn as the weather has been so mild.

Jon

 

[kalin]

I hoped I can go out when I come back...But as I see I can't,,I spent a wonderful summer in Bulgaria being in the water almost every day..Now I can wait to spring time

 

[Dannyk]

I went up to one of my favorite lakes in the Oxford area yesterday. I was hoping for better. Vis was about 5 feet. Water temp 48. Air temperatures were in the mid 20s overnight and a high of about 55. It was a bright clear day with very little wind. I was surprised to see a lot of lily pads still standing. I only saw one small bluegill and three small to medium large mouth bass.

Most of these little lakes have fish everywhere in the summer, yet I can hardly ever find any in the fall.

 

[unirdna]

Algae bloom in all Mad lakes right now. Vis 1m or less. Stay clear, the lakes aren't.

 

[kalin]

Still the same?????? I can go out if the conditions are better..What is the water temperature up there???..Crazy warm weather

 

[unirdna]

Water temps are hovering at 50F - probably in the high 40's after last night.
Vis has improved considerably in Monona (3m) and Mendota (3m). Mendota was undergoing it's last algae bloom this week. It's a colonial algae that clumps together and floats in the upper 2m of water. It's not a blue-green and not unhealthy - just annoying. Once that clears off, the lake will be clear for 6 months. You'll be able to look at no fish as far as the eye can see (I know where they go, but I'm not typing it here because we could never get to them, but hook-n-line guys could, and I know they know about this thread).

 

[kalin]

Thank you

 

[Jon]

After spending the last week at Disney world with the family I was anxious to get away from the crowds and back in the water.

It turns out that things have cleared up a bit since the last time I dove (10' of vis instead of 2') and the water temp has dropped off quite a bit- only 46F degrees. I still manged a bit over 2 hours in the water, but didn't see much in the way of fish. I did see one huge tiger musky, a single large mouth bass, and three carp. There was a single perch swimming around in the weeds, but they were so thick that I couldn't get a shot off.

I think I might try again tomorrow and see if my luck improves. If Ted is right, and the fish are gone for the winter, then it will be time to pull out the monofin and leave the spearguns at home until spring. There still lots of anchors and other junk to find and swimming with the monofin tends to keep me warm even if the temps drop.

Jon

 

[Jon]

I got up early this morning and jumped into Mendota to have a look around. Water was 45F degrees and the vis was a hazy 10'. Ted was right about the globs of green stuff on the surface near shore, As you went out deeper it all just kind of hung in the water like a fog.

This would have been OK if I had shot some fish ( still looking for my first fish with the new spearguns Spaghetti sent me:friday), but all I saw were huge large mouth bass ( these things were footballs) and some extremely large northern pike- which were all so big I thought they were musky at first! I didn't see a single crappie, bluegill or perch. :head

They say it's going to snow and temps will drop to the single digits by next weekend, so I'm not sure what the lake will look like in a week. I assumed hat spearing might be over with, but monofin season has just begun.

Jon

 

[spaghetti]

I got up early this morning and jumped into Mendota to have a look around. Water was 45F degrees and the vis was a hazy 10'. Ted was right about the globs of green stuff on the surface near shore, As you went out deeper it all just kind of hung in the water like a fog.

This would have been OK if I had shot some fish ( still looking for my first fish with the new spearguns Spaghetti sent me:friday), but all I saw were huge large mouth bass ( these things were footballs) and some extremely large northern pike- which were all so big I thought they were musky at first! I didn't see a single crappie, bluegill or perch. :head

Jon

Blame it on Poste Italiane. If they only had been quicker.....(and US customs did their part in slowing down things).
But at last you got them wet. :friday

So how do you like the italian style camo job? Does it stand to the reputation of Raffaello and Michelangelo? rofl

 

[Whopperhead]

I might go for a dip on Wed. During the day while the kids are in school. I have not been in the water in over a month!!!!!!

 

[Jon]

Sounds good Scott. I wish I could join you but I put a nice hole in my wetsuit when I was diving yesterday and ran out of glue to fix it.:head
I ordered a new tube, but it won't get here for a few days.

Where are you headed??

Jon

 

[Whopperhead]

Mendota- usual spot. Check the "Crappie Field" then search the boulders. IF I don't have some "business" to take care of.

 

[kraftyjack]

Just tried blackhawk today, the vis is about 6-10ft right now. It seems to be getting clearer. Where are the fish in the winter time? I checked all the normal crappie spots and only saw northen and largemouth.

 

[slimsteve]

while since I have been on site. Glad to hear vis is finally improving for all you locals. Sister and I took mom on cruise to Bermuda. I took my oldest niece on a "reef" snorkel outing. What a sad sad joke it was but she had fun. reef was about a 20 yard by 10 yard patch of torn up patchy sponges. Did get to see some colorful fish and she had fun. It was actually worse then I expected.

I go to court for divorce in 147 hours and 8 minutes. Once over can start planning future, everything has been hold because of not knowing where I will actually stand financially once the gavel falls. Its a sad thing kind of like putting your sick dog down. You know its whats best but you just wish it were otherwise.

Thinking about early spring and wanting to get a 7 mil with hood, looking for recommendations. I am also wondering about weighting with the extra bouyancy. It seems that a waist belt would leave you poorly balanced. Does anyone know if there is more of a crisscrossed chest sort of set up and if so how they like them.

 

[Whopperhead]

Steve- Go with a 5mil OPEN CELL suit. You can use it all year- it's a little warm for summer, but it works. They do make "Spearfishing" weight vests, Jon and Fleshy I think both use them- Can find them at your local Dive shop or dare I say "Online". I of course recommend Elios or Hammerhead for your Wetsuit. Elios will get you a very good custom suit in about 2 months. The amount of weight depends on how deep you plan on diving- if you are spearfishing- probably 10-12 lbs.

 

[cigarlung]

Dove Williams bay today from the College down to the point had the Lake to myself accept for my dive buddy KO Mateo 1 lonely duck and some Bass saw no channel Catfish today which is odd no boats only the wealthy flying there planes lake vis was good water temp cold on the feet my feet always freeze 3.5 hours in the water 100 + mile round trip.

 

[Jon]

Steve,

You should take a look at the Cressi suits on scubastore. I've owned at least one in the past and it was a great suit for an off the rack (non custom) wetsuit. It will certainly hold up longer than my opencell/smoothskin suits have.

I have a weight vest that i think is made by Beuchat. It works great to move some lead off of your belt and onto your back. I used to use it quite a bit all winter long, but since I switched to FRC diving I was able to drop an easy 8 pounds off of my belt and don't use it as much as I used to. I'm still going to keep it in case I get a thicker wetsuit in the future, but it has been pretty useful.

If you have the money to go custom I would always recommend and Elios suit first. Something around 5mm with some type of slick coating (black, copper, silver, gold) over the opencell inner lining will make it much easier to put on and take off- which is important seeing as it will be your first real freediving suit. Get a nylon or Lycra outer lining and it should last you a good long time.

Jon