Well the weekend went well, but we were slightly dissapointed with the underwater world at Beaver. Topside, it was a beautifull and very pristine lake. We got a late start on Saturday after waiting around at the marina for a "buddy" who was a no show. Didn't call or anything, the nerve!
Anyways, our first dive was at a the bluffs directly West of the Dam. We dropped in and found Vis to be about 10-12 feet but oddly enough, as we went deeper it got worse. Around 40ft deep there began a layer of silty water that reduced vis to maybe 6-8 ft. We continued our descent to around 100ft and found no end to the silt. Did around a 45 min. dive on this bluff and saw one juvenile largemouth bass. Other than a few beer cans here and there, there was not much to see other than trees.
Our second dive was off of the large island about 1 mile south of the dam. We were told about some foundations and a possible school bus right at the submerged hazard marker bouy. Thinking this sounded interesting we motored over only to find that the bouy was only in about 9ft of water. We sort of drove a circle around this bouy and couldn't find any water deeper than about 35ft anywhere within about 100 yards of the bouy. We were really wanting something a little deeper so after consulting our "Fishing Hot Spots" map, we noticed several foundations that appeared to be in about 50-60ft just south of the bouy. We dropped in to a depth of about 25ft onto a pebble bottom with rather good vis.(12-15ft) But again at about 40ft the bottom became silt and the water clarity dropped dramatically. We did find one house foundation and next to that was an old cellar foundation which were interesting, but again no fish!
By this point we were both getting tired (funny how that happens when you get up at 0300 and drive 3.5hrs) so we decided to call it a day. Under the recomendation of the Lost Bridge Marina staff we decided to get a room at the Across The Bridge Resturant and Hotel. The room was minimalistic but clean, but if you ever there on Friday or Saturday nights get to the resturant early for dinner. The place was packed. They have an excellent all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.
After a well rested night we awoke to a cold sunday morning with frost covering everything. We had planned on hitting the lake early but after seeing the frost we went back to bed and slept in a little longer. Today we decided to try the bluffs that start at the South end of the Dam and extend West. Our plan was to dive the drop-off at around 100ft. We descended into the same water conditions as the day before. What the map didn't show was that at around 50ft a submerged forest begins and only seemed to be worsening the deeper we got. Due to the low vis and the loss of surface light, navigating thru the fallen trees was a real nuisance. On this particular dive we saw one large carp. Other than that, nothing.
By this point we had seen about enough and were both ready to call it a weekend. We motored around the lake a little and then headed back.
While I have not given up on this lake, I probably won't be going back until the vis is improved and can maybe hook up with someone who knows that lake and can maybe take me to some different and more interesting sites. Hopefully with a few less trees. So if anyone is ever interested in going again, please let me know. Sorry for getting so long winded. Brandon
