NWA395
Contributor
Great weekend diving the lake. The water continues to warm up slightly. The lake is above full pool and according to the COE Ranger was classified as flood stage on Sat. Lots of campsites under water and the flood gates on the dam were wide open all weekend.
Dove Dam Site North (Bluffs) both Sat 5/30 and Sun5/31, Water temp in the shallows were 72 degrees and still in the 40's deep.
This mornings dive(5/31) dive was along the bluffs. As we worked our way around the bluffs at about 68 feet (50 degrees), after about 25 min it was feeling a little chilly. We had turned the dive and level off at about 40' as we worked our way back. Started seeing a lot of fish between 35 and 40' ranging from stripers, bass, carp and the sunfish.
At about 35' I notice movement between the rocks below. I get a closer look from about 2' away and get quite the surprise. A water moccasin about 4' long and very well fed, working its way between the rocks. He was not shy, but was not aggressive and at one point I thought he (the snake) was becoming inquisitive. I signaled my buddy to come take a closer, who using proper hand signals, declined and communicated his opinion of my request. We watched it for about a minute and them we decided to move on.
It was not the fact that seeing a water moccasin was disturbing, it was the fact that he was at 35' that kind of blew my mind. Just never thought they went that deep.
Dove Dam Site North (Bluffs) both Sat 5/30 and Sun5/31, Water temp in the shallows were 72 degrees and still in the 40's deep.
This mornings dive(5/31) dive was along the bluffs. As we worked our way around the bluffs at about 68 feet (50 degrees), after about 25 min it was feeling a little chilly. We had turned the dive and level off at about 40' as we worked our way back. Started seeing a lot of fish between 35 and 40' ranging from stripers, bass, carp and the sunfish.
At about 35' I notice movement between the rocks below. I get a closer look from about 2' away and get quite the surprise. A water moccasin about 4' long and very well fed, working its way between the rocks. He was not shy, but was not aggressive and at one point I thought he (the snake) was becoming inquisitive. I signaled my buddy to come take a closer, who using proper hand signals, declined and communicated his opinion of my request. We watched it for about a minute and them we decided to move on.
It was not the fact that seeing a water moccasin was disturbing, it was the fact that he was at 35' that kind of blew my mind. Just never thought they went that deep.
