need some diving locations

[mrmccoy]

I live in Hammond,La and am looking at taking a camping trip with some non divers. I want to go to the Destin area so I will be able to dive but they want to go further north. We don't want to drive more then 4-5 hours. I found Pelham,AL and there is a state park about 10 miles from the dive shop/quarry but are there any other places about the same distance from me?

 

[mrmccoy]

I found Lake Ouachita but it is about 9 hours away. Does any one have any other suggestions?

 

[briankinley2004]

I would think Lake Ouachita would be about as close as Pelham. I am in Monroe and it takes me about 3 1/2HRs to Lake Ouachita. There are several good campgrounds there as well as dive shops. You can also take a boat and camp on one of the many islands if you are tent camping and just shore dive off the island. Lake Degray is about an hour closer than Ouachita and has good diving & camping also. We just got back from Lake Ouachita this past weekend. We rented a houseboat and spearfished off the boat. Viz varied alot but was best below thermocline at about 20' although one evening we had 15' viz above it. Unless you go East towards Texas I can't think of any dive spots 4-5 Hrs North of you with decent viz and camping. There is a lake in Jonesboro, LA (Caney Creek Lake) with a nice campground but the viz was about 5' according to a friend of mine who dove it a month ago. Toledo Bend is supposed to have decent diving near the dam and a campground but again that is more West and not North. Im heading your way to dive next weekend and wished I lived down your way hehe.

 

[mrmccoy]

Diving down here is great if you like 5ft. vis. or less! That is a good idea about camping on the islands and the other couple we will be going with have a boat. I saw the Lake Ouachita state park......I wonder if you can do some shore diving from there. I know boats can be rented so we may just rent one of the flat boats for a day to do some diving from the islands.
Is there a season on spear fishing for that lake? I'm assuming you just need a fishing license to spear fish?

 

[briankinley2004]

The spearfishing season is June 15th thru March 15th. I think you can spear rough fish year round but bass, walleye and other game fish must be taken during the season and the limit is 1/2 the normal limit. Here is the link to the game & fish brochure.

http://www.agfc.com/!userfiles/pdfs/guidebooks/2009Fishing.pdf
As far as a license you just need a standard fishing license. You can buy a weekend one but a year for non resident is just 40 bucks and its from the date of purchase not a calendar year like in Louisiana. I am not sure of the shore diving near the park. I know at Brady Mountain it is real sandy with alot of boat traffic from the ramps & marina. I find the best diving to be on rocky bluffs. Here is a link with maps to dive sites in Lake Ouachita as well as other Arkansas Lakes

Dive Sites in Arkansas

Also don't forget to put your dive flag out and your supposed to stay within 300' of it. There are also some dive sites fairly close to Brady Mountain which has a campground and is more in the centrally located than the state park. Hope the viz is better than 5' next weekend for us. We are going to dive the rigs and do some spearing. This will be my first trip down there diving.(Fourchon area)

 

[mrmccoy]

Out on the rigs you should be good! I was refering to inland diving around here.

Thanks for all the info! I will look into the brady mtn. campground.

 

[mrmccoy]

How did the spear fishing go this past weekend?

 

[briankinley2004]

Just got back tonite. Dove Saturday & Sunday. The viz was a good 60' except below the thermocline (which I was not aware the gulf had until this trip) then it went down to probably 20-30'. We shot several amberjacks & lemon fish as well as a few triggers and some mutton snapper. I actually got an amberjack with my pneumatic freshwater gun. Since this was my first trip I was supposed to stay up shallow and shoot triggers, etc. Well one of the other guys killed a big AJ at about 150' and brought him up to around 60' to rest, etc. He dangled him on the line sort of like a decoy and a couple others followed him up. I shot mine in about 60' of water and wore him down. The spear did not go all the way thru. I thought the fish was worn down and went to pull him up and he got another wind and pulled loose. Luckily he floated to the surface and the guys on the boat got him for me. I will be using a larger gun next time I go out for sure! The guys on the boat that dove alot said this trip was a bummer and they didn't kill the fish they normally do but it was a blast for me!

 

[mrmccoy]

Good deal! Did you go on a charter boat?

 

[briankinley2004]

No went with a friend/business associate who keeps a boat down there and goes out regularly.