Devil's Den

[Ponyfeathers]

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I did a dive at Devil's Den. It was so amazing! Especially for our 2nd and 3rd dive when me and my group were alone and didn't have 50 other divers around. We really got to explore. Im so mad my camera died before we found the cave signs and skulls.

What im posting about, is to ask if anyone else saw the HUGE catfish? We saw him sitting vertically by the do not enter this cave because you will die sign, next to an alien skull. Didnt really think he was real at first, until he swam away.

We talked to the lady at the office about him, and she said his name was John Elle (dont know if I'm spelling it right). She was very glad he was doing well. They saved him from a fishing pond (i think) because he was just going to be a trophy on a wall somewhere.

Anyone seen him or have photos of him?

Ponyfeathers

 

[jscott099]

Glad you had a good time. I've also seen Mr Big (my nickname for him). We take students there for their first 2 OW training dives and it's always a hoot when they see him for the first time. I shoot UW video and I know I have him on tape. I guessing by your number of dives you are not cave/cavern trained. Please exercise caution and don't enter the marked off places as they can become extremely hazardous with silting.

 

[dkktsunami]

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I did a dive at Devil's Den. It was so amazing! Especially for our 2nd and 3rd dive when me and my group were alone and didn't have 50 other divers around. We really got to explore. Im so mad my camera died before we found the cave signs and skulls.

What im posting about, is to ask if anyone else saw the HUGE catfish? We saw him sitting vertically by the do not enter this cave because you will die sign, next to an alien skull. Didnt really think he was real at first, until he swam away.

We talked to the lady at the office about him, and she said his name was John Elle (dont know if I'm spelling it right). She was very glad he was doing well. They saved him from a fishing pond (i think) because he was just going to be a trophy on a wall somewhere.

Anyone seen him or have photos of him?

Ponyfeathers

The very nice English lady in the office is Rowena and the catfish hangs in that spot all the time - not sure what the deal is with that place but the fish likes to be there. I don't have photos but I dive there a lot in the winter and enjoy staying there.

 

[Ponyfeathers]

Glad you had a good time. I've also seen Mr Big (my nickname for him). We take students there for their first 2 OW training dives and it's always a hoot when they see him for the first time. I shoot UW video and I know I have him on tape. I guessing by your number of dives you are not cave/cavern trained. Please exercise caution and don't enter the marked off places as they can become extremely hazardous with silting.

No, neither I or my buddies were cave/cavern trained, and thus we did not enter anything that did not have visible light in it with our dive lights turned off. I would like to get cave certified some time, but not for a while, seems like a whole new level of difficulty.

 

[KY_BOB]

I don't have pics of him but I saw him back in January. He is a big sucker. I wonder what he weighs. I know that size is decieving underwater but he looked to me like he was 4 feet long.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

That's a beautiful place to dive, we usually do that in conjunction with Blue Grotto, located almost across the street. One dive, two max in either location; after that it gets a tad boring. We were just there April 4th.

 

[conradb212]

... What im posting about, is to ask if anyone else saw the HUGE catfish? We saw him sitting vertically by the do not enter this cave because you will die sign, next to an alien skull. ...

I saw the big guy during my first two visits to Devil's Den, Fall 2006 and early 2007. We named him "The Bus," because he was so big. When we went back in mid-June 2009, we saw some big ones, but not The Bus. So he must have been hiding.

As for Devil's Den, while it's not a large site I never seem to tire of it. I usually check max depth, which varies with water level. This time we found 51 feet. We had pretty strong divelights and tried to see what lies beyond the grates. There seemed quite a bit, both down and out. Rowena, albeit not a diver, said it peters out quickly, and Bill Oestreich later also said there isn't much. It sure looked that way, though.