I met up with Kunk and Timeliner at 9am ish at the front gate to Eisenhower park as planned. We drove back to the swimming area and just a leisurely walk down to the swim beach. Steps.... many steps. Going down, not too bad. A couple big steps, but hand rails are available and useful with a rig on your back.
Walked back to the parking area and geared up from the backs of trucks. It's a good thing it wasn't busy. I really need to fnd a better way of securing my car keys. Not leaving my wallet in plain view would probably be a good idea too. Nothing happened to it.
Made the walk back down to the beach with gear and waded in. I was in a 5mm, Kunk in a 3mm, and Timeliner in his farmer john. Surface temp 78*F. We discussed a dive plan, swam out to drop the flag, and dropped down. We promptly got separated and came back up. All three of us were carrying lights. This was a really good idea as it was the only thing that kept us together after dropping back down again. We dropped down again and began cruising. 5 foot vis or less. It got dark at about 25-30 feet. I marked 49 minutes at a max of 49 feet. Bottom temp 74*F. Head butted some stumps, saw some fish....
I didn't get a good look at the tails on the cats to see if they were lobed or like a normal cat fish tail, but I'm almost postive the darters were Texas logperch
All in all a good dive. Well worth further investigation.
Kory had to bail on us, and I didn't want to walk the steps again, so Timeliner and I went to investigate another spot. We drop up to Grandpappy point and put in by one of the boat ramps. We dropped the flag in a neighboring cove well away from the ramp so as not to give people issues with launching or recovering. It wasn't that busy anyway. No where near as interesting as the first dive. 41 feet 43 minutes. Temps same as before. Vis was a little worse without going to zero. Found some old trot lines, and markers. Not worth a repeat visit.
I would rate the steps at Eisenhower on par maybe a little easier than those at Mansfield. Some differences in design and tread height in places make the challenges different. Could be a challenge if they are excessively wet, or if it is roasting hot, even though they are shaded. I consider myself in pretty good condition and I was a little winded at the end of the walk.
I'll do this one again.
TwoBit
Walked back to the parking area and geared up from the backs of trucks. It's a good thing it wasn't busy. I really need to fnd a better way of securing my car keys. Not leaving my wallet in plain view would probably be a good idea too. Nothing happened to it.
Made the walk back down to the beach with gear and waded in. I was in a 5mm, Kunk in a 3mm, and Timeliner in his farmer john. Surface temp 78*F. We discussed a dive plan, swam out to drop the flag, and dropped down. We promptly got separated and came back up. All three of us were carrying lights. This was a really good idea as it was the only thing that kept us together after dropping back down again. We dropped down again and began cruising. 5 foot vis or less. It got dark at about 25-30 feet. I marked 49 minutes at a max of 49 feet. Bottom temp 74*F. Head butted some stumps, saw some fish....
I didn't get a good look at the tails on the cats to see if they were lobed or like a normal cat fish tail, but I'm almost postive the darters were Texas logperch
All in all a good dive. Well worth further investigation.
Kory had to bail on us, and I didn't want to walk the steps again, so Timeliner and I went to investigate another spot. We drop up to Grandpappy point and put in by one of the boat ramps. We dropped the flag in a neighboring cove well away from the ramp so as not to give people issues with launching or recovering. It wasn't that busy anyway. No where near as interesting as the first dive. 41 feet 43 minutes. Temps same as before. Vis was a little worse without going to zero. Found some old trot lines, and markers. Not worth a repeat visit.
I would rate the steps at Eisenhower on par maybe a little easier than those at Mansfield. Some differences in design and tread height in places make the challenges different. Could be a challenge if they are excessively wet, or if it is roasting hot, even though they are shaded. I consider myself in pretty good condition and I was a little winded at the end of the walk.
I'll do this one again.
TwoBit
Oh man..... 
