Spearing/clarity report 2011

[Jon]

We went out on the in-law's dive charter boat today to watch the Air show out on Lake Michigan. Turns out one of the best spots to view it was right over the wreck of the Appomattox. The jets would turn around and come back to town right over us. At one point to jet came so close to us we could watch the flames shooting out the back. The noise was so loud I thought my six year old was going to soil his wetsuit!rofl

Anyway, The water was 70F degrees and the vis was over 30'. I dropped down onto a school of giant perch at one point, but they must be wary of divers as the bolted as soon as they saw me. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at that point. Since I was swimming with my wife and kids I also didn't have a speargun with me. :head

Jon

 

[Jon]

Remembering the surprisingly good vis I found in Lake Mendota when I was swimming with my kids last week, I decided to try and get back for a little spearing this week. Unfortunately, the vis sucked.:head I had maybe 2' of vis down on the bottom, and nothing above that. The only good point was the that the water was a balmy 81F degrees.

I'll have to try someplace else tomorrow.

Jon

 

[WIDiver11]

Just an update. I was up in the area the last two weeks but didn't get a chance to hit Fox Lake. I did go to Ashippun Lake, Lac La Belle, Fowler Lake, Broken Bow Lake, Jackson Pond and Pike Lake.
Ashippun Lake sucked... 5 Foot visibility max. Scared the crap out of my dive buddy. We got danger close to each other a number of occasions. Then we decided to hit up Lac La Belle. I took one look at the lake and said no-go. So we went accross the road to Fowled. Had 15 foot vis and dove for about 25 min and called it. Wasn't much to see fish wise. Then I took a trip north the next day to Lac Du Flambeau area and dove Broken Bow Lake. Vis was poor first day but day 2, 3 and 4 were good. Nothing worth spearing tho. All a bunch of 4"-6" gills and perch were smaller yet. Came back south to Jackson Pond. Again, no-go. So we drove over to Pike Lake. Vis was ok again. 15' in the shallows but the further out into the lake, the worse it got. Nothing worth spearing there either. One small perch and a couple bass were all we saw. Lots of dive time, but no fish to show for it... Maybe in November ill try again.
Dave

 

[Whopperhead]

Sorry to hear the poor vis/small fish report. I come across those from time to time. It feels like such a waste of time. But at least you know.........NOT to go there again. Thanks for sharing now "I" know.

 

[Chris W]

A couple buddies and I went and speared Moon Lake and Kilby Lake, Marquette county for the first time. The Vis in Moon was good ~7'-8' and there were some nice nice gills that I was not able to get with the pole spear but I was able to get a nice 9"-9.5" perch. Kilby was not as good the vis was about the same but we were not able to find any fish in the 30 mins we were there, a lot a weeds. Definitely will try Moon again, there seems to be some good potential, no motor lake with some good deep spots and hardly any pressure. getting excited already

 

[Jon]

Scott (Whopperhead) and I went out to devil's Lake today. There were a ton of fish, but we are no longer allowed to spear there.
Water had a good 10'-15' of vis and the temp was a balmy 81F degrees down to about 19'. Below that it got a little bit cooler, but the vis turned to crap.

Here's a few shots from today:

Jon

 

[Jon]

Here's a few of Scott swimming around:

 

[Whopperhead]

Chris - thanks for the report- I've been meaning to go check out Moon. Good to know.

Jon - I like that camera, Some nice pics.

 

[BigThreeForLife]

Anyone want to dive in Kenosha for Perch this Sunday 8/14? I'm thinking of getting out there early and hitting up the breakwall.

I was talking to my brother and he mentioned that after shooting a fish with a solid shot, pushing it up your shooting line, reloading the gun, and when you dive again the fish will come in close to check it out... then blastem... anyone ever tried this?

 

[Jon]

I spent most of the day in Lake Michigan yesterday. In the afternoon I went spearfishing off the rubble south near Bayview. With the recent north east winds it was a bit stirred up, but the water was still clearer than anything around Madison. I would say it was at least 15'. The temps were great. I have 74F degrees on the inside of the wall in the shallows and 72F on the outside of the wall further out in the lake. I saw lots of bass, a few carp, and only one perch- which was dead.:head

Last night I went out on my in-law's charter boat to dive on the wreck of the Dredge #6- which some people mistake for the dredge 906. It was rough and it took all I could not to lose my lunch.:blackeye I find it amazing that when I lived there and went out on the boat all the time I never got seasick, and now that I moved away and only get to go out on the boat a couple of times a year I puke like a college kid on Friday night. :friday

Anyway, the water was 70F degrees all the way down to 50'. Below that there was a mild thermocline that dropped the temps down to 58F. The vis before the scuba divers dropped down was over 50'. I could see the wreckage spread out before me and watch the schools of alewives (sp?) swim past. Since it was so rough I jumped in first to tie in an extra line in case the mooring broke. If the lake had been a bit calmer it would have been spectacular. I didn't see a single perch out there- just alewives and sculpins.

Jon

 

[fishstick22]

I went to Kenosha last Sunday and there was a huge school of perch when i first got in but but after that they moved off somewhere and I could only find two or three at a time and regretfully I forgot my mako speargun sitting alongside my boat I forgot to put it in the car before I left but I had the mini carbine in the car so I gave it a shot, the water was pretty calm actually and the vis seemed pretty good but I could not seem to get close enough to them to get a good shot. I ended up with only one perch and it was smaller. I also had a school of drum swim by and i hit one but the mini didnt have enough power to penetrate. I also saw one carp but couldnt get close enough before it swam off. Overall though I still had fun and I highly doubt I will be dumb enough to forget my gun ever again. CHRIS, I think what your talking about would work at least for carp because I know my friends have said they started tying a few off the side of the boat when they go out bowfishing and other carp come in to check them out. I may be able to go out sunday not sure yet though. Is anyone else going so far???

 

[BigThreeForLife]

Haven't heard from anyone, but I'm going for sure... just hoping to have a partner.

 

[fishstick22]

Ill see what I can do and let you know when I can. Bryce (the person that came with me to Black River Falls) might be able to go as well and he just got a wave runner so we talked about using that to get to the breakwall as it will be easier and safer as well.

 

[Jon]

I've shot fish and then reloaded underwater to shoot another one before they all got spooked. This is easier to do with my Hawaiian Sling (it has a shooting line on it so I don't loose the shaft in the weeds), but I've also been able to do it with a speargun more than few times. The trick with the gun was not restringing the shooting line so I needed to be extra careful that it wasn't looped or tangled in any way before shooting again.

I've never intentionally left a fish strung on the end to attract others, but it might work- as long as they aren't sending out distress signals by thrashing about.

Jon

 

[fishstick22]

Are the spines of the freshwater sculpin venomous?

 

[slimsteve]

I want to spear next weekend and am willing to travel and stay the night. Lake michigan sounds like the best bet for clarity, but I am open to any suggestion if there is anyone who is planning on going as I would like to team up.

And what the heck is the fresh water scaolipiom or what ever that beast was.

 

[BigThreeForLife]

Steve, I will be in Kenosha Sunday. I'm thinking around 8 or 9am.

 

[slimsteve]

Excellent I am going to check out a hotel

 

[slimsteve]

Do me a favor and google motel 6 and tell me which area you would recommend for night life. Could you also tell me the name of area/beaches I could consider for diving Saturday.

 

[BigThreeForLife]

I'm not really familiar with the area, i know there is a best western hotel right by the harbor... never partied up there before, hopefully someone else chimes in.