Tahoe a nice place in October =)

[Twiddles]

Dove Lake Tahoe Sunday 10/21. The whole family (5 of us) had a great time viz was well over 40' and water temp was 51 deg and clear blue. Had planned on Monterey but read chucks report saw all kinds of things that didnt look good and we went the other way =). Dove Zephyr Cove because the other two sites we picked had the gates closed. First time at Tahoe and I will definately be going back, very nice for lake diving. Funny looks on peoples faces when they see divers walking out of the woods .

 

[starryeye]

Thanks for the report on Zephyr! I've been mulling over this site, especially since you can walk straight from the beach to your cabin. How were the topography and the critters?

 

[boomx5]

Nice report. Tahoe is really a great place to dive and one we also frequent throughout the year.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Twiddles: Good Decision. Same temp, better vis, no surf.

I decided I needed to order parts to fix the EZguider I broke on Saturday, so I finished installing
my new depthfinder.

 

[Twiddles]

Crawdads are EVERYWHERE, and they constantly want to fight . Viz really is just amazingly clear. Theres rock fields scattered to the NE of entry but the whole area is very shallow. Not much in the way of fish. Looks like maybee 200+ yards to get to 30' and area where it begins to descend. Stayed shallow (brought 12 year old along and hes still real tenative). The bottom reminds me a lot of Monastary beach, not silty at all and pebbles are much finer but same white rock look with waves paralleling shore. Oh and something sparkles in the water if you stir up the bottom a little like metal chips (theres gold in the water IM SURE OF IT ). Go all the way to the right when you enter parking lot and park in last available spaces. Theres about 4 picnic benches setup right next to shore.

Other dive sites appear to be hit and miss for closure by Park Service theres more than a dozen listed at sierradive.com. If you get the chance before the next storm I would definately try it, nothing like any lake dive I have ever done before. Note: your in Nevada and so you are required to tow a dive flag. I just planted mine and came back to it before surfacing but its a $90 ticket if you get caught more than 100' from your flag.

 

[starryeye]

Thanks for the details, Twiddles. Definitely something on my to-do list next I stay at Zephyr's, or if I'm in the area.

In comparison, I dove the west shore of Tahoe in October 2006 (completely free of boats after the first snow!) and saw crawdads here and there, with a steeeeeep drop just maybe ten yards off the beach. That's where I learned about sufficient BC lift. :14: Went again in Spring 2007, and it was disappointing. Water was less clear (maybe 30 feet vis instead of 40+) and only 3 crawdads left. The one trout had moved away too. I was thinking the poor little bugs either had a tough winter, or they all ended up in someone's pot.

 

[Peter_C]

My dive buddy and I dove Tahoe earlier this summer. It was something everyone local should do at least once. We got bored after two dives though. We dove Tahoe this summer and ran into a "couple" of the 5th DX crew at Rubicon Wall. When were there, the fish fry where everywhere. In the rocks and schooling in mass numbers. Crawdads were plentiful too. The coolest thing I saw was about an 8 pound fish gobbling up the fry Make sure to bring a bright flashlight to look in the cracks. As far as I am concerned there is no reason to go below 60 feet. Instead extend the bottom time. We surface swam the first dive, then kayak dove the second dive, returning with a lost anchor.

Since we skipped diving the second day, as it was windy and we were bored, we wound up doing some dirt road exploring and saw some beautiful country.

 

[gonphishing]

ho yes. october is a good month too be up in tahoe. especially late oct.. the leaves turn from green to yellow and red. and the winter run of trout and steelhead can be seen in the tributaries... my favorite time to hit the sierras...