Looked pretty crowded over by the paved road today. We did several dives on the dirt road off to the left. Temp wasn't too bad. 54 Suunto degrees ... Are you going to be over there tomorrow?
jcf
jcf
Lake Pleasant conditions
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No, I'll wait a few weeks and hope the vis improves a little. How was it where you were diving?
CB
CB
andresrumis
Guest
I have a question: why do you think the visibility went down so much? a few weeks a go I dove in Pleasant and the Vis was around 20'
I'm not sure. I've been diving Pleasant for many years during the winter months and have not had vis this bad. But this was a new site to me, I have not dived Dirty Shirt before so I didn't know what to expect. I was out to Desert Totoise road a month or so ago and vis was in the 8-10 ' range.
I'll head back out there though. That stone wall off the road by dirty shirt was interesting and I'd like to check it out some more.
CB
I'll head back out there though. That stone wall off the road by dirty shirt was interesting and I'd like to check it out some more.
CB
andresrumis
Guest
I have dived that stone wall close to the ranger station and I can tell you that it was the best dive in the lake I've had, since there is a lot of rock, it's not so silty out there, also you can get some depth, only thing is that you should carry a knife there, pretty handy by the way, there are a lot of fishing lines and it would not be cool to get stucked in one at all.
I also saw some good amount of fish there which is not too common during the day, you can see some more fish during night dives, Large mouth bass get stunt with bright lights so you can get really close to them and they don't even move, I have one hitting the flashlight once, it was kind of funny.
have a good dive
Andres
I also saw some good amount of fish there which is not too common during the day, you can see some more fish during night dives, Large mouth bass get stunt with bright lights so you can get really close to them and they don't even move, I have one hitting the flashlight once, it was kind of funny.
have a good dive
Andres
phatso-29
Registered
I can confirm AZ zoner, the vis was bad. Without fin kicks stirring up clouds of slit vis was at an impressive five feet at best.Heck a couple of times we had to use a flash light just to see the compass. The site was a nice change from Desert Tortise though.
The lake is filling back up. It was pretty low this summer. According to Arizona Fish and Game, the lake is 92% full (and only -16 feet below max). A drastic improvement. I would imagine that type of water movement and the dry weather we have been experiencing has led to the sub-par visibility for this time of year. Last year, we had a ton of rain, and visibility was great through June. I can remember vis being in the 20 foot plus range.
Lake Pleasant is part of the Central Arizona Project (CAP). Lake Pleasant water funnels in from both the Colorado River via CAP and the Agua Fria River. Generally, water is banked in Lake Pleasant during low demand periods such as the winter and released during high demand periods such as the summer. The quality of the water from these sources can vary significantly. Water quality of the CAP is, to a large degree, dependent upon regional weather patterns. Total dissolved solid concentrations (TDS) of CAP water behave in a cyclical nature related to natural flood and drought periods, with TDS dropping during wetter times and increasing during extended dry periods.
Lake Pleasant is part of the Central Arizona Project (CAP). Lake Pleasant water funnels in from both the Colorado River via CAP and the Agua Fria River. Generally, water is banked in Lake Pleasant during low demand periods such as the winter and released during high demand periods such as the summer. The quality of the water from these sources can vary significantly. Water quality of the CAP is, to a large degree, dependent upon regional weather patterns. Total dissolved solid concentrations (TDS) of CAP water behave in a cyclical nature related to natural flood and drought periods, with TDS dropping during wetter times and increasing during extended dry periods.
OP
The water level was even lower the summer before. I think part of the reason the viz hasn't been that great is because the water hasn't been moving that much this year. The level only dropped about 50 feet this past summer, compared to 90 feet the year before. The level has only been going up about 10 feet a month. This means the water isn't moving that much, so sediment is hanging in the water instead of sinking to the bottom. In 2004 there was a pretty significant increase in the lake level in a short period of time. That caused an increase in water movement and a natural filtration to occur. We've also had a much warmer winter this year, causing a slower change, and less drastic one, in the water temps.
Hey, If any of you guys get out to the lake to dive dirty shirt, Would keep an eye out for an ugly green dive light. My buddy thinks he lost it along the road last weekend.
Thanks
Craig
Thanks
Craig
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