Don't underestimate your local mudhole

[Doc Harry]

I wouldn't consider your Seattle park a "mud hole."

Come dive with me in my local quarry where we'll slowly make our way down to 120 feet in complete darkness with 2 inches of visibility.

Now that's what I call a "mud hole."

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I took two of my current AOW students on a fun dive on Saturday at the local "mudhole" just down the street from where I live. Despite having done hundreds of dives there, it always produces something to amaze and amuse. That day was no different. The site is filled with manmade "junk" that people put down there to attract and provide shelter for critters ... everything from old pipes and street lamp shades to engine blocks, toilets, appliances, and even an old VW bug that's by now pretty much eaten away by the salt water except for the non-metal parts.

At one such structure we found literal colonies of gunnels moving in ... creating nests ... and mating. I saw them in pairs in virtually every opening large enough to admit them. At one opening I saw the tiny head of a mosshead warbonnet ... perhaps a half-inch in diameter and two inches long ... peaking out at me. My students were mesmerized ... we could've spent an entire dive just hovering there in a 30 or so square foot area watching the critters getting ready for their winter nesting.

Tonight or tomorrow evening I plan to go back with a camera and macro lens ... despite the fact that I've looked at this very spot hundreds of times over the past several years, it's a real treat to see this little community springing to life before my eyes ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tdtaylor]

TS&M, sounds like I would love your "mud hole." Like several others, our "mud hole" is a quarry about an hour away, and 10 foot visibility would be a good day. Several weekends ago we were excited because we saw a 3-4 pound bass, a change from the "attack" Bluegills (yes, cover your ears). Our real challenge is in the summer, where if you are diving deep (95-110 feet), it can be 95 and very humid on the surface, and 40 degrees F at depth.

But then again, it is wet, and unlike others we do have a place to go that is less than a 4 hour drive.

 

[Guba]

I don't think the term "mudhole" really relates to visibility . . ..

Nope. Around my neck o' th' woods, that's EXACTLY what it means. That's why we used to be called the "Texas Swamp Divers" sub-forum. I have no idea why that changed...the DIVING sure hasn't!

 

[Slamfire]

Lynn, yesterday I was in your local mudhole. I've done 3 dives there and I think it's a versatile mudhole, though you could use a wall. I can't help but compare it to Whytecliff. Sorry (well...not really ).

What it does have that Whytecliff does not, is some genuine wrecks like the Fuller and the MT6. Yesterday I did the MT6 and was able to experience it with a whopping 15 ft of milky visibility.

We followed the grapple line and found it lying on top of what looked like a plywood board. The milky visibility prevents you from taking in a panoramic view of the entire wreck. This is not like Florida's Hydro Atlantic, where it's all clear and bright and you see the wreck from far above. Deep, dark, cold and milky, that's a real wreck :tongue2:.

You're descending down the line into darkness and come to a plywood board. I tie my reel line to the grapple line and head on out. Very quickly you find some plumose anemones and then got to the side edge of the boat. At the edge, I caught a quick glance of two fish that seemed to have some barbs--pacific cod? I also saw some black rockfish and thought I saw a metallic bluish boccacio rockfish among them.

I go back over the boat towards it's center and come across a very big and pale tiger rockfish. Soon after the rockfish there is a big hole that goes deep inside the wreck. We keep on going and find a huge cabezon sitting by an even bigger hole in the boat. I point my buddy to the fish and pretty soon it gets uncomfortable with us crowding around and goes into the hole which seems to go pretty deep into the boat.

At this point we're very close to the midpoint of our bottom time and my buddy gives me a turnaround signal. So I start winding back line to the grapple. Pretty soon we catch a glimpse of the strobe left there by the 2nd team in. We got back to the grapple earlier than expected and still have some bottom time so we follow the other teams line to see what they are up to. We caught up to them and see them taking some footage.

So we say hi and bye and head back to the grapple to start the ascent. Ascent goes well. My O2 first stage was leaking above the high pressure seat retainer, rather aggressively at first. So I move out the 50% bottle to a leash and put it on the back to clear up some room in case I need to do deco feathering the tank valve on and off. The leak diminishes as tank pressure drops below 2000 psi. At 1800 psi the leak is no more. I clear my deco and then do some more time just for the heck of it, while I'm watching the 2nd team do their deco below me.

