Sacramento Area Lake diving?

[darkpup]

Hi Brian,

Here are some pics of where we dive at Rattlesnake Bar.

Rattlesnake Bar, 5/2004

It's usually only a 20' to 30' walk to get to the water, and at present, the water is really high. We were there a few weeks ago to get some practice in, and the water level was good.

Your post lists 5% as a place to dive at Folsom, but from your post, it sounds like you mean Granite Bay. There are some nice places to dive at Granite Bay where you can drive up to the waters edge. We did a dive out there a year ago with Ben_Ca (nobi ), and had a good time. The bass are like curious dogs that come up to check you out.

I took this picture of a bass at Lake Camanche 2 weeks ago. The thing kept charging at my flooded strobe, and it was looking like it was going to attack me. It's maiting season, so it's to be expected.

Bass at Lake Camache

We'll be diving there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before heading to Monterey to dive off of the Escapade on Sunday. Should be a blast.

~ Jason

 

[triton94949]

This dive store in Reno:

http://www.sierradive.com/

offers this book (Mountain Lake Diving) about dive sites in the Sierra:

http://www.sierradive.com/Tahoe.htm

FYI.

 

[Bob3]

Mudbug/crawdad containers - I used to snorkel for the buggers, trailing one of those floating minnow buckets. They're best stored in a cooler w/no water, though ice or ice packs covered with wet newspaper will keep them live & kicking.

 

[darkpup]

This dive store in Reno:

http://www.sierradive.com/

offers this book (Mountain Lake Diving) about dive sites in the Sierra:

http://www.sierradive.com/Tahoe.htm

FYI.

Have you checked out the book and video listed on their site? I sent off a message to a friend that dives in Tahoe frequently, and am curious to see if he's seen it or not.

We've already dove the sail boat (hurricane bay) and speed boat wreck (meek's bay), have heard about the large cement fish, and have heard about the SS Tahoe. I'm curious to see what else is hidden in the lake.

~ Jason

 

[triton94949]

Have you checked out the book and video listed on their site? I sent off a message to a friend that dives in Tahoe frequently, and am curious to see if he's seen it or not.

We've already dove the sail boat (hurricane bay) and speed boat wreck (meek's bay), have heard about the large cement fish, and have heard about the SS Tahoe. I'm curious to see what else is hidden in the lake.

~ Jason

I have the book and the video. The book is excellent.

The video is ok but not great. The producers use an ROV to dive way deep into the lake. It looks like north Monastery without the invertibrates. Very few fish as well.

Two thumbs up on the book. One up and one down on the video.

 

[CALI68]

It's maiting season, so it's to be expected.

..I was there when that photo was shot and I'll concure...That Bass was hot for you!

It didn't even give me a second look....whatever!

 

[Straight Up]

No diving? There's no way that's an official policy. As long as you're not entering on the boat ramps there are no issues. I've talked with them about 100 times regarding this issue. Also, at Rattlesnake Bar you can park right next to the water and walk right in. The one thing I would be careful of though at Folsom is that the Jetskis try and use you dive flag as a slalom course...just be careful out there.

That's what she said. The guard at the gate at Beale's point said no diving there. There were signs too... New guard maybe? Either way, we did get in the water, which is the important thing. I have one of those fishing rafts (kinda like this: http://spm.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p832700dt.jpg) that we tied an anchor and a dive flag to. They didn't think it was a buoy, so we were safe there. It also helped when I had too much weight. Jeff gave me a weight belt that would sink me with a 2 piece wetsuit... we only used the uppers... we didn't use the overalls. The water was nice enough to where we didn't feel that it was necessary... which it wasn't. I didn't notice it once we were in... but I was too heavy. I took the weight belt off and took about 8 lbs off. The raft was a life saver, because there was NO way I could have done that in the water without it. Either way...

One question... my DB's friend has a boat and offered to bring us around. What are your thoughts on this. Obviously, there's no SPECIFIC place you can suggest, but my main questions is: Is diving from a 21' Cabin Cruiser "over-doing it" at Folsom?

And Jason... Here's a link to Google Map's where I'm talking about. There is a sign once you enter from Douglas that says "5% Next Right" or something like that.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.743587,-121.147292&spn=0.006083,0.009291&t=k&hl=en

Also, attached is where I'm talking about where we dove. Red is where I parked my truck. Blue is the path we took to the water. Green is where we set up our stuff on the beach, and Magenta is the approximate location of our anchored raft. (See the google map to move around and zoom out to see specifically where I'm talking about).

Rattlesnake bar is the spot unless we take the boat.

 

[Straight Up]

This dive store in Reno:

http://www.sierradive.com/

offers this book (Mountain Lake Diving) about dive sites in the Sierra:

http://www.sierradive.com/Tahoe.htm

FYI.

http://www.sierradive.com/_derived/map.htm_txt_tahoemap1.gif

That's an awesome map. That's the best one I've seen of Tahoe. Do you know if they sell a map like this anywhere? I'd love to buy one.

 

[JustinW]

Straight up,
which dive shop did you go into? Was it the one by the DMV (left unnamed)? I know they dive the lake a lot, I believe they do many of their cert dives there, or at least they used to when the dam overlook was open. The point I think I would try is the parking lot between Dyke 8 and Browns Ravine. Its just a small hike from the parking lot to the crest of the dyke, and then back down to a platform that has been leveled out, likely plenty of fish, otherwise I dive the opposite end of the dyke near the picnic tables, this is a nice place to find sunglasses and other valuables dropped by boaters in the summer.

 

[Straight Up]

The dive shop I use for all my Scuba needs is Nautilus Dive Center in Rocklin on 5 Star Blvd. (www.nautilusdivecenter.com). We actually went up to Dyke 8, and decided against going out there... funny.

Thank you all for the tips!!