Spearing/Clarity reports - S.E. Wisconsin

[Whopperhead]

Mendota won't compare with L.G. right now- but, I see the cookout as more of a social event with the POSSIBLITY of spearing/diving- I'm sure it will be clear enough to spearfish. Just not sure how clear. - If anything people can head over there after the cookout - if they want too.

 

[the_duckinator]

Mendota can go any number of ways depending on wind direction. The average vis lately has been around 5ft, though lately I've seen it anywhere from 2 to 12. I've been diving in University bay. It's been bad enough that I haven't bothered to break out the speargun yet, dragging it around is no fun when I can't see my hand in front of me. Hopefully it'll clear up in the next week for you guys.

 

[Jon]

I just got back from my little bicycle trip to check out the lake conditions.

Mendota looks GREAT right now. The water is more than clear enough to spear in, but still n ot the 40' of vis we'll gwet later on.

The Yahara river that connects Mendota to Monona is also crystal clear- but we can't dive there until ice starts to form on the lakes.

I stopped by the outlet, which wasn't on, and the vis was crap; but, down the lake a half mile it was much clearer. The vis wasn't super good, but much better than it has been- even eariler this week.

I really wish I could dive this weekend, but need to go to Milwaukee for family stuff. I might drag my gear along with me, but I have a feeling I won't be able to get out. NExt weekend I'm in Mendota for sure- I need to resotck my freezer.

Jon

 

[unirdna]

I've been meaning to post.

Mendota turned over last week. Monona is turning over right now.

The north winds need to shift before vis is good enough to hit the normal locations.

 

[Jon]

I was out in Mendota on Sunday and things have cleared up a bit from the week prior.

Water temps have dropped to 46F. I saw a LOT of big bass, but not much else. I did find 4 anchors, but only kept one- didn't feel like dragging the cheap ones around on my float all day.

Even though I didn't shoot any fish i still have a pretty decent day in the water. I had the whole place to myself- ddn't even need the dive flag as there were no boats on the lake.

I'm hoping to get out again this Sunday. I've been checking the outlet on a regular basis, but it's still green and the power isn't on.

Jon

 

[Whopperhead]

I thought I saw on the news that they were going to try to cut back on the use of that power plant. I won't be able to go out this weekend at all I might go Friday - somewhere.

 

[Jon]

They have been cutting back a bit more every year- which was evident a few times that went out last winter and it was frozen over.

It was really nice about 6 years ago, when it was running all the time, and fish had a chance to gather in larger numbers.

I think that I read it was one of the dirtiest coal plants in the state and needed to be retrofitted or closed. They still run it on the oldeer days- which is why when the temps drop below '0' I put away the skiis and grab my fins.

Sunday is the only day open for me right now.

Jon

 

[cdavis]

"when the temps drop below '0', I put a way my skiis and grab my fins"

Crazy, completely crazy!

Connor

 

[fleshy]

I always struggle getting in. Im thinking, holy crud, this is gunna be cold. Putting water in my socks and gloves doesnt reassure me. And then I get in. Theres a little splash of cold, take a deep breath, start diving. Ten minutes later your hands, and body are actually pretty warm. No such thing has bad conditions, only bad equipment.

 

[Whopperhead]

Putting water in my socks and gloves doesnt reassure me.

Why do you put water in your socks and gloves?

 

[Jon]

It's an old scuba diver trick for ice diving- pouring warm water in your socks and gloves before you jump in the lake to pre-warm your wetsuit.


Jon

 

[fleshy]

It's an old scuba diver trick for ice diving- pouring warm water in your socks and gloves before you jump in the lake to pre-warm your wetsuit.
Jon

Not only that but dont you have buoyancy problems if you dont? I have enough problems with bubbles in my suit, not to mention during winter when its completely enclosed except for your face. I find that omer's are crazy buoyant to begin with.

 

[ILDiver]

For the air, if you get into water feet first all the air should rise into your hood and be easily vented.

As far as bouyant....all 5mm suits are crazy bouyant. Once you drop below 15' you become a rock. It's bad when you are hunting at 10' and need 24lbs of lead to hunt comfortable, then you get out to deeper water like 25' or 30'. Your almost glued to the bottom.

