West Hill Pond, Connecticut ?????

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michaelp68

Guest
Messages
494
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1
Location
Connecticut
# of dives
50 - 99
Has anyone gone diving at West Hill Pond in Connecticut?

I'm going to dive there this Sunday and I'm interested in hearing about it from anyone who has already been diving there.

Thanks.
 
but would love to hear your report.

I live on a little pond if you are interested in diving. Going to go out there soon.
 
and give a report.

Still hoping to read a report before I go tomorrow, though. Can't find anything on it on the internet.
 
Haven't done West Hill myself,

Several divers that I know have rented rowboats from the place on the lake that rents boats and dove somewhere near the island. There is supposed to ba an underwater platform in the vicinity that some of the local (CT) shops use for training.

Looking forward to read your report.

michaelp68 once bubbled...
Has anyone gone diving at West Hill Pond in Connecticut?

I'm going to dive there this Sunday and I'm interested in hearing about it from anyone who has already been diving there.

Thanks.
 
I dove West Hill Pond today and I have to say that it was great.

We entered from the beach at Brodie Park, which is on the east side. Entering the water, we were all enthusiastic and optimistic because the water seemed so clear, unless you were near me where I kicked up all the sand and silt in the world.

We picked a course that would take us west/southwest from the beach toward the "deep end," some rocks only a few feet below the surface and a submerged island (that's apparently due to a damn that raised the water level in 1973).

The water temp was cool but not too cold (at first) and the visibility was about 20 feet.

I didn't see much fish or life, but there was quite a bit of interesting debris and tons of huge boulders.

We ultimately dropped down to 45 feet. (The maximum depth according to the DEP chart is 65 feet.) As we approached that 45 foot depth, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees and the visibility went down to about 5 feet, or zero feet if you were anywhere near the silt I kicked up.

It was a good thing I brought a light for the deeper/darker water. Unfortunately, one of the guys in the group didn't have a hood, so it ended our deeper and colder exploration fairly quickly.

After that, we dove closer to shore for the rest of the dive in the 20 to 35 foot range, explored a bit and really enjoyed. The visiibility remained around 20 feet and it was quite interesting.

Well, we didn't see tons of the lake, but we saw enough that all five us want to go back, and will do so. Several other people in the group saw some schools of fish and also some rather large bass and trout.

Next time, we might rent one of the rowboats so that we can start the dive out near the submerged island and rock pile that rises close to the surface.

It's really a great dive location for freshwater in this area.

Happy diving.

Michael
 
Hey, whereabouts is West Hill Pond?
 
It's in both Barkhampsted and New Hartford, just off of Route 44.

There's a whole write-up about it at the State DEP website.
 
Thanks! I travel up that way sometimes for work in Windsor, CT and to Bradley airport. I go over the Barkhampsted reservoir.
 
Michaelp68 - where are you from?

I love diving in fresh water, there is a lot to see. Last dive in my lake saw huge snapping turtle and tons of fish.

Let me know if you want to dive my reservoir, one of the top 3 cleanest bodies of water in the state!

It is 55 ft. max depth and it does have a dive platform as well.

Love to have fellow divers for frost beverage afterwards so if you are nearby Wolcott stop in for a dive!
 
RiverRat once bubbled...
Thanks! I travel up that way sometimes for work in Windsor, CT and to Bradley airport. I go over the Barkhampsted reservoir.

How's the diving in Barkhampsted reservoir? I work in Bloomfield and drive past it on my way to clients in Watertown. I've always wanted to dive it.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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