Advice?? diving 4 acre catfish & carp private tournament lake-fish 20lbs-70+lbs

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Hello All,
Just got certified a few weeks ago and looking to expand my diving experiences. One of my customers owns two private tournament fishing lakes. The lakes are about 7-10 feet deep and 4-5 acres each. Each lake has approximately 30,000 lbs of fish with an average size of 20 lbs some. That amount of poundage translates into somewhere between 1500-2000 fish total or somewhere between 375-625 per fish per acre. I know for sure that in the carp lake there are a few that are in the 40 pound range and in the cat fish lake there are several in the 50-70+ range. There are also brim in the lake and not counted in the above stock numbers. There is a report that there a cat fish that is close to 100 pounds in the cat fish lake. I would like to meet him! Types of cats in the lake: blues, flats, channel and at least one eel cat. I have fished in the carp lake before and the fish are pretty fiesty! Lots of fun to catch them.

He keeps a pretty heavy algae bloom in the lake so vis is poor. Both lakes have a dam at the lower end and the ponds are fed from a mountain stream. There are long aerators that float in the water and run the length of the lakes

I have found someone willing to go along with me for the dive. Any advice on planning the dive. If there aren't too many people fishing we will just swim around the line. If the lake is crowded, Jimmy will make people pull up for a few minutes to let us pass.

At this point I am planning to dive the lake early in the morning so there will be some sunlight and few fisherman. Will take along a video camera if I can get my hands on one. Would like a shot of me and big cat! Water will be warm, but will wear a wet suit to protect of fish nips! Might take along some chow or cheese whiz to feed them.

Any advice on planning the dive or words to the wise for things I should watch out for??

 

[dkktsunami]

Aereators frequently operate on 220 power. You might inquire about any possible danger in this area.

 

[Matteo]

snapping turtles, snakes?....you're braver than me

 

[m3830431]

Have fun if you can 10 feet with no vis. I did it once there were not near as many fish it was my worst dive to date

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

I will check about the power on the aerators. Thanks for the tip. I am afraid of electric!! I found that out the hard way playing with the light up Halloween pumpkin when I was a child. If I close my eyes, I can still remember the zizz! from touching the plug.. Don't want to go there again! Especially not on a 220!

As far as snakes and turtles, I will find out. I want to dive the Cooper River--with gators, low/ no vis and current. I thought this might be good prep for that dive with big fiesty fish. If I am afraid of a carp or cat, I should probably stay out of the ocean or rivers. I have encountered giant sea turtles while fishing on the ICW in Charleston. Scared the who do out of me. It surfaced near me while I was on a floating dock at night with no light and gasped and hissed and moaned at me. Note to self, take a light next time!!

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

m38,
what was bad about it? please share maybe I can learn something to help me avoid the same fate.

 

[Gidds]

Snappers will flee underwater and will not bite unless you mess with them, sounds like a fun dive, will your friend let you spear any of his fish? I was just reading Hawaiian Skindiver and they had a FW spearing tourney in AR that sounded like a blast. As for being scared keep in mind that big carp tend to be jumpy and spook underwater and a 4' carp can come barrelling out of vegetation when you least expect it but they are more afraid of you than you are of them. You will enjoy watching the "brim" (sunfish of various flavors for those who don't speak Southern) they have very interesting feeding behaviors.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Have you seen the horizontal vis in the lake? It may well be inches to zero. Just because you can see down doesn't mean you can see across. Are there weeds in the lake? The lakes in that depth range around here are full of tall weeds (mostly pond weed) that will wrap around you and can entangle you. They can usually be easily torn or cut away from your gear and as long as you keep your head they are more of an annoyance than anything. Failing to keep your head can result in panic and death. If there are weeds in the ponds you will probably encounter monofilament line (and hooks) as well, something else to get entangled in. I would not bother with any extraneous gear, especially something as cumbersome as an underwater video camera until you have done at least one dive in the pond. That's just something else that can get tangled up and you might damage it as well.

Diving shears and the ability to use them are a must, a back-up cutting device is adviseable as well. You definitely don't want things dangling off of you, any clips or loose straps will grab weeds and monofilament.

The bottom is probably going to be black muck so stay away from it or you'll completely blow out any visibility you might have. I've seen one pond get so black you couldn't read your gauge with it pressed to your mask.

There will be lots of particles in the water with the algae bloom and vertigo can be an issue, keep that in mind. It's really easy to get disoriented in those conditions.

The fish are most likely not going to be an issue on the dive, the environment will "get you" first. I know I probably wouldn't do the dive even now but I've dove low vis lakes with lots of pond weed and quite frankly they s**k. Everyone should try it once Proper equipment, comfort in low/zero vis, a level head and a solid buddy are required.

Most important, if you do decide to do the dive and you don't like it--ABORT!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Hank49]

You'll need a compass. I've dived in shrimp ponds in about the same depth and vis of which you're talking and without a compass you'll likely go around in circles.
As far as getting a shock from the aerators, if they're shorted you'll get shocked with one foot on the bank and another in the water. Once you jump all the way in, you won't get a shock. But steer clear of them if they have propellers.
I think the guy is exaggerating on the 30,000 lbs of fish though. If I was to carry 30,000 lbs of shrimp in a pond that size I'd need to run about 30 hp of aeration and maybe more in times of oxygen crisis. Fish stories...haha. But plan your route and use your compass. I wouldn't worry about getting bitten by fish either. They'll run from you.

 

[Don Wray]

Your not really going to enjoy it. I built a 5 acre lake 30 feet off our back door for my wife 6 years ago. The fish are not an issue and nor are the snakes. Its cold below 5 ft. It's pea green the first 4 feet with barely enough viz to read your gauges and after that pitch black. Yes, you can see down but once submerged, you can't see straight ahead or around. You cannot see your buddy much less signal them if there is a problem. In my opinion, you will expand your diving experience but it isn't going to be a fun one and this early on, I would avoid it. I also would not dive it without someone as my buddy experienced with this type diving. In essence, my words to the wise are abort this dive before you try it, find a swimming pool and work on skills, it will be time better spent and more enjoyable.