Spearing/Clarity reports - S.E. Wisconsin

[kalin]

No , I do not have a pressure gauge.
I am planning to make one..also a quick charge valve.
You don't have to pump 900 again.
You can just release some air and try to load it....if it's too easy pump a little bit more.
at 20 bars you should load it without problem

 

[WreckRunner]

really nice pics.

 

[Jon]

I went to the outlet today and made two dives before I got out- vis is less than 3'.:head

I was determined to go diving somewhere so headed back over to the old spot on lake Mendota.

When I first got in things looked pretty good for diving- flat calm water, not too many boats, decent vis. So, I grabbed my camera and started to swim. I was pretty surpized when I dropped down to take a picture of a northern when I saw this decent sized crappie! Away went the camera and out came the Hawaiian sling- I didn't have any speargun along today.

I ended up staying in almost three hours- and would still be swimming around if my toes handn't gone totally numb.:crutch Water was right around 40F.

I ended up with 4 decent sized crappie. If I would have had a gun with me, especially a short one, I'm sure that I could have limited out. All of them were down in the weeds and it was a little hard trying to swim that sling through there.

I'll post pictures later- when I warm up a bit more.rofl

Jon

 

[WreckRunner]

Sounds like fun.......today, I'd take 3' vis happily.

work, work, work.....

will try to get up there for some spearing soon.

 

[Jon]

The water in Lake Mendota was MUCH clearer than the water Lake Monona. There was more than enough vis to use a long gun, or sling, but the weeds made things a bit tricker.

I ended up doing about 3 hours in the water and am now convinced that the C4 Mustang footpockets are the warmest ones I've used so far- even beating out my old Esclapez fins.

Here's a few shots from today:

 

[kalin]

And not a single anchor?
I am a little disappointed. I was thinking already that is what you are diving for.
How many you have? Could you post a pic of your collection?

 

[Jon]

I did find a snappy new cell phone. I also found a very old iron furnace- no idea why it's in there so far away from shore? Last week I even found a huge butcher knife. There are also the dozens of cafateria trays from the local college dorms- that i don't even bother messing with because there are so many of them.

I found a crappy anchor, but not anything worth bringing back to shore. Once I saw the fish I stopped thinking about junk collecting.rofl I think I'm up to a dozen anchors right now. My supply changes all the time as I try and give them away to anyone I know with a boat. Once of the local dive clubs even collects them all summer long so that they can have a big party in the fall where they burn the old paint off of them, repaint them, and sell them through a local fishing store as a fundraiser- they call it a Phoniex Party.

I'd like to get back out todya, but the snow has just started and I need to go get gas for my snowblower. Maybe next weekend?

Jon

 

[WreckRunner]

I bet you that furnace was part of an ice-fishing shack and was just left out there to sink after a season, or just dragged out there on the ice to easily get rid of. My grandparents told me people did that all the time up on Lake Muskoka in Ontario.....take out big items they didn't want onto the ice and just wait until they disappeared in the spring. I think we might be a bit too "green" for that these days

 

[Jon]

I'd go along with the "take it out and dump it" idea- it was WAY too big for an ice shack.

There's a lot of other junk along that shore that makes for an interesting dive if the fish aren't in- which is too be expected since the University has been there over 100 years.

Jon

 

[kalin]

Imagine the junk from the places with thousands years of history

 

[Jon]

Yeah, in those places it's often illegal to scuba dive because of the theft that goes on.

Another interesting spot is a couple of miles off of Chicago- in about 40' of water. After the Great Chicago Fire they took most of the city out there in barges and just dumped it.

Jon

 

[Jon]

Well I just got back from checking out the local lakes. Mendtoa has ice out a couple hundred yards in all directions- so we might be done diving there for a while.

Next, I drove to Monona and saw that over a 1/3 of the lake had ice on it. I drove over to the outlet to check it out, since it freezes up last, but the pipe was off and it was full of slushy ice. It looks liek the ice that was there was broken up by the barge- which is now gone.

It does seem possible, in Monona at least, to break throught he skim ice and go play around in deeper water- but it would be a bit of a swim. There are some areas by theoutlet that are open- but it's patchy.

The one place that IS wide open is the Yahara river that connects the two lakes. Vis is excellent, but the depth is rather limited. Might be worth a swim down to look for junk, but I dobt there's any fish in there.

Lake Michigan is still open, but they got beat up by the waves this past weekend. My father-in-law cancelled all of his dive charters as a result of the wind- he can break through ice, but it's no fun in huge waves. I did hear that a couple of my (scuba) buddies were out on one of the deeper wrecks last week and had the best vis they've ever seen there- which means it was well over 100' and approaching 150'. The wreck they were on is 328' long and they could see most of it at all times.

What's everyone else's lake look like right now???

This cold snap is killing my diving and there's a huge storm coming tonight.

Pretty soon it will be time to break out the chainsaws and we can start up again.

Jon

 

[WreckRunner]

Perhaps it's time to break out the clunky gear and a dry suit and go scuba dive off your Dad's boat.......I've been meaning to do that now for the better part of a year.....

 

[Jon]

You're more than welcome to give it a try, but he has a couple of rules for winter charters.

1- Drysuit

2- Dual regulators: doubles, pony bottle, or H-valve

Jon

 

[unirdna]

What's everyone else's lake look like right now???

My "lake" is 78F. I landed a 40 lb amberjack yesterday with my new peashooter, and Jill and I ate [a fraction of] him this evening - grilled, with mango-chipotle salsa. I forget my usb cable, or I'd post photos. Tomorrow we go after hogfish.

...I'll send you gringos photos, soon.

 

[kalin]

What a shame..Even in paradise , lack of usb cables...Go quarrel with your god

 

[Jon]

Glad your enjoying your trip down there.

We are getting SLAMMED with a winter snow storm up here- so you can enjoy yourself a little bit more knowing that.

We'll have to compare notes when you get back on where's the best place to spearfish down there. Watch out for the tiger sharks on the other side of the island.

Now, back to shoveling.

Z

 

[Erik]

Now, back to shoveling.

Z

Come do mine while you're at it! :t

 

[Jon]

Jeremy (wreckrunner) and I went to the outlet today, but the wind was hard out of the south, there was a ton of ice out there, and the outlet was off- so we moved over to Mendota.

Lake Mendota was completely different. The water along the southern shore was calm and moast of the lake was wide open. We did have to break through about 30 yards of ice before we could get to openwater, but the lak was very clear once we got there.

We swam around for about 90 minutes before frezing out- the water s a balmy 34F degrees. I saw some really nice sized largemouth bass, but nothing else. All the panfish we saw were dead anf anyhthing else must have moved off to deeper water.

I have a decent sized bump on the front of my head from swimming into the ice sheet on the way back in.:head Jeremy is now dreaming of an ice mask and was wonderig how to make his face stop burning. rofl

After diving it was time for beer, food and people watching on Statw street- which is always and adventure.

I'll post photos tomorrow.

Jon

 

[WreckRunner]

That was a lot of fun. Thanks again for the tour of Madison Jon. You know, I had all kinds of thoughts and realizations during today's dive that would have seemed so strange to me before moving here. I never knew that the butt of a speargun would work so well to smash a path through the ice. I never knew that facial numbness was a welcome relief from the searing pain you feel in water that cold. And it simply never occurred to me that it would be difficult to put on dry socks when your feet are completely numb.

All that being said, it was fun, and man does Wisconsin know how to do beer and food.