Recent Lake Pleasant conditions/reports

[PhxSki]

Dove Vista Point with Steve (ScubaSteve2000) this morning. A few other divers arrived mid-morning and set up on the point however, the picnic table area was empty.

Water level appears to be down 10' to 15' from its high point however, visibility above the thermocline is surprisingly good (maybe 20' to 30' on spots). Below the thermocline (right at 34'), visibility drops off significantly.

Always a pleasure diving with Steve. Thanks.

Regards, Bill

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

We saw a ton of fish yesterday. Literally hundreds of smal frey ranging in size from the size of your little finger to hand sized. Even some tiny hatchlings hugging close to a mossy rock next to the anchor of Bill's dive bouy. In one area we saw three catfish swimming around and through a school of small bass only a few inches long. They seemed to work together. Two of them would keep the mom and dad bass busy while the third one would swim through for a tasty mouthfull of baby bass. I was surprised to see that kind of cooperation. Didn't think fish were that intellegent.

The vis was very good. I heard that it was owing to the zebra mussles. Since they are filter feeders they are filtering out (and consuming) the floating algea. Speaking of which; they now seem to be extending a tube from their clamy inards. All the better to pull in more algea with, I guess.

We also found some pretty big crawfish at all depths. Now that I finally figured out how to spot their burrows.

Great dives with Bill.

Steve.

 

[jpassov]

It really was a great day out at LP yesterday. The fish were everywhere and the viz was the unusually good!
Here are a few photos.

 

[MacGyverGTP]

jpassov, where were you when you took these photos? Do you have any more? These look incredibly clear!
Thanks!
MacGyverGTP

 

[PhxSki]

Dove Vista Point with Steve (ScubaSteve2000) and Mike (Rudebob) this morning.

Water level continues to drop however, visibility remains surprisingly good. Surface water (above thermocline) is very comfortable. A 3mm full suit or shortie should be more than sufficient. Anything below 35' is very chilly.

Understand that the zebra mussels may be playing a role in regard to the water clarity.

Thanks to Steve and Mike. Always a pleasure diving with these guys.

Regards, Bill

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

We (well, Mike anyway) recovered a couple of nice anchors and a snorkel during the course of the day. When we returned to our dive bouy at the end of the first dive I practiced shooting an SMB. The vis above and below the thermocline is still pretty good. I looked at my log book for this time last year and the vis was definatly not as good then as it is now. No light needed even at 90 feet. There were pockets of milky cloudy water but they seemed limited to within a few feet of depth.

There were probably a half dozen divers in the water, not counting us. Every group had at least one dive bouy. On our second dive we followed the bottom contour north to the wall that leads to the boat ramp. At 60 feet we swam past the boat ramp into the area below Spring Canyon Landing. It's been over a year since I've been there. It will take a few more exploritory missions for me to get my bearings over there.

The fish are stilll pretty active. The little ones are schooling. There are huge "baitball" type of schools of some kind of fish that must be pretty tasty. Larger bass, stripers and catfish like to swim through their school and pick a few off.

We also got to play with some hand sized crawfish. I don't know if they're more active too or if I finally learned where to look but the last few weeks I have seen more crawfish and signs of crawfish than I have since I started diving.

The best news is that I can put away my 7mm for a few months unless I'm going to SoCal. The coolest temperature I read above the thermocline was 78 degrees; below the thermocline (at 90 feet) it was 62 degrees. Mike donned his shorty on the second dive so I bet he was glad to get to shallow water again. Bill and I did a third dive staying at or above the thermocline. I had changed into my 3mm with a beanie and reef gloves. At this rate, shallow dives can be done in trunks and a Salva Vida Scuba tee shirt.

Dive Safe...and Often,

Steve.

 

[azspearo]

I dove Pleasant on the 10th with three friends my son and a friend’s son. The trip was a spearfishing trip for Stripers.
Only one of us used a suit, a 3mm shorty and he was the only tank diver. Vis was great at an easy 35' in spots. This was my 8yr old sons first time spearfishing and he did great. We spent 7 continuous hrs in the water and it was the most enjoyable time I have spent in a fresh water lake in a very long time.
For us freedivers it made for great conditions until we hit the thermocline. Deepest dive for me was to 45ft when my friend’s son dropped his polespear. Most of the hunting was from 25-35. We found a spot that held two nice 8lbs LMB and around a dozen catfish with some pushing 20lbs. I’ll have to come back for some hook and line.
We never did see any fish we were after, Stripers, well at least in legal areas to spearfish. Next time I’m going to try in the middle of the lake.
Any suggestions were I can find Stripers?
We did have a run in with a boat load of drunks later in the day. They came within 25’ on our dive flag (minimum distance when spearfishing is 100ft) and my friend was closest so he politely instructed them about dive flags and the law.
Did find two new anchors one of them was a small mushroom and I gave it to a man and his wife that were walking down the ramp with a small inflatable which they were going to be diving from and they didn’t have one.

 

[booth22]

At this rate, shallow dives can be done in trunks and a Salva Vida Scuba tee shirt.

Dive Safe...and Often,

Steve.

Wow, an amzing dive report! Perhaps the best I've read on here in a looong time!

 

[pdelannoy]

My daughter and I dove Desert Tortoise for the last three days. Water temp is 84, vis 15 feet in the shallows and very bad (1-2 feet) at 30 feet. Our best dives were the ones where we stuck close to shore and played with the fish in the rocks. We had a blast.

PD

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

I met Bill (Phxski), Mike (Rudebob) and Laura (Sea Princes) for a couple of night dives on Friday at VP.What a great time we had! It was almost dusk when we got into the water for the first dive. There were a lot of juvenile fish of several species congregated at the thermocline. More than I remember from last year. We swam out to the far wall and followed it back to the boat ramp and across to an area called Spring Canyon Landing. There the bottom was covered with big rocks. Lots of places for fish and crawdads to hide...and be found. Vis was pretty good above the thermocline. By pretty good I am guessing 10 to 15 feet. Temperature above the thermocling was in the 80s. Upper 60s to lower 70s below it, depending on your depth.

After a good surface interval we entered the water again. This time it was fully dark from the get-go. Our dive lights looked like light sabers slicing through the, at times, murky water. This time we followed a more direct path to the Spring Canyon area. On the way we worked our way up and down along the near wall. Peering into every crack and crevice our lights could find. The wall faded into the surface of the boat ramp at about 40 feet.

We were met by dozens of juvie fish taking refuge in the rocks for the night. We saw several catfish. The biggest was a flathead about 18 inches long. We played with the fish and crawdads until we reached the agreed turn pressure.

The lake is surreal at night. Our imaginations played with the mundane rock formation or drowned tree making it, for a few seconds, into something terrible and frightening. We came into a stand of trees that didn't seem to be there when we went out. It seemed for a few minutes everywhere we turned there was another set of finger like branches reaching out from the darkness to block our path. Moss hung from fishing lines crisscrossing the trees as if some giant lake spider had set a trap for the unwarry catfish - or diver. (Crawdads and catfish and bass, oh my). We picked our way through somehow and survived.

I can't wait to get out there again.

Steve.