Clark hill Lake (Lake thurmond to SC folks)

Great diving at Clarks Hill today. We did two dives - 103' for 1:32 and 78' for 1:22. Lots of fish and great vis. I'll give a rundown of dive 1:
We began our dive by dropping down at the 15' dropoff a swimming north along the dropoff to our newest "wreck" - a 16' ski boat (circa 1970) that sunk a few weeks ago (yes alcohol and crime were involved or so I understand) in 24' of h2o. Many brim, blue gill, shell crackers etc.. From there we swam downward to the pool filter which is now sporting an American flag. From there we dropped down to the 35' rock ledge and continued north past the gnome statue and dropping downward to the angel statue in 52' today. We entered the trench and swam down into the forest and on downward to the 100' wall and turned south. No lights needed today. Vis was 20+ at 100'. We angled upward to the 80' wall and swam the entire length. We pasted the log with the dive flag and arrived at the missle at 79' today (lake is down). From there we angled upward to the "shark" and the 3 big rocks. We turned north again past the pool filters to the 35'ledge and upward to the boat in 24'. We swam along the 15' dropoff south to the plane. From the plane we followed the 40' ledge below the dam swimming west. We angled upward to 15' to began a 10 min stop along the rocks of the dam to the east. We saw lots of blue gill, shell crackers, cats
(large ones about 10 of them), bass, etc. We finished our dive in the shallows. A great dive. 80 degree on the surface. 60 degrees at depth. Vis was great except for the thermocline between 24' and 31' when it dropped to 4' or less. Otherwise it was 10-20'. We are diving Sat at 8am (two tanks) and Sunday at 1pm (2 tanks). Probably Monday too.

hey Andy
we will be on our way back down Sunday
maybe we will see you guys out there

Great, we will be diving about 1p.

Good dives today. Lots of diving today going on with an Ow class and Scubanick and company from Orangeburg. Rudy and I dove two dives on 80's: 99' for 1:05 and 82' for 1:10. Vis was 15' -20' below the 35' thermocline. 100' wall was very nice today with no lights needed. We dove the 40' ledge, angel statue, trench, forest, 100' wall 80' wall, missle, shark, 3 big rocks, ski boat, plane and dam rocks on the first dive. Saw 5 cats first dive. Dive two was a marathon swim. We began in hippie cove (50lb cat!) dropped down to 40-55' util we hit the N. Wall and then turned South, through the forest to the 80' wall, three big rocks to the 40' ledge below the dam, swam along at 20' until the Dam wall, turned around and swam back to shore at 15-10' (several cats and large bass). Must have covered the better part of a mile. Guess I'll skip the gym today

yeah we had a great day diving today also
i actually got to see more of the items you guys have out there
the plane, the missle, the wall at like 94 feet, the gnome, and a coffee pot.
all in all did 3 good dives looked for that ski boat on my last one me and one buddy apparently missed it...but one of the other buddies with me found it...
i found a cast net that was kool... the two times ive been there i have found something each time...last time was a compass

Yeah, I frequently find stuff on these dives. I'm not really a fisherman, but I have a very nice selection of rod and reels - slightly used (fish won), anchors, masks, snorkels, a few dive lights, eye glasses (a friend lost them and I found them in 45' somehow), dive weights, coleman lanterns, partridge in a pear tree, etc.
We are hitting the river tomorrow. We are diving 100 steels (2hr.+ dive) in 70 degree H2O... Maybe more finds...

scubanick:

yeah we had a great day diving today also
i actually got to see more of the items you guys have out there
the plane, the missle, the wall at like 94 feet, the gnome, and a coffee pot.
all in all did 3 good dives looked for that ski boat on my last one me and one buddy apparently missed it...but one of the other buddies with me found it...
i found a cast net that was kool... the two times ive been there i have found something each time...last time was a compass

Click to expand...

After the Gnome statue drop down about 5' and swim about 50' or so., look for the rocks with the cable, go 10' past this and drop down to 54' full lake pool (51' now) and find the angel statue on the big rock. About 20' the other (west) side of the angel, look for the ledge (about 2' high) follow it NNW and hit the trench, follow the trench out until it ends and hang a left, swim about 75' along the ledge, then drop down to 80' and you will be on the 80' wall. Continue along the wall. As the wall ends stay at 82' (full lake pool, 79' now). You will pass two pool filters and then arrive at the missle. From the missle head 180 degrees and hit the plane. Another good route.

You know Diveprof, us Lake Lanier Loonie Birds are going to have to make the drive out to do a dive with you over at Clark Hill Lake. The reports are awsome. Maybe we could dive the river too. You would have to be our guide. I'll mention it to the Lanier Loonie Birds.

Jeremy

JKSteger:

You know Diveprof, us Lake Lanier Loonie Birds are going to have to make the drive out to do a dive with you over at Clark Hill Lake. The reports are awsome. Maybe we could dive the river too. You would have to be our guide. I'll mention it to the Lanier Loonie Birds.

Jeremy

Click to expand...

Sure, come join us. Be glad to show you the sites. The vis has been great lately at the lake (excepting the thermocline b/w 24 -31' where it drops to 6' or so). The plane is clear at 35'. Water temps vary from 80s on the surface to 64 degrees at 100'. we generally dive 7mm jumpsuits with hood and gloves for comfort at depth. Some are diving 5mm. Fish life has been good (mostly above 30'), though have seen some big cats at depth. The river varies from great to not diveable depending on the amount of rain we get. We are diving the river this morning and expect about 10-15' vis. It is a nice 1-2 hour drift depending on where you enter in 70-72 degree water that doesn't get much over 20' deep. The river dive site is about 40 minutes from the lake with a diveshop in between if you need fills. You could do both in one day or make a day of it at either location. The lake has a nice beach (GA side of the dam) for non-diving spouses and children.

Seven of us dove the Savannah River today: 2 hours, 9 minutes @ 20' in 72 degree water. Vis was 10-15'. We dove the shipwreck at 5th street, cruised over to the old hamburg dock remains (old cotton docks about 1/3 of the way out into the river off the SC side), and down the GA side among the boulders and trees, past the remains of the old hamburg bridge. Great fish life today. Several trophy-sized bass, some of the largest crappie I've seen, carp, bluegill,etc. We also saw several turtles. Good company, good dive...