It was a really nice dive and I intend to repeat it. You guys do have a complete mudhole (minus the wall ).

 

[tdtaylor]

Wow, I'm jealous. A Small Mouth Bass and a few Blue Gill and Crappie just doesn't hold up against your mud hole! :shocked2:

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Lynn, yesterday I was in your local mudhole. I've done 3 dives there and I think it's a versatile mudhole, though you could use a wall. I can't help but compare it to Whytecliff. Sorry (well...not really ).

What it does have that Whytecliff does not, is some genuine wrecks like the Fuller and the MT6. Yesterday I did the MT6 and was able to experience it with a whopping 15 ft of milky visibility.

We followed the grapple line and found it lying on top of what looked like a plywood board. The milky visibility prevents you from taking in a panoramic view of the entire wreck. This is not like Florida's Hydro Atlantic, where it's all clear and bright and you see the wreck from far above. Deep, dark, cold and milky, that's a real wreck :tongue2:.

You're descending down the line into darkness and come to a plywood board. I tie my reel line to the grapple line and head on out. Very quickly you find some plumose anemones and then got to the side edge of the boat. At the edge, I caught a quick glance of two fish that seemed to have some barbs--pacific cod? I also saw some black rockfish and thought I saw a metallic bluish boccacio rockfish among them.

I go back over the boat towards it's center and come across a very big and pale tiger rockfish. Soon after the rockfish there is a big hole that goes deep inside the wreck. We keep on going and find a huge cabezon sitting by an even bigger hole in the boat. I point my buddy to the fish and pretty soon it gets uncomfortable with us crowding around and goes into the hole which seems to go pretty deep into the boat.

At this point we're very close to the midpoint of our bottom time and my buddy gives me a turnaround signal. So I start winding back line to the grapple. Pretty soon we catch a glimpse of the strobe left there by the 2nd team in. We got back to the grapple earlier than expected and still have some bottom time so we follow the other teams line to see what they are up to. We caught up to them and see them taking some footage.

So we say hi and bye and head back to the grapple to start the ascent. Ascent goes well. My O2 first stage was leaking above the high pressure seat retainer, rather aggressively at first. So I move out the 50% bottle to a leash and put it on the back to clear up some room in case I need to do deco feathering the tank valve on and off. The leak diminishes as tank pressure drops below 2000 psi. At 1800 psi the leak is no more. I clear my deco and then do some more time just for the heck of it, while I'm watching the 2nd team do their deco below me.

It was a really nice dive and I intend to repeat it. You guys do have a complete mudhole (minus the wall ).

View attachment 137759

Last time I did the MT6 we had about 4 feet of vis. Did you do it at low tide? I recall the depth going to something like 205 ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tracydr]

I saw a carp and two striped bass one time in Lake Pleasant.
Usually, I get excited if I see crayfish.

 

[TMHeimer]

TS&M, sounds like I would love your "mud hole." Like several others, our "mud hole" is a quarry about an hour away, and 10 foot visibility would be a good day. Several weekends ago we were excited because we saw a 3-4 pound bass, a change from the "attack" Bluegills (yes, cover your ears). Our real challenge is in the summer, where if you are diving deep (95-110 feet), it can be 95 and very humid on the surface, and 40 degrees F at depth.

But then again, it is wet, and unlike others we do have a place to go that is less than a 4 hour drive.

You guys have a great "mudhole" down there-- Cincoteague Bay.

 

[tdtaylor]

I saw a carp and two striped bass one time in Lake Pleasant.
Usually, I get excited if I see crayfish.

I forgot about them- and yes, we would get excited about a crayfish, but they are really hard to see on the gray, silty bottom, especially after the OW classes go through!

---------- Post Merged at 03:31 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:25 PM ----------

You guys have a great "mudhole" down there-- Cincoteague Bay.

Cincoteague Bay (VA) is about a three and a half hour drive, a hour or two more "in" season from northern Maryland. At that point, when we do venture down there, we head out on a boat from the south side of Ocean City and head out to a wreck. I definitely don't consider this our local "mud hole."

And occasionally, we do go out for a low viz oyster dive in the Chesapeake Bay (headed there first of November), which is only a hour and a half away. Just not much diving in the northern (MD) part of the bay. I may be headed there in the near future with a friend of mine who is documenting DNR artificial reefs, but this will not be a typical dive.