Recent Lake Pleasant conditions/reports

[AzAtty]

Also known to some as part of the Spillway. It's that point to the northwest of the old spillway.

 

[AZ_Zoner]

Thanks

May have to check this area out this weekend.

Craig

Also known to some as part of the Spillway. It's that point to the northwest of the old spillway.

 

[Rudebob]

Made a late afternoon and night dive with Bill (PhxSki) last night off Vista Point. Water was clear and warm down to about 30' in the low 80's with visibility of 15 - 20'. There was a noticeable thermocline around 30' with temps dropping to around 72 degrees. The particulates also increased at this depth reducing the visibility to around 7 - 10'. The water clarity did improve past 50' but the temperatures also dropped significantly. I noted lows of 62 degrees but Bill’s computer logged in the upper 50's. I did not have a hood or gloves on this dive and was getting a serious icecream headache at this depth so we did not stay long. We did hit 85' and noted that the visibility at 70+ was excellent only being limited to the amount of ambient light present.

Our second night dive was great. We limited our depths to 20 - 30' so the water was warm and clear. Aquatic life activity pickuped significantly where we saw all kinds of fish-at least 10 times what we saw on our previous dive an hour earlier. The lights seem to attract a lot fish, many of which you could get within a few inches of your mask without spooking. Due to the shallow depths we were able extend our bottom times past an hour - which could of been longer if it were not for a short fill on my tank (thanks Sport Chalet!). Anyway, if you are comfortable with night diving, it is a nice diversion from your typical Lake Pleasant trip. The water was calm, very few boaters and a full moon to boot. I am ready to do it again soon if anyone is interested.

Mg

 

[Charles R]

A group of us dove just west of Beismeyer Point yesterday. Thanks to Bill, Beth (shore support) Josh and Ryan for a fun day of diving.

We dove off the point that is west of Beismeyer Point. There wasn't a lot of boat traffic early in the morning so vis was about 15-20 feet for the first 20-25 feet of depth. It pretty much remained that way all day.

We headed west on our first dive toward DT. I buddied up with Ryan and Josh and Bill paired up. We've found that two buddy teams are easier to keep track of than one group of four divers. First thermocline was at about 30 feet where the temp probably dropped about 5º and vis dropped to about 10'. Another thermocline at about 45'. Temp dropped another 5º or so and out came the dive lights. All the better to see your buddy with. At 70 feet we swam into an area where vis went to zero and I had to grab Ryan's arm to keep track of him. Temp at that depth was 61º. That was the deepest dive of the day. After that we decided to keep it to about 30 feet where the vis and temps were a bit more favorable.

On the second dive we swam to an area that Bill found last weekend. It's a rocky area just east of the road. Bill navigated right to it and we were able to stay for a little while before we hit our turn pressure. We saw a bunch of juvvie bass about the size of your hand and some pretty good sized mommas and pappas as well as a big ol' speckled catfish with pleanty of attitude. Before the dive I had changed to my 3mm because I'm dang tired of wrestling my way into and out of my 7mm. I hoped that if we kept it to 40 feet or less I would be able to take the cold. Only just but I did it. I'm strongly thinking about adios-ing the 7mm for a few months. It was nice to only have 10# in my weight pouches. I still felt overweighted though. The vis on the second dive was probably 15'+. Temp at 40 feet was a balmy 65º.

Dive three. We returned to the rocky area and found that it continued north for quite a while. It's about 50 to 100 feet east of the road. Lots of huge bolders and lots of fish to see. Bill found the remnants of an umbrella on our way to the rocks and we ran across the usual odds and ends of people's leavings. We didn't have any bags with us so we had to leave it where we found it. We may need to plan another clean-up dive day. I couldn't get over the schools of dozens of small fry about the size of your finger. I even followed (herded?) about 10 bluegill the size of my fist along a large boulder until they decided to dart into a crevice. Obviously most of these critters will be eaten by other lake dwellers or the place would be teaming with fish each year. On this dive the vis ranged from 5' to 20' depending on our depth. Near the thermocline we could see the different "layers" of water coming together. The boundry between the relatively warmer and cooler water looked like whisps of smoke. I swam through one to see if I could feel a difference and I could. The "smokey" areas were cooler. I have only been diving Lake Pleasant on a regular basis since January so the whole thing about seasonal changes and changes in the ecology throughout the year is facinating to me. The temp at 49 feet was only 63 degrees and I was shivering in my 3mm. I was happy to turn back and head for shallower warmer waters.