 

[Jon]

FRC baby! I dropped 10 pounds off of my winer belt by switching to FRC diving. :inlove

Water was 41F today and flat calm with decnet vis. There wasn't another boat, or person, on the lake. I found three anchors, but only kept one, and a bunch of other junk.

I als brought out the scooter today so I could scout some areas further out. I scared up all kinds of northern pike, walleye, and bass along the way. I saw no carp, crappie, or bluegils. The only downside to the scooter is that I froze out faster than normal. It makes for effortless diving, but there must be some kind of underwater windchill that makes you get cold faster. After about 45 minutes the battery died and then I had a giant anchor. Since there were no boats around I just dropped it off the weed bed with my float attached and started to swim around with my gun.

I shot one sucker and ended up bending the crap out of my shaft. Since I pumped the cyrano up to the max it has some pretty mad power, but it sent that shaft htrough the fish and into the sand behind it. I was pretty suprized to pull it out and see how bent up it got- photos to follow. I've since put it in a vise and bent it back into somewhat of a normal shape, but I think it's time to buy a couple of spares- or just sell it and switch to the sling full time.

I did a few sprints to warm back up and then grabbed the camera to take some photos of the ice formations along the shore. It was a very pretty day out there- even if I didn't get a meal out of it.

When we teach ice diving (scuba) classes we use a giant cooler full of hot water. It's great to dip the students masks in there for a final rinse before they go under the ice. It's also nice to dunk a freeflowing regulator in there to get it to thaw- so you can finish the dives. It's also nice to just stand int he thing, if your in a wetsuit, and rewarm your feet if you're spending a long day out there. taking a bottle of it to flush out the suit every once in a while can make a big difference.

Another thing we do when Ice (scuba) diving is use argon in our drysuits instead of air. To make it really comfy we put the argon bottle in a heated icefishing shanty and use 150' hoses, taped into the ice line, to fill our suits with. Pony bottle full of argon are great for deep trimix dives, but an unlimited amoint of heated argon to flush your suit with makes a long day of training dives much more comfortable. :inlove

Jon

 

[Jon]

A few pics from today.

The last one it the tip of my spear after it went through the sucker and into the sand- no, I didn't hit a rock with it. It's since been straightened out as much as it can be straightended.

Jon

 

[Jon]

Since the lake was so calm I decided to play around a bit with my camera. I was really getting into the split level stuff where the trees hit the water.

Jon

 

[kalin]

I shot one sucker and ended up bending the crap out of my shaft. Since I pumped the cyrano up to the max it has some pretty mad power, but it sent that shaft htrough the fish and into the sand behind it.

:t:trofl
Edit:

Jon you don't need more then 20 bars.
Cyrano is crazy Powerful.

 

[Whopperhead]

I'm surprised by the amount of ice already- Lake Mendota? Nice pics!

 

[fleshy]

For the air, if you get into water feet first all the air should rise into your hood and be easily vented.
As far as bouyant....all 5mm suits are crazy bouyant.

Thats true, but I often find that i get air trapped in my gloves, and socks, and I can feel bubbles in other places, and Im not the one making them. Never really had that problem with my beuchat, but with my omer, I find I have to lay on the bottom and kinda "shake the bubbles out". Kinda a cold experience. That and the staying warm are two reasons to bring a thermos of warm water. As for all those other diving tricks, Im not experienced or knowledgeable enough to come up with those other things jon suggested, but we deffinitely use the thermos'.

AWESOME split level pics! I love how clear the water is, and the general composition is just really cool! The boys and I had a U/W camera two years ago, but sold it this year to buy something that I cant quite remember, but remember needing very badly at the time.

 

[Jon]

Jon you don't need more then 20 bars.

I think you're right. I have 30 bars in it right now and it's a pain to load. I haven't found a fish around here that it couldn't go through at 20bar so I might have to re-do it.

Do you have a pressure gauge for your gun? I let all the air out and counted the pumps to get it up to pressure (over 900!) and I don't really want to do it again.:head

Jon