Between our first and second dives, Granny and RMsimmons dropped in. We were just going in when they arrived and they were just going in when we came out so we never got to dive with them. We did take a minute to say hi and talk a bit. I hope we get to dive together one of these times.

Josh and Bill had three tanks each but Ryan and I had four so we stayed around for another dive after the others left. First we headed south into the cove but the vis started to really suck. Ryan was looking for another fish to add to the three he had speared for dinner. After about 10 minutes of seeing nary a fin we turned around and retraced our route back to where we started. We surfaced and after talking it over decided to descend there and make our way back to the rocky area where we had seen all the fish. Shortly after we started the dive, Ryan got his fourth fish of the day. On this dive we decided to keep the depth to 20 to 25'. The vis was good all day at that depth and the temp hovered at around 70º. Thanks again to Bill, Beth, Josh and Ryan for making it a great day for diving.

I may be out in left field here but when did it become legal to spearfish in Lake pleasant?

 

[Rudebob]

I may be out in left field here but when did it become legal to spearfish in Lake pleasant?

Actually, AZ game and fish commision rules R4-12-313 does allow for taking of carp, buffalofish, mullet, tilapia, goldfish and shad by speargun, and in some areas striped bass. Of course there are some specific rules about seasons, requiring a fishing license, legal waters, etc.

To my knowledge there is no specification rules regarding taking spearfishing by use of scuba vs. freediving like many coastal states stipulate.

As far as Pleasant goes stripped bass would be the only game fish worth spearing unless you like to eat carp. I would definately confirm with the game and fish if Pleasant is legal for stripers or any fish before heading out with a speargun, however.



mg

 

[PhxSki]

Made a late afternoon and night dive with Bill (PhxSki) last night off Vista Point. Water was clear and warm down to about 30' in the low 80's with visibility of 15 - 20'. There was a noticeable thermocline around 30' with temps dropping to around 72 degrees. The particulates also increased at this depth reducing the visibility to around 7 - 10'. The water clarity did improve past 50' but the temperatures also dropped significantly. I noted lows of 62 degrees but Bill’s computer logged in the upper 50's. I did not have a hood or gloves on this dive and was getting a serious icecream headache at this depth so we did not stay long. We did hit 85' and noted that the visibility at 70+ was excellent only being limited to the amount of ambient light present.

Our second night dive was great. We limited our depths to 20 - 30' so the water was warm and clear. Aquatic life activity pickuped significantly where we saw all kinds of fish-at least 10 times what we saw on our previous dive an hour earlier. The lights seem to attract a lot fish, many of which you could get within a few inches of your mask without spooking. Due to the shallow depths we were able extend our bottom times past an hour - which could of been longer if it were not for a short fill on my tank (thanks Sport Chalet!). Anyway, if you are comfortable with night diving, it is a nice diversion from your typical Lake Pleasant trip. The water was calm, very few boaters and a full moon to boot. I am ready to do it again soon if anyone is interested.

Mg

I agree. The Wednesday night dives at Vista Point were just great. Lots of fish, water was relatively warm and visabilty was much better than average. Absolutely one of the best days I have had diving at Lake Pleasant.

Mike: Again, thanks for the beer. Next one is on me.

Regards, Bill

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

This will be my last weekend to dive until August so I'm looking for dive buddies. Anybody going to the lake this Saturday? Answer me here or PM me. Thanks.

 

[PhxSki]

This will be my last weekend to dive until August so I'm looking for dive buddies. Anybody going to the lake this Saturday? Answer me here or PM me. Thanks.

Steve:

I have both Saturday and Sunday open. Would prefer Sunday Morning at Point Vista. What do you think?

Regards, BW

 

[Reef Man]

This will be my last weekend to dive until August so I'm looking for dive buddies. Anybody going to the lake this Saturday? Answer me here or PM me. Thanks.

No diving until August????? :11:

You going out of town for the summer????

 

[RAWalker]

Nancy and I are thinking about Sunday but it still up in the